Effective immediately, The Recording Academy has implemented major changes to their rules and guidelines in an effort to assure their audience that their nomination process is fair for all. To further provide clarity on their system to the community, categories including Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Rap/Sung Performance Category, and Latin Pop Album have been renamed and redefined. Additionally, changes have been made to the eligibility and terms of the Best New Artist category and the ceremony’s Nominations Review Committees as the Grammy’s is making efforts to address potential conflicts of interest.

In response to the newly announced Grammy Awards process, Chair & Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy Harvey Mason Jr. says, “I’m excited to announce our latest changes, as we’re constantly evaluating our Awards process and evolving it to ensure the GRAMMY Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry.”

Mason Jr. continues, “The Academy accepts proposals for rule changes from members of the music community throughout the year that are carefully reviewed and, if accepted, ultimately ratified at our annual Board meeting, a process that we are proud to have continued in this challenging year.” 

Bill Freimuth, Chief Awards Officer at the Recording Academy, also shared his thoughts, stating, “As a peer-driven and peer-voted award, members of the music community are directly involved in the growth and preservation of the GRAMMYs® process.” He continues, “Each year we receive a number of rule change proposals from artists, producers and songwriters asking us to reevaluate our process to better reflect the current state of the music industry and how it’s evolved over the past 12 months.”

New changes to the Grammy Awards system were recently approved during the Recording Academy’s semiannual Board of Trustees meeting. Moving forward, the new rules of the Grammy Awards are set to be in effect for the upcoming 63rd annual ceremony.

Feature Image via Dancing Astronaut