Swift, Sheeran, the Weeknd lead American Music Awards nominations

Singers Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd both trail Swift for a shot at their first AMAs, taking second in the overall running with five nominations each. Swift earned six AMA nominations, including nods for artist of the year, song of the year (“Blank Space”) and “collaboration of the year unleashed by T-Mobile”, as the AMAs call it. The latter was for “Bad Blood”, her pairing with Kendrick Lamar. Here, he performs during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 30, 2015. Last yr Taylor Swift, One Direction, Selena Gomez & Lorde all put in show stopping performances. Fans can vote once per day for each category on various platforms: at AMAvote.com; by posting a status on Facebook that includes the nominee’s name and the category’s hashtag; and by posting a tweet that includes the nominee’s name or Twitter handle, the category name and the #AMAs hashtag.

Maroon 5 has been nominated for Artist of the Year.

The prominent rise of electronic dance music in today’s scene can be evidenced by numerous artists now standing alongside and competing next to established genre artists from rock, pop, hip-hop, country and many more. But another big nominee making the list the year: The Weekend.

With 16 career AMAs to her name, Swift could eclipse Whitney Houston as the AMA’s most decorated artist, although that’s only if she wins in all six of her categories.

Sam Hunt, Minaj, Smith, Trainor and band Walk the Moon each earned three nominations each for an award this year. Here, Smith performs at the 42nd annual American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on November. 23, 2014.