Pop star Taylor Swift is leading the pack for this year's MTV Video Music Awards with nine nominations, followed by Ed Sheeran with six and Beyonce and Mark Ronson with five.

Swift's superhero-themed video for Bad Blood is up for video of the year.

It will compete with Beyonce's 7/11; Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud; Ronson's Uptown Funk, featuring Bruno Mars, and Kendrick Lamar's Alright.

The awards are being held in Los Angeles on 30 August.

Swift, whose album 1989 was 2014's best-selling album globally, also earned nominations for her music video Blank Space in the best female video and best pop video categories.

The awards show, which hands out Moonman statuettes as its prize, has seen some controversial antics from its stars in recent years.

In 2013 singer Miley Cyrus twerked through her performance holding a foam finger and, in 2009, hip-hop star Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for best female video.

Cyrus, who has risen to the ranks of hosting this year's show, tweeted a picture of herself wearing placards saying: "MTV won't let me perform" and then: "So I'm hosting this year's VMAs."

Three British starts are listed in the artists to watch category: George Ezra, FKA Twigs and James Bay, while the other two nominees are American - Vance Joy and Fetty Wap.

Ellie Goulding is the only British artist up for best female video, for Love Me Like You Do. She is up against Beyonce's 7/11, Nicki Minaj's Anaconda, Sia's Elastic Heart and Taylor Swift's Blank Space.

In the best male category, British artist Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud is competing with The Weekend for Earned It, Nick Jonas's Chains, Lamar's Alright and Ronson's Uptown Funk.

The awards show, which began in 1984, will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater, formerly the Nokia Theatre in LA.