Are the Grammy Awards Biased?
Writer: Michelle Olatunji
Editor: Sophia Millar
"Thank you, Beyoncé."
If you’re on social media, you've likely fallen victim to any media containing these three words. Beyoncé is a major name in the music industry and she has certainly earned the awards and achievements to back it up. An example is her 88 GRAMMY nominations and 32 award wins as of 2024. Although the ceremony and awards have gathered many fans, the process by which artists are nominated and selected is not well-known.
Out of the big four awards—Oscar, Emmy, and Tony—the GRAMMYs were the last created, emerging in about 1958. The GRAMMYs (originally coined The Gramophone Awards) are awarded for outstanding achievements and contributions within the music industry.
The awards process begins with record submissions. Recording Academy members and record companies submit records and music videos to move to the next step. The submissions must be from within the year of eligibility. This period typically starts around September of the previous year and ends within 12 months. The record release cutoff period ends at the same time as the online entry period for the screening process to begin.
But to become a Recording Academy member there is another process to go through. While the process isn't too extensive, there are three mandatory criteria. Firstly, your career focus must be primarily music. This could be marketing/promotion, online presence, awards/honours, a support system made of professionals, and press by relevant outlets. Secondly, anyone interested in applying needs to get 2 strong recommendations from current RA members. And finally, you must have at least 12 credits on tracks available in the US. Out of these, 5 of them must be within 5 years of the application date. Even with these criteria, there are special circumstances worked out in the favour of GRAMMY nominees and recipients. If you have been nominated for a GRAMMY you do not need all 12 credits; if you have won a GRAMMY in your year of application you don't need any recommendations.
This year's submission eligibility period was from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024. During the screening process, submissions are reviewed by a team of over 350 experts in different fields. They are the ones who ensure that records meet all qualifications, and are placed in the proper category. Placements include the two larger sub-categories: General Field with six non-genre-specific awards, and 11 separate genre-specific fields with 88 award categories. These fields are:
1 - Pop & Dance/Electronic (7)
2 - Rock, Metal & Alternative (6)
3 - R&B, Rap & Spoken Word Poetry (10)
4 - Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theater (9)
5 - Country & American Roots (13)
6- Gospel & Contemporary Christian (5)
7 - Latin, Global, Reggae & New Age, Ambient or Chant (10)
8 - Children's, Comedy, Audio Books, Visual Media & Music Video/Film (9)
9 - Package, Notes & Historical (4)
10 - Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement (7)
11 - Classical (8)
Before their disbandment in 2021, voting committees would be sent the top 30 candidates and be tasked with deciding the final 5 to 10 nominees. This was a controversial practice as it disregarded the thousands of members who spent time screening and voting for the potential winners. Essentially, this meant that instead of having a diverse body of individuals create the final nominee lineup, a condensed group would decide instead.
In addition, another hot topic within the awards show is the award for "Best New Artist", this award goes to an artist that had a breakthrough release within the submission period. However, the issue with this is while there is a minimum of at least 5 singles or an album release to be considered, there is no maximum...This means an artist could have released countless albums and still win Best New Artist years after their debut. Such as Victoria Monét, the 2024 winner who released her first single in 2014 and album four years later.
While the GRAMMYs have gone through many changes for better or for worse over their 66 years of recognition, one thing that stays the same is the various nominations in respective of the well-rounded categories. For the 2025, 67th GRAMMY Awards there is a rather extensive list of potential winners awaiting the show set to take place on Sunday, February 2nd. For General Field, there are 6-8 nominees in each of the 6 categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Producer of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year.
I recommend checking the official list at https://www.grammy.com/news/2025-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list to find details on this year's diverse nominee body!
Works Cited
Musical Instrument Museum. “History of the Grammy Awards.” Musical Instrument Museum, 6 Mar. 2023, mim.org/history-of-the-grammy-awards/#:~:text=Determined%20to%20rectify%20this%2C%20the,reference%20to%20Emile%20Berliner’s%20gramophone.
Recording Academy. Recording Academy Membership, 2023, members.recordingacademy.com/s/?language=en_US#:~:text=Joining%20The%20Academy,email%20address%20for%20the%20candidate.
Recording Academy. “The Grammy Awards Voting Process.” Recording Academy, 2024, www.recordingacademy.com/awards/voting-process.