It’s an undeniable fact that this year has been full of musical masterpieces left and right from almost every genre, which shows in the nominations for this year’s annual Grammy Awards ceremony. Hosted by the Recording Academy of America on February 2 in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, this prestigious awards ceremony highlights the masterminds of the songwriting world.
Although many in the music industry strive to win one of the elusive “gramophones” — a gold-plated replica of an original record player — the process to become nominated is not an easy feat. According to a record label website, for a release to be entered it must be sold in stores or available for download during September of the previous year, and additionally be an original work. To be considered an album, the recording must be at least thirty minutes in length, or over fifteen minutes long, with five or more tracks. Following these requirements, the work must be entered for consideration by a professional or voting member of the Recording Academy, and then be accepted as one of the nominations, assuming it meets the criteria (soundplate.com).
Some may believe that the Grammy Awards are only won by famous pop singers, but every year a diverse cast of genres are selected along with non-artist members of the music industry. According to Britannica, “Winners are selected from more than 25 fields, which cover such genres as pop, rock, rap, R&B, country, reggae, classical, gospel, and jazz, as well as production and postproduction work, including packaging and album notes. Four general awards are also given for record, album, song of the year, and best new artist; in total more than 75 awards are presented” (britannica.com). Record, album, song of the year, and best new artist are highly sought after and are typically considered the most prestigious awards within the music industry.
In these four categories, we see many faces, old and new. Ranging from artists like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, who had their big break this year, to those who have seen their fair share of fame within the Grammys, such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, and unsurprisingly Beyoncé, who has achieved her ninety-ninth nomination this year, keeping her spot as the most nominated person within the Grammys (grammy.com).
Over the years, Peter Gene Hernandez, commonly known as Bruno Mars, has been nominated for 31 Grammy Awards, incredibly winning 15 of those (billboard.com). Deviating from his typical R&B, Pop and Hip-Hop music, Bruno Mars released two new songs this year, both duets that blew up online. Singing alongside K-Pop artist Rosé, the song “APT” based on the Korean drinking game Apateu skyrocketed in popularity. Despite this, his collaboration with Lady Gaga to produce “Die with a Smile” was arguably better, being nominated this year in two categories. Junior Mariela Dubi said, “I think that it’s very deserved that Bruno Mars is nominated for both Song of the Year and Duet of the Year, his song Die with a Smile with Lady Gaga is one of the most catchy songs I’ve heard in a while, and I’m so glad he has this opportunity.”
Gaining popularity this year, pop artist Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, better known by her stage name Chappell Roan, was nominated for six different nominations including Record, Song, and Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album. Sophomore Willow Boerner said, “She started really small, performing on her college campus, but one song transformed her into an internet ‘femininomenon.’ It’s really nice to see such a strong queer artist with really empowering music being recognized in such a big way with six nominations this year, especially with the lack of representation that we normally see.” This sort of representation from a queer artist is a necessity on such a big stage like the Grammys Awards Ceremony, as artists who have distinctive queer songs are typically not celebrated as publicly as Chappell Roan will be this year.
As the final predictions for who’s to win these high class awards start to come to a close, we prepare to see the decisions made by the Recording Academy on who’s won which awards. Regardless of who one wants to win in each respective category, the whole world is waiting in anticipation for the winners of the most prestigious musical awards of the year. Ranging from Best New Artist to Album of the Year, each category showcases incredible talent in the musical industry. As the countdown begins, excitement builds in both fans and artists, proving the impact the Grammy Awards has on the entertainment industry.