Understanding the Grammys

Whether you’ve tuned in to the Grammy Awards before or have decided that the annual ceremony has little-to-no significance to music in general, one thing remains true with each passing year: The Grammys can be very confusing.

When December rolls around and the nominees are announced a lot of questions are asked about things, such as, who decides which artists are nominated; how are those artists considered in the first place; and what exactly is the difference between record of the year and song of the year?

One detail many fans may point out after the nominees are announced is that some of the songs and albums seem relatively old. That is due to the eligibility requirements, which are a bit odd and difficult to remember: For music to be considered for Grammy recognition this year, albums must have been released between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017.

This explains the nomination for albums such as “24k Magic” by Bruno Mars, released way back in November 2016.

Before any songs are even nominated they must first be submitted. The recording academy receives over 20,000 entries every year, and all submissions that meet the eligibility requirements are voted on, resulting in the official nominees.

Who votes on the nominees and the overall winners? Affiliates of the recording academy, who are professional industry members who have credits on commercially released tracks. This includes songwriters, vocalists, producers, and many more.

Another element that makes the annual ceremony more complex is the impressive amount of award categories. With all the different genres of music being recognized on one given night, it adds up to a total of 84 categories across 30 different fields.

Standing out from the numerous genre-specific categories comes those that are often dubbed “the big four.” These include record of the year; song of the year; album of the year; and best new artist.

It seems that year after year, there are still many fans who have a hard time deciphering the difference between record and song of the year. This is no surprise, considering the two categories appear very similar at first glance, each recognizing individual songs that sometimes overlap the two categories. The main difference is that record of the year recognizes the work of both the artist and all of the producers and engineers involved, while song of the year recognizes contributions from the songwriter.

This year’s Grammy Awards will celebrate 60 years of the ceremony. The show will be hosted by James Corden and held in Madison Square Garden in New York. This is the first time the show will held outside of Los Angeles since 2003.

For a full list of nominees, profiles on nominated artists, and to learn more about the awards, visit Grammy.com.

Advocate Staff