Like many organizations and businesses, The Grammy’s are learning, changing, and evolving to make certain they are inclusive and reflect the music industry the best way possible. What’s going to change moving forward? Here’s what we know:
1. The “Best Urban Contemporary Album” category will be renamed “Best Progressive R&B Album”
According to Rolling Stones, this category was added to the Grammy’s in 2012 and has been criticized ever since. The Academy was quoted saying “the category should ‘highlight albums that include the more progressive elements of R&B and may include samples and elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music.’”
2. “Best Rap/Sung Performance” category will be changed to “Best Melodic Rap Performance”
Songs considered for this category “requires a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence, and is inclusive of dialects, lyrics or performance elements from non-rap genres including R&B, rock, country, electronic or more,” said WISH-TV.
3. The “Best New Artist” category will no longer have a cap limit
This category usually requires an artist to only have a certain amount of songs released. If they had more, they weren’t considered. The golden number was 30 singles/tracks, which is equivalent to three albums. From now on the “screening committees will determine whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year,” said Rolling Stones.
4. The “Best Latin Pop Album” category is now “Best Latin Pop or Urban Album” and “Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album” is now “Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album”
5. Nomination Review Committees are changing as well
Members of the committee will now serve three years on/one year off instead of their usual five years on/one year off. On the other hand, chairpersons will only serve three years on/two years off instead of their usual five years on/two years off. The maximum years anyone can serve in either position is changing from eight to five as well.
The 63rd Grammy’s will be held on January 31, 2021.
