UK Music Video Awards 2026 nominations announced
Award ceremony is on November 4th at Londons iconic Roundhouse. With Charli XCX, Kneecap and GENER8ION leading the nominations at this year's award.
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Charli XCX leads this year’s table of multi-nominated artists at the UK Music Video Awards, with nine nominations overall for a total of six different videos: Camera, Rock Music, SS26, Wink Wink, House (featuring John Cale) and Residue (with AG Cook).
She is closely followed in overall nominations by Kneecap whose Irish Goodbye epic, featuring Kae Tempest and directed by Thomas James, notches up five nominations, and Sayōnara featuring Paul Hartnoll, directed by Finn Keenan, wins them another three nods. Romain Gavras’ internet-busting Storm by GENER8ION starring Yung Lean wins the most nominations for a single video, clocking up six mentions in this year’s shortlist. And Povoa & Madge’s explicit sex-comedy Beat Bunny, directed by Tanner K Williams, has four nominations.
Award shortlists have been announced in 39 categories at this year’s UKMVAs, recognising the best work in music videos in the UK and around the world, and the creative and technical talent behind them, defined by music genre, craft and technical expertise and individual achievement.
The winners of this year’s UKMVAs will be announced at the awards ceremony at The Roundhouse in London on 4th November (the first time the event is being held at the legendary Camden Town-based venue since 2021). Music video directors, production companies and artists will be celebrated for their outstanding creative work alongside other filmmaking talent in areas including Casting, Production Design, Choreography, Styling, Cinematography, Colour grading, Editing, Animation and Visual Effects.
Charli XCX, Kneecap and GENER8ION lead a field of UK and international artists at the 19th annual UKMVAs with multiple nominations for their music videos. A$AP Rocky, winner of Video Of The Year at the UKMVAs in 2025, sees two videos featured in the list this year with two nominations apiece: Helicopter directed by Dan Streit and Punk Rocky, directed by Folkert Verdoon and Simon Becks. Madonna’s star-studded CONFESSIONS ll, directed by Torso, wins three nominations for Best Pop International, Best Cinematography and Best Special Visual Project. Ezra Collective is mentioned twice for Only Love featuring Pa Salieu and for the film Here Because of Hope, both directed by Ebeneza Blanche, as well as their collaboration with Fred again.. and CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso on Beto’s Horns in the Best Live Video category. The Rolling Stones see three different videos make the list: Jealous Lover for Best UK Rock Video, In The Stars for Best Visual Effects, and Shame, Shame, Shame for Best Animation.
Other UK artists with multiple nominations this year include Beabadoobee, DAVE, Fred again.., Harry Styles, James Blake, Joy Crookes, PinkPantheress, Tom Misch and Wesley Joseph. They stand alongside a raft of international artists with multiple mentions which includes Ariana Grande, ROSALĺA, Tove Lo, Balming Tiger, Ibeyi, Povoa and Madge, Rich The Kid and Theodora.
Among the hotly contested Best Video categories, the Best UK Pop Video category sees Harry Styles facing competition from a female-dominated line-up that includes Charli XCX, FLO, MEEK and PinkPantheress with Zara Larsson. It’s an all-female race to the top in the Best Pop Video International category, where Madonna, ROSALĺA and Sabrina Carpener line up alongside Tove Lo, Theodora and Angèle.
This year’s Best Director award shortlist features Charli xcx’s regular collaborator, Aidan Zamiri, alongside five first-time nominees in the category: Folkert Verdoon and Simon Becks for their work with A$AP Rocky and Kun, Jake Erland for his videos for Olivia Dean, Beabadoobee and Foo Fighters, South Korean director Lee Suho for his work with Balming Tiger, Olivia de Camps for her films for FLO, Becky G and Maria Isabel, and French duo Torso who directed Madonna’s CONFESSIONS II as well as Charli xcx’s SS26.
In the Best New Director category British directors Ben Harris and Billy King face competition from Canadian director Alex Acy, French talents Léa Esmaili and Melchior Leroux, and US director Tanner K Williams. The Best Production Company award sees another international line-up with Anonymous Content, CANADA, DIVISION, Iconoclast, Magna Studios and Object & Animal vying for the big prize.
Now in its 19th year, since its inception in 2008 the UKMVAs has grown into the leading global awards programme for music video creativity, the most important annual event in the calendar for the world of music video production.
Tickets for the awards show at The Roundhouse on November 4th are on sale now at www.ukmva.com
