TikTok awards nominees

Photo Credit: TikTok

TikTok announces the nominees for its first-ever U.S.-held TikTok Awards, taking place in Los Angeles on December 18.

TikTok has wasted no time announcing the nominees for its inaugural TikTok Awards in Los Angeles next month, which will celebrate 70-plus creators across 14 categories. The ceremony, TikTok’s first in the United States, marks a significant milestone for the platform’s increasing influence in music discovery, particularly among Gen Z and younger.

The Breakthrough Artist of the Year category stands as the platform’s most significant for music recognition and showcases five artists who have achieved mainstream success through TikTok.

Alex Warren leads the nominations with the help of his breakthrough single, “Ordinary,” which dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks this year. Global pop group Katseye have already accumulated 14 million followers and over 693 million likes on TikTok, while their single “Gnarly” has generated over 240,000 user-created videos.

Jazz darling Laufey has a dedicated audience of 10 million followers through her music and behind-the-scenes touring content. R&B artist Ravyn Lenae has seen an impressive ascent through the success of her single “Love Me Not,” which has been featured in over 500,000 user-created videos.

Despite recent controversies on the platform and across social media, Sombr maintains substantial engagement with tracks like “Back to Friends,” “12 to 12,” and “Would’ve Been You.” Each of these songs has been featured in over 200,000 videos, while “Back to Friends” specifically has been featured in over 906,000 user creations.

But the TikTok Awards extend beyond music recognition, with categories like Creator of the Year, Video of the Year, and Rising Star of the Year, and specialized categories like the TikTok for Good Award and the My Show Is On Award. There’s the MVP of the Year Award for sports content, the Okay Slay Award for fashion and beauty content, and the I Was Today Years Old Award for educational content.

Voting begins on November 18 and remains open until December 2 through the in-app TikTok Awards hub, allowing users to show support for their favorite creators across all categories. The ceremony will stream live on TikTok at 6 PM PST on December 18, with a simultaneous broadcast on Tubi. The show will also be available on demand on Tubi the following day.