Highlights
- The Grammy awards have downsized the categories from 109 to 78 by introducing changes in some 30 genre fields.
- Some of the categories have been removed from the list in a move to trim down the list, which has been criticised for being long.
- The four top categories -- album, record and song of the year and best new artist, in the so-called general field -- remain as is, the Hollywood Reporter said.
- Genre fields like Latin, jazz, gospel and Americana will see significant category trims.
- The best Hawaiian music album category has been removed. Its submissions will be qualified for the newly instituted "best regional roots music album" category.
- NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and
- Sciences) president Neil Portnow, however, assured that no artist will be affected by the category cuts.
- "Every submission will continue to have a home. It will just look a little different," Portnow said.
- Under new rules, each category will require at least 40 artist submissions, which is up from 25 in the past. Only three nods will be granted in the slot if 25-39 entries are received.
- Categories receiving less than 25 submissions will be put on immediate hiatus for the current year.
- The academy's 13,000 voting members will now be allowed to vote in 20 categories on both the preliminary and awards Grammy ballots, up from nine on the first ballot and eight on the second.
- NARAS' decision to increase the number of niche-genre categories has been criticised by many in the music industry as most of these awards are presented to genre acts at a non-televised three-hour afternoon ceremony on the afternoon of the annual awards show.
Men and women will compete head-to-head, some of the more exotic awards like best Native American album and best spoken-word children's record have been eliminated, and the number of categories has been reduced by more than 30 in the biggest overhaul in the 53-year history of the Grammys.
While no musical genres will be excluded from Grammy contention, the changes will make the awards a lot more competitive.
"It ups the game in terms of what it takes to receive a Grammy and preserves the great esteem of with its held in the creative community, which is the most important element," Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
While the Academy has adjusted its rules and adapted to industry changes over the years, these changes follow its first major examination of the awards structure, a process that took more than a year.
The biggest change will come in the number of categories, cut from 109 to 78. Awards will no longer be given in such categories as rap performance by a duo or group; some of the instrumental categories in pop, rock and country; traditional gospel; children's spoken-word album; Zydeco or Cajun music album; and best classical crossover album.
That doesn't mean that those types of music are ineligible; they will simply compete within larger fields.
Portnow said the changes will make the awards process more rigorous.
"That's appropriate. We are talking about the most prestigious, coveted award and it should be a high bar in terms of the measurement of receiving that," he said.
Separate male and female vocal categories in fields like pop, R&B and country are among those being dropped. Men and women will now compete in each overall field. That is already the case in the field of rock, which does not have male and female vocal categories.
"A great singer is a great singer is a great singer, and somebody that has a gift in terms of their voice, and is at the top of their game in terms of their delivery and emotion, really isn't necessarily defined by gender," Portnow said.
The changes would appear to make it more difficult for artists in lesser-known and less mainstream categories. Tia Carrere won't be taking home any more Grammys for best Hawaiian music album, for example. But she could still win in the new best regional roots music album category, which comprises more genres.
Other changes will require each category to have at least 40 entries instead of 25, and categories that receive between 25 and 39 will have only three nominations instead of four or five.
If a category gets fewer than 25 entries, it will be removed for that year, and if it happens three years in a row, the category will be discontinued and the material will find a new home in a related genre.