The nominations for the 2021 Grammys were announced on November 20th, and along with many well-deserved nominations were a good handful of snubs. There is much to take into consideration when looking into the voting process of the awards. The voting process itself is fairly clear, however, difficult to piece together and understand. The committee behind the voting on the other hand, is much more opaque.
This year, the talk around voting has music enthusiasts in a confused frenzy, wondering why certain artists or albums did not receive nominations into their respective, and expected categories.
I wish I could explain the process quickly and clearly, but the truth is there is much more background needed to explore the issues of an inherently corrupt system. As for clarity, I’m not sure there is such a thing in this industry.
With that being said, the voting process is extremely thorough, and is constantly being reviewed and improved- this gives me conflicting thoughts in the way I (and all of social media) is criticizing the situation.
Let’s start from the beginning:
What are the GRAMMYS?
The GRAMMYS are most well known for their awards, but there is much more to it.
“The GRAMMY are the only peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position,” explains .musc.”
In addition to the awards, there is The GRAMMY University Network (GRAMMY U), created to support college students who are pursuing careers in the industry. There is also the GRAMMY Foundation founded in 1988. The program hosts activities that engage the industry and its community, and recognizes issues “such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage.” Lastly, there is the GRAMMY Museum which explores and celebrates the legacy of music in all of its forms.
Categories
The Grammy Awards are made up of 30 fields, and 84 categories. The fields include the General Field (with categories like Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year), Pop Field (Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group), Gospel, World Music, Alternative, Jazz, Comedy, Musical Theatre, and more you can explore here. Many of the awards don’t get any screen time, as the show has almost become more about landing a performance spot rather than a physical award.
The Recording Academy
The Recording Academy is a not-for-profit that represents the community of music makers. “The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals,” says the Academy. There are three official classifications for Recording Academy members: voting, professional, and student. Voting members consist of those involved with the music first hand; artists, musicians, producers, etc. Professionals are music industry workers who are more involved on the backend of things. Student members are those studying to be a part of the industry.
To see the qualifications to join the Academy, click here.
Who Votes
Only the Recording Academy voting members are eligible to vote in the awards, which means Grammy winners are determined “by the artists', musicians', songwriters' and producers' peers.”
Winner Eligibility
Nominees do not have to be a member of the Recording Academy themselves, however, their work must be submitted by either a Recording Academy member or a registered media company.
Eligibility is determined based on the release period of Oct. 1 of the previous year through Aug. 31 of the current year. So, for this year, only music released from October 2019 through August of 2020 will be considered.
In terms of technical release, "Recordings must be commercially released in general distribution in the United States, i.e. sales by label to a branch or recognized independent distributor, via the internet or mail order/retail sales for a nationally marketed product. Recordings must be available for sale from any date within the eligibility period through at least the date of the current year’s voting deadline (final ballot)."
The Voting Process
Recording Academy members and registered media companies are invited to submit entries for consideration. Approximately 350 experts in various fields help determine whether or not each entry is eligible. Those that meet eligibility requirements are then voted on by the Recording Academy's voting members.
The members who vote in the first round, which determines the nominees, can only vote in their area of expertise, and in up to 15 of the Grammy Awards' genre categories, as well as in the four all-genre general field categories. Some categories are also examined by national nomination review committees and/or craft committees. In the final voting round, members vote once again in up to 15 categories, as well as three general field categories.
Grammy Awards ballots are tabulated by Deloitte, an independent accounting firm, and results are not known until the night of the Grammy Awards. Deloitte delivers each winner's name in a sealed envelope that is not opened until the ceremony.
Now, before I get into the Grammy drama of the past few years, think about which artists were neglected this time around: The Weekend, first and foremost. Then maybe Justin Bieber, then maybe Harry Styles? These were the big ones, and although these artists absolutely deserved more, for argument's sake, let's focus on the fact that these are three very successful men, and dig a bit.
Last year’s big Grammy scandal was the then-CEO Deborah Dugan being placed on administrative leave just 10 days before the 2020 awards, after “formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member” of the organization.
Dugan, who was the organization’s first female chief executive, responded in a 44-page complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging “gender discrimination, sexual harassment and unequal pay on the part of the academy.
The claim stated that her suspension took place after Dugan raised concerns to a human resources executive that the academy was operating under “a boys club mentality.”
Dugan was hired the previous year following backlash aimed at the Academy over a 2018 remark from former executive Neil Portnow insensitively stating that female artists should “step up” if they want equal representation as nominees.
More on last year’s issues here.
Dugan was officially fired in March of 2020, and along with her termination went the investigations of her case. The academy was as opaque with this case as it has been with all other drama surrounding the company.
What was in fact released was information stating that due to the heavy backlash of the toxic environment of the Academy, the complicated voting process was thoroughly reviewed. Led by a Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion headed by Tina Tchen, a former Obama White House staffer, the task force examined the Academy’s nominating and voting process since March 2018.
Refinery29 said, “As a result of this, the Academy agreed to a series of recommendations aimed at diversifying its leadership, membership, and awards, which included efforts to reach 50/50 gender representation between men and women on their awards committees. The Academy also invited more than 1,300 new members to join its ranks last year, with an eye towards diversifying its voting body.”
According to the Task Force, the nominations review committee (who participates in the last round of voting), was 74% male from 2015-2017. This year 47% of Grammy nominations went to women, making it a record breaking year for female artists. So, little by little the disheveled pieces are being picked up. However, this committee is still kept extremely confidential.
This statistic also brings up the question: do artists get accidentally left out in the attempt to diversify the Grammy awards?
In the digging of previous Recording Academy dirt, I wonder if the improvements and breaking-of-records are only minor accomplishments in the larger scheme of things, or if the Academy is truly getting better. And, in a corrupt system on the back end, with a fair voting system on the front end, how can we really judge the fairness of it all?
The thing to remember about the voting, is that it’s done only by industry professionals and artists. They are all voting on their peers. When fans don’t like the outcome, well that might just simply be the result of the fans not being able to vote.
I raise all of these questions and present the facts in hope that this can provoke deeper thinking in fans, and give a clearer understanding of one of the biggest events in music. Moving forward, all we can do is keep fighting for change, and believe that The Weekend and J Biebs will be ok.