Entertainment
Grammys makes major changes to awards process after criticism of ‘secret committees’
Major changes are being made to the way The Grammys nominations are voted for, after facing criticism from fans and artists alike.
The Recording Academy said nominations for the general and genre fields will now be voted on by a majority of members rather than anonymous groups of experts from within the academy.
The changes will come into effect for the 64th Grammy Awards, which are set to take place on January 31, 2022.
The Recording Academy said: ‘With this change, the results of Grammy nominations and winners are placed back in the hands of the entire voting membership body, giving further validation to the peer-recognised process.’
Previously, nominations for record, album and song of the year were decided by committees consisting of at least 20 members, by shortening the list of the wider membership’s original choices.
The Weeknd previously criticised the nomination process, saying he would be boycotting future events.
‘Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,’ he told The New York Times.
The star was expected to pick up nominations for his song Blinding Lights, which despite being released in November 2019, was one of the biggest songs of 2020.
Zayn Malik also previously hit out at the Grammys, writing on Twitter: ‘F**k the grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary [sic],’ he wrote.
He later offered clarification as to what spurred on his comment and explained: ‘My tweet was not personal or about eligibility but was about the need for inclusion and the lack of transparency of the nomination process and the space that creates and allows favoritism, racism, and netwokring [sic] politics to influence the voting process.’
This year’s Grammys were held in March, with Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Lady Gaga winning big.
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