Beyonce is leading the field in the nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards with 10 nominations, followed by country star Taylor Swift, with eight.
The pair go up against Black Eyed Peas - who have six nominations - Lady Gaga and Dave Matthews Band for best album.
R&B singer Maxwell and rapper Kanye West also earned six nominations each.
Britons Depeche Mode, Coldplay and singer-songwriter Imogen Heap picked up two nods each, while The Tings Tings are nominated for best new act.
The Salford duo go head to head to with Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT and Silversun Pickups.
'Not eligible'
The major categories were revealed during a televised concert in Los Angeles, hosted by rap star LL Cool J. Nominees for the rest of the 109 awards were announced later.
Winners will be announced on 31 January at the city's Staples Center.
Beyonce is nominated for song of the year for Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) and record of the year for Halo - both taken from album I Am… Sasha Fierce.
Swift will also go up against Beyonce for song and record of the year for You Belong With Me, from her second album Fearless.
The 19-year-old country star is the biggest-selling artist in the US this year, excluding the late Michael Jackson.
Also up for the coveted record of the year are The Black Eyed Peas with I Gotta Feeling, Use Somebody by rockers Kings Of Leon and Lady Gaga's Poker Face.
Lady Gaga, who has become a major player in the global album and singles charts this year, was not eligible for best new act because her debut single, Just Dance, was nominated for best dance recording last year.
US Recording Academy president said there would be "some changes so that particular situation won't repeat itself".
U2 nominations
British nominees will hope to emulate the success earlier this year of artists including Robert Plant - who took five awards for his collaboration with Bluegrass singer Alison Krauss - and fellow prize winners Adele, Duffy, Radiohead and Peter Gabriel.
Coldplay, winners of song of the year in February, are nominated for best rock performance by a group with vocals, and best video for their song Life In Technicolor II.
They will go up against Depeche Mode's Wrong for best video. The Essex electro-pop outfit are also nominated for Sounds Of The Universe in the best alternative music album category.
Fellow Essex musician Imogen Heap is nominated for best pop instrumental The Fire and best non-classical engineered album.
Ellipse, her third solo album, was a number five record in the US but only reached 39 in the UK charts.
Britons Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood also earned two nods including one for best rock album for their live concert at Madison Square Garden, in New York.
Elvis Costello was nominated for best contemporary folk album for Secret, Profane and Sugarcane while Yes, by the Pet Shop Boys, will go up against Lady Gaga's The Fame for best electronic dance album.
There were also best pop vocal nominations for Hometown Glory by Adele - who won the best new artist Grammy in February - and Seal's If You Don't Know Me By Now.
And Birmingham band Judas Priest have earned a nod for best metal performance for the song Dissident Aggressor, taken from their album A Touch of Evil - Live.
Britain was well represented in the classical categories with conductor Simon Rattle among the nominations.
Irish rockers U2 have been nominated for three awards.
The nominations concert featured presenters including singer Katy Perry - nominated for best female pop vocal performance - former Beatle Ringo Starr and Motown legend Smokey Robinson.
Maxwell, who released album Black Summers' Night this year after an eight-year absence from the music scene, was among other performers on the night, singing the late Michael Jackson's The Lady In My Life.
There were also performances from Nick Jonas, of the Jonas Brothers, and Black Eyed Peas.
For an example of why Beyoncé was nominated click HERE
