After the Grammy's aired last night, I went to a meeting where several of my friends were asking me what I thought about the results this year. Many said that they were underwhelmed by the ceremony, winners and performances. They said the Grammy's weren't what they used to be. While I agreed that the ceremony itself was a bit dull, I didn't agree with their assessment that the Grammy Awards have changed for the worst.
For 58 years, the Grammy Awards have been a way for the Recording Academy to recognize their peers for outstanding work in music from artistry, performance, production, engineering, to songwriting and beyond. All the members of the Recording Academy are industry professionals with at least six technical credits to their name for musical works. Each year, these professionals have attempted to do the impossible: objectively evaluate an art form that is entirely subjective.
Recently, I had the pleasure to attend a Mentor Friday session put on by Harmony Samuels. In this session, a member of the Recording Academy spoke to attendees about the Grammy nomination process. The period of eligibility for a work to be nominated for this year's award show went from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015. The Recording Academy's Grammy selection committee looks at all of the submissions they've received for the year to categorize them by genre, allowing each work, if voted upon, to be placed in the right category.
After all considered works have been categorized, they are sent to the Recording Academy so voters can pick which works they believe should be nominated. After this step, the selection committee deliberates for days, possibly even weeks, upon the top-voted works over which are objectively the most excellent and deserving of the nomination. After five nominees are chosen for each category, ballots are then once again sent out to all Recording Academy members. This ballot decides the winner of each prize.
Read More: Grammys 2016: List of Winners
Many people believe the lack of any fan-voted categories in the Grammy awards proves it is an award show that has no relevance to the viewers. I disagree with this. In order to be truly successful in the music industry, one has to cater and fit into the standards that those already in the industry set daily. This is because there are so many behind-the-scenes business operations in the industry that fans don't see. Do Adele and Taylor Swift have so many fans that they seem as if the rules of the music industry don't apply to them? Some may say yes, but it is crucial to consider that they reached that point because they followed the basic rules of the music industry in the beginning of their careers: have talent, use your talent, and satisfy those who can recognize and spread your talent.
This is what makes the Grammy Awards, like the Oscars, so prestigious. It's completely dictated by the Recording Academy in which members have their own convictions and politics to act out. All those involved with the awards are among their peers in the industry. It is not dictated by popular culture and public whims. How else can it be explained that Esperanza Spalding won Best New Artist in 2011 and Beck won Album of the Year in 2015? The public was shocked at these winners but to the industry professionals who voted, the decision was simply one that they either agreed with or didn't.
So do the Grammy's matter? Yes. Especially to industry professionals who live, breathe and profit off of art. They provide affirmation of talent to nominees and credibility to the winners. They celebrate the artists who rule the charts, proving to haters of pop culture that popular music is popular for a reason. They celebrate lesser-known artists, albeit more quietly but still the recognition is given. They celebrate those who truly live their lives intertwined with the music they help to create.
As a fan of music, an industry where so many creatives don't get the proper compensation for their art, the Grammy's matter to me, too. If someone can't dream of making a living off of their creations, they can at least dream of being recognized for it with a Grammy.
Reach Staff Reporter Nicole Medina here.
Annenberg Media