Streaming music has quickly become the top way of listening to artists in the digital age that we are living in. Today, the Recording Academy made the change to their Grammy consideration, allowing streaming only music to be eligible. The amendment will be in effect for the 2017 Grammy’s, but artist will be eligible for consideration between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016.
The Academy released a press release describing what entails eligible streaming music, “released via general distribution, defined as the nationwide release of a recording via brick and mortar, third-party online retailers, and/or applicable digital streaming services. Applicable streaming services are paid subscription, full catalog, on-demand streaming/limited download platforms that have existed as such within the United States for at least one full year as of the submission deadline”.
The Senior Vice President of Awards for the Recording Academy, Bill Freimuth, spoke on the amendment along with others via Noisey, “The Grammys aren’t just peer-awarded, they’re peer-driven. Throughout the year, members of the music community come to us asking to make changes to the Awards process, and we work with them to figure out how those changes might work,” he says. “I’m proud of this year’s changes because they’re a testament to the artists, producers, writers – the people who rolled up their sleeves to shape the proposals and, in turn, the future of the Grammys. It’s exactly what they should be doing. It’s their award” he added.
Another notable amendment is the decrease in the voting categories for the Academy members to vote for. The Academy member previously voted on 20 categories, plus the main four categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist). That previous number is now down to 15.
Best New Artist category also has new amendments, and they are as follows.
- Must have released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album, but no more than 30 singles/tracks or three albums.
- May not have entered into this category more than three times, including as a performing member of an established group.
- Must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the eligibility period.
The last interesting rule change is the change of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration to Best Rap/Sung Performance. The Recording Academy stated, “intended to recognize solo and collaborative performances containing elements of R&B and rap in melody and song. In the case of a collaboration of artists who don’t usually perform together, one of the collaborating artists should be credited and recognized as a featured artist”.
These changes will make many fans happy, including those who have supported Chance The Rapper’s recent mixtape Coloring Book. The artist posted recently about supporting a petition for the change to the Recording Academy’s rules and fans followed suit. With this rule change, Coloring Book is now eligible to win a Grammy. In the words of Chance, “When the blessings go up, the praises come down”.
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