mtvU UNVEILS "2015 mtvU WOODIE AWARDS" NOMINEES: J. COLE, CHARLI XCX, RUN THE JEWELS, SAM SMITH, PORTER ROBINSON AND FKA TWIGS TO COMPETE FOR "WOODIE OF THE YEAR" AT SXSW

Drake, Charli XCX, Sia, FKA twigs, Ed Sheeran, Childish Gambino and Sam Smith Receive Multiple Woodies Noms, while Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Eminem Also Garner Nods

For First Time "mtvU Woodie Awards" Premiere LIVE in Primetime from SXSW on MTV Friday, March 20 at 9 p.m. ET

New York, NY (February 18, 2015) - mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, today revealed the categories and nominees for the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards," the annual event at the forefront of breaking some of the biggest names in music. For the first time in show history, nominees will vie for the chunks of wood LIVE in primetime on MTV, with a 60-minute special starting at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20 from the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. The jam-packed hour will feature epic performances and appearances by some of the most innovative, influential and groundbreaking artists - from headliners to the underground - while honoring those who made the biggest impact in music over the past year.

"The Woodies are the place to discover the emerging artists that you will love forever," said Ryan Kroft, "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards" Executive Producer. "Throughout the show's history, the Woodies stage is where many of today's biggest pop culture icons have been introduced to national audiences. This year's show will be no exception."

The awards show will be preceded by the all-day "MTV Woodies Festival" on the ground at SXSW and streaming live on MTV.com. Voting for the "mtvU Woodie Awards" opens today at Woodies.MTV.com and runs through March 10, 2015. To watch Rita Ora and Charli XCX announce the "Woodie of the Year" nominees, click here.

The Nominees

Several noteworthy artists received multiple nominations, including Drake, Sia, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, FKA twigs and Childish Gambino. Of that group, Sam Smith and FKA twigs are going against J. Cole, Charli XCX, Run the Jewels and Porter Robinson for the biggest award of the night, "Woodie of the Year," which honors the artist that completely owned the past 12 months.

Looking ahead, six up-and-coming acts are nominated for "Artist to Watch Woodie," honoring the best emerging artists on the music landscape. Hand-selected from MTV's breakthrough "2015 Artist to Watch" list, the nominees include Years & Years, Rae Sremmurd, Raury, MisterWives, Kygo and James Bay.

"Wooo!!!! It's a dream come true. We're honored to be nominated and we can't wait to see everyone down at the awards in Austin," said Rae Sremmurd.

In the "Best Video Woodie" category, emerging artists will compete with established artists already known for their excellence in the medium, as the field includes FKA twigs ("Pendulum"), Childish Gambino ("Sober"), Beyoncé ("7/11"), Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar ("Never Catch Me"), Bad Suns ("Salt") and Vic Mensa ("Down on My Luck").

To honor the best collaboration between artists over the past year, mtvU created the "Co-Sign Woodie Award." That field includes Alesso featuring Tove Lo for "Heroes (We Could Be);" Hoodie Allen featuring Ed Sheeran for "All About It;" Jack � featuring Kiesza for "Take �;" Fences featuring Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for "Arrows;" iLoveMakonnen featuring Drake for "Tuesday;"and Eminem featuring Dej Loaf for "Detroit vs. Everybody."

"I'm so honored to be nominated for a Woodie Award! It's so crazy to me that a random night making music with my friend could turn into an acknowledgement like this from MTV," said Hoodie Allen.

The "Next Level Performance Woodie" is a new category for 2015 that rewards artists who took their live shows to new creative highs. The inaugural field includes Drake and Lil Wayne for creating an app that allowed the audience to decide who performed first on their joint tour; Childish Gambino for creating an app that allowed users to display messages onto his tour stage; Big Data, who used social media during their performances to acknowledge specific audience members in real time in front of the entire crowd; Sia for performing in several TV appearances without showing her face by utilizing performance artists and actors to serve as a proxy for her; and Skrillex, who performed a Bonnaroo SuperJam session fusing EDM and live instrumentation with numerous surprise guests.

Once again, mtvU is also honoring the pioneering college radio stations committed to bringing students the latest indie and emerging music, and today revealed the 10 finalists for the "College Radio Woodie." Lauded for championing artists before they achieve mainstream success, these student-run radio stations represent the new music vanguard. The full list of nominees is included below.

