The Grammys have been losing their lustre for a long while now, and after last year's lifeless ceremony and wildly low ratings, music's biggest award show is adding a bunch of new categories to its already overstuffed and often confusing roster of awards.
As reported by Variety, the Recording Academy has just announced a handful of new categories and rule changes. The major addition to the categories is Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical, which is intended to recognize "the most prolific non-performing and non-producing songwriters for their body of new work released during an eligibility year."
They've also added categories for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Americana Performance, plus awards for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, and Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
The weirdest new addition is definitely the "Special Merit Award Addition" for Best Song for Social Change. The Academy describes the award as having to "contain lyrical content that addresses a timely social issue and promotes understanding, peacebuilding, and empathy." Sounds...interesting.
In addition to the new categories, they've also announced a new rule that albums nominated for awards need to include at least 75 percent new material; the previous threshold was 50 percent. Will these changes finally save the Grammys? We'll see.
As reported by Variety, the Recording Academy has just announced a handful of new categories and rule changes. The major addition to the categories is Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical, which is intended to recognize "the most prolific non-performing and non-producing songwriters for their body of new work released during an eligibility year."
They've also added categories for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Americana Performance, plus awards for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, and Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
The weirdest new addition is definitely the "Special Merit Award Addition" for Best Song for Social Change. The Academy describes the award as having to "contain lyrical content that addresses a timely social issue and promotes understanding, peacebuilding, and empathy." Sounds...interesting.
In addition to the new categories, they've also announced a new rule that albums nominated for awards need to include at least 75 percent new material; the previous threshold was 50 percent. Will these changes finally save the Grammys? We'll see.
