Arcade Fire, Eminem, Lady Gaga to Headline YouTube's First Music Awards Show

Oct. 1, 2013— -- The MTV Video Music Awards had people talking for days last September, and YouTube hopes that its first music awards show -- with Grammy winners Arcade Fire, Eminem and Lady Gaga performing -- will generate a share of buzz too.

Chelsea Maughan, the communications manager at YouTube, said the show had been a long time in the making, but 2013 was a big year for the video-sharing site and music.

"Starting this year, YouTube views were factored into the Billboard Top 100 charts," she told ABC News. "Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style were huge viral hits too. We've always felt like music is a big part of YouTube, and these events felt like the tipping point."

When it comes to who gets nominated for awards, though, YouTube has eschewed the traditional judges' panel. Instead, it will rely on its own data. "We'll use different data to determine who gets nominated in which categories," said Maughan. "It's more than just the number of hits a video gets."

In addition, Maughan said YouTube wouldn't create separate categories according to genre. Instead, all types of videos will compete against one another.

After YouTube crunches the numbers, the nominations for six different categories will be announced in mid-October. From there, YouTube viewers will vote for the videos they want to see win at the Nov. 3 concert, which actor-musician Jason Schwartzman will host. Director-producer Spike Jonze will serve as creative director for the awards show.

While the highlight of the awards show will likely be the New York City concert, other cities will also be participating. Seoul, Moscow, London and a yet-to-be determined city in Brazil will also have their own concerts with their own lineups to be announced.

"We're setting out to create a night that's all about making things and creativity in the spirit of everyone that uses YouTube," said Jonze in a statement. "As well as giving out awards, we'll be making live music videos. The whole night should feel like a YouTube video itself."