YouTube Music Awards: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Lead with 6 Nominations

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are leading the nominations for the first YouTube Music Awards.

The duo, whose track Same Love has gained worldwide recognition as an anthem for gay equality, are up for an impressive six gongs including Artist of the Year, YouTube Phenomenon as well as Breakthrough.

They are up against Justin Bieber's Beauty and a Beat for Youtube Phenomenon, Psy's Gentleman for the Video of the Year and Taylor Swift for Artist of the Year.

Same Love addresses Macklemore's personal feelings about the controversial issue of same-sex relationships.

The accompanying music video spans the lives of a gay couple, who go on to have a happy marriage. It has already racked up nearly 78 million views on Youtube.

"I wanted the art to reflect how personal the song was, and they are a big reason why I'm so passionate about the issue," Seattle-based Macklemore said.

One Direction, Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Selena Gomez are also amongst the names getting recognition in various categories.

The nominees have been selected based on YouTube data collected between September 2012 and August 2013, taking into account shares, comments, subscriptions and likes.

The YouTube awards are scheduled to take place in New York City on 3 November. It will be co-hosted by Reggie Watts and Jason Schwartzman and feature live performances by Lady Gaga, Eminem and Arcade Fire, along with YouTube musical acts Lindsey Stirling and CDZA.

The full list of YouTube Award Nominations is as follows:

Video of the Year

Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney - Epic Rap Battles of History

Demi Lovato - Heart Attack

Girls' Generation - I Got a Boy

Justin Bieber (feat Nicki Minaj) - Beauty and a Beat

Lady Gaga - Applause

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (feat Mary Lambert) - Same Love

Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop

One Direction - Best Song Ever

PSY - Gentleman

Selena Gomez - Come & Get It