From Wikipedia
Quote:
The 'Grammy Award' is an accolade given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.
Record companies and individuals may submit recordings to be nominated. Nominations are made online and a physical copy of the work is sent to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held, by more than 150 experts from the recording industry, to determine whether the work is eligible and entered in the correct category for official nomination.The resulting list is circulated to all NARAS members, each of whom may vote to nominate in the general field (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) and in no more than nine out of 30 other fields on their ballots. The five recordings that earn the most votes in each category become the nominees. There may be more than five nominees if there is a tie in the nomination process.
Whereas members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are generally invited to screenings or are sent DVDs of movies nominated for Oscars, NARAS members do not receive nominated recordings.
Academy members are required to vote based upon quality alone, and not to be influenced by sales, chart performance, personal friendships, regional preferences or company loyalty. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited. Members are urged to vote in a manner that preserves the integrity of the academy.
Because thousands of recordings appear each year and very few voting members have heard more than a relatively small number of them, it is likely that many individual votes will be cast by voters who are unfamiliar with all the recordings nominated in that category. Additionally, because of the small number of votes cast in many of the categories, a lobbying campaign for a particular recording may need only a few dozen votes for success. Large choruses have achieved Grammy awards after persuading many of their members to join NARAS.
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I have come to question the validity of the Grammy Awards.
The Grammy Awards is regarded as the most prestigious ceremony in all of the music industry. I'm wondering if its anything more than a popularity contest.
As this article states, most of the voters are unfamiliar with the majority of submissions and nominations. Because of this, voters are forced to vote for the pieces of music that they are most familiar with. Music that is promoted on a grand scale and most popular with listeners is more likely to be heard by NASAR members and more likely to be nominated and awarded. Music, even if it is of very high quality, that is not heavily promoted and popular is less likely to be heard by NASAR members and less likely nominated and awarded.
Therefore, the Grammy Awards are mostly a popularity contest rather than a meaningful ceremony for honoring quality music.
Many submissions and nominated works are overlooked in favor of smash hits.
How can a NASAR member possibly say that something is 'The Album of the Year' if they haven't even given all of the eligible albums a chance?
How can a NASAR member possibly call a song or record 'The Song of the Year' or 'The Record of the Year' if they haven't reviewed and considered each song?
How can NASAR say that the Grammys are a ceremony in honor of good music rather a popularity contest when it is almost impossible for the voters to consider the quality of each submitted work and not vote for pieces of music just because they know them well?
Yesterday, I saw albums like '4', which garnered more acclaim then 4 of the 5 nominees, and 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', which garnered more acclaim then all 5 of the nominees, get
snubbed (IN THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR CATEGORY)because they were not as popular and well-promoted.
It's like the Academy totally forgot about quality.
Is there any worth left in that golden gramophone trophy? Does winning a Grammy really mean that an artist made the very best song/record/album of the year? Or does winning a Grammy just mean that an artist is more popular and well-known then their fellow nominees?
Does winning a Grammy mean anything anymore?
Discuss.