The nominees for the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards" are:

Woodie Of The Year (Artist of the Year)
· J. Cole
· Sam Smith
· Charli XCX
· Run the Jewels
· Porter Robinson
· FKA twigs

Artist to Watch Woodie (Best Emerging Artist)
· Years & Years
· Rae Sremmurd
· Raury
· MisterWives
· Kygo
· James Bay

Best Video Woodie (Best Video of the Year)
· FKA twigs - "Pendulum"
· Childish Gambino - "Sober"
· Beyoncé - "7/11"
· Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar - "Never Catch Me"
· Bad Suns - "Salt"
· Vic Mensa - "Down On My Luck"

Cover Woodie (Best Cover Song)
· Ed Sheeran, Sia, and Grouplove covering Beyoncé - "Drunk In Love"
· Kiesza covering Hozier - "Take Me To Church"
· Lorde covering Jeremih - "Don't Tell Em"
· Charli XCX covering Taylor Swift - "Shake It Off"
· Taylor Swift covering Vance Joy - "Riptide"
· Sam Smith covering Whitney Houston - "How Will I Know"

Next Level Performance Woodie (Finding New Ways to Reach Audiences)
· Drake and Lil Wayne - created an app that allowed the audience to decide who performed first on their joint tour.
· Childish Gambino - created an app that allowed users to display messages onto his tour stage.
· Big Data - used social media during their performances to acknowledge specific audience members in real time in front of the entire crowd.
· Sia - performed in several TV appearances without showing her face by utilizing performance artists and actors to serve as a proxy for her.
· Skrillex - performed Bonnaroo SuperJam session fusing EDM and live instrumentation with numerous surprise guests.

Co-Sign Woodie (Best Collaboration Between Artists)
· Alesso featuring Tove Lo - "Heroes (We Could Be)"
· Hoodie Allen featuring Ed Sheeran - "All About It"
· Jack � featuring Kiesza - "Take �"
· Fences featuring Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - "Arrows"
· iLoveMakonnen featuring Drake - "Tuesday"
· Eminem featuring Dej Loaf - "Detroit vs. Everybody"

College Radio Woodie (Best College Radio Station)
· Arizona State University (KASC)
· Boston University (WTBU)
· Eastern Illinois University (WEIU)
· Hofstra University (WRHU)
· James Madison University (WXJM)
· Loyola University Chicago (WLUW)
· Marywood University (WVMW)
· St. Edward's University (Topper Radio)
· University of California, Berkeley (KALX)
· University of Pittsburg (WPTS)

The "MTV Woodies Festival" and "mtvU Woodie Awards"

Kicking off the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards" will be the "MTV Woodies Festival," an all-day party with performances from the hottest new names in music. Festival doors open at 3 p.m. CT on Friday, March 20, 2015 at 305 South Congress Avenue in Austin and performances will be live streamed on Woodies.MTV.com starting at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT. The "MTV Woodies Festival" will lead up to the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards," which takeover the festival beginning at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Entrance into the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards" and festival is free, with an online RSVP available at a later date.

The "mtvU Woodie Awards" promises to be an unforgettable night of music and performances. The show was established in 2004 and has since propelled numerous recognized acts to the next level of their careers - including surging record sales, headlining tours and mainstream acclaim. Examples include: The Killers (Breaking Woodie '04), N.E.R.D. (Left Field Woodie '04), Death Cab for Cutie (Best Video Woodie '05), Fall Out Boy (Road Woodie '05), 30 Seconds to Mars (Best Video Woodie - Live Action '06) Muse (Performing Woodie '07), Lupe Fiasco (performed at Woodies '07), Vampire Weekend (performed at '08 Woodies), Kings of Leon (Woodie of the Year '09), Jack White (performed at '09 Woodies with the Dead Weather), Rick Ross (performed at '09 Woodies), Matt & Kim (Best Video Woodie '09), Wiz Khalifa (Woodie of the Year '11), Odd Future (performed at '11 Woodies), Sleigh Bells (performed at '11 Woodies) MGK (Breaking Woodie '12), Mac Miller (Woodie of Year and Performing Woodie '12), Zedd (performed at '13 Woodies), Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (Branching Out Woodie '13) and Iggy Azalea with Charli XCX (performed at '14 Woodies).

Official sponsors of the "MTV Woodies Festival" and "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards" include CLEAN & CLEAR(R), ICE BREAKERS Mints, Pepsi(R), Taco Bell(R) and U.S. Army.

Ryan Kroft, Amy Doyle, Gina Esposito and Jesse Ignatovic are the Executive Producers of the "2015 mtvU Woodie Awards," with Andria Parides acting as supervising producer. Joe Buoye is the Executive in Charge of Production.

For more information, visit Woodies.MTV.com.

About mtvU

Broadcast to nearly 750 college campuses as well as via top cable distributors in 700 college communities nationwide, mtvU reaches more than 8 million U.S. college students - making it the largest, most comprehensive television network just for college students. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mtvU can be seen in the dining areas, fitness centers, student lounges and dorm rooms of campuses throughout the U.S., as well as on cable systems from Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS TV, Suddenlink Communications, AT&T u-Verse and nearly 70 others. mtvU is dedicated to every aspect of college life, reaching students everywhere they are: on-air, online and on the campus. mtvU airs music videos from emerging artists that can't be seen anywhere else, news, student life features and initiatives that give college students the tools to advance positive social change. mtvU is always on campus, with hundreds of events per year, including exclusive concerts, giveaways, shooting mtvU series and more. For more information about mtvU, and a complete programming schedule, visit www.mtvU.com.