VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS NOMS:
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Here’s the skinny on the VMA nominees, direct from our friends at MTV.

In keeping with the eclectic mix of musical genres and personalities that have dominated both the charts and critics best-of lists, several other artists have received multiple nominations. Leading the pack with six noms apiece are Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; no surprise there. Bruno Mars is close behind with four. The other multiple nominees are P!nk, Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Drake, Calvin Harris, Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Thirty Seconds to Mars and Fun.

This theme extends to Video of the Year, which boasts an array of heavyweights in Timberlake’s “Mirrors,” Macklemore & Lewis’ “Thrift Shop”, Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven”, Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” feat T.I. and Pharrell and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” In a first, the nominees in this category were announced this morning at 8 AM ET via MTV's Instagram and Vine accounts. MTV will post additional Instagram and Vine videos highlighting the noms for additional categories every hour.

This year, the VMA for Best New Artist has been renamed Artist to Watch. This change was inspired by the positive response to MTV's Artist to Watch campaign, a new music-discovery initiative across all of MTV's channels, sites and social networks. The nominees in this category are Twenty One Pilots for “Holding On to You,” Zedd featuring Foxes for “Clarity,” Austin Mahone for “What About Love,” The Weeknd for “Wicked Games” and Iggy Azalea for “Work.” Previous Best New Artist winners have gone on to have noteworthy careers. We’re talkin’ the likes of Eurythmics, GNR, Nirvana, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and One Direction.

This year’s noms in the Best Video with a Social Message are Kelly Clarkson for “People Like Us,” Macklemore & Lewis for “Same Love,” Snoop Lion for “No Guns Allowed,” Miguel for “Candles in the Sun” and Beyoncé for “I Was Here.” This category, which first appeared in 2011, is presented in conjunction with MTV Act, which spotlights young people and celebs who are taking positive action.

Every artist who wins a 2013 Video Music Award will receive a limited-edition KAWS Moonman, created exclusively for this year’s historic show, set to take place at Brooklyn's Barclay's Center live on Aug. 25th at 9 PM ET.

Starting today, voting is open in several VMA categories at vma.mtv.com.

Here's the complete list: