Ed Sheeran and David Bowie compete for British Artist of 2014 at BBC Music Awards
The Thinking Out Loud singer is going head-to-head with the music icon at the inaugural awards ceremony later this month
Ed Sheeran and David Bowie are competing to be named Artist of the Year at the BBC's inaugural Music Awards.
The stars have been nominated for recognition at the first ever ceremony – dubbed Sports Personality of the Year for music – which takes place later this month.
Beating off competition from Bowie, as well as fellow nominees Elbow, Sam Smith, Jungle and Royal Blood, would make a fine end to a brilliant year for Sheeran. The 23-year-old's album X recently amassed sales in excess of 1 million while Spotify has revealed that he is the most-streamed artist in the world.
Dolly Parton, Gregory Porter, Lorde, Pharrell, Prince and Taylor Swift are all up for International Artist of the Year, while nominees for the Song of the Year category are yet to be announced.
Winners will be revealed by hosts Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton on 11th December in front of a live audience at Earls Court, London.
"The BBC Music Awards exist to celebrate the past 12 months in music," said BBC's director of music Bob Shennan, adding: "The shortlists feature an amazing range of hugely talented artists. Each and every one has made a unique mark on the music industry. They have experienced phenomenal success and it's wonderful to see new acts featuring alongside some of the biggest names in the business."
The BBC Music Awards will be on BBC1, Radio 1 and Radio 2 on 11th December
