Grammys revamped for 2018: online voting, nomination review committee for rap and more changes

In a bid to woo younger voters and viewers, the Recording Academy has made some sweeping changes to the Grammy Awards.

Some of the reshuffles have been in the pipeline for some time.

But they became more urgent after this year’s Grammys as major music makers loudly and publicly proclaimed the Grammys old fashioned and irrelevant

Drake and Justin Bieber waved off attending, and Frank Ocean refused to have his album up for nomination.

The major change is that songwriters will finally be added to the nominees for Album of the Year. Previously only artists, producers and engineers were listed.

However, from now on, all artists, producers, engineers and songwriters must now have a minimum of 33% playing time on a record to be eligible for nomination.

Previously, anyone who worked on a single track could automatically be nominated for Album of the Year.

This would particularly affect pop, rap and contemporary R&B albums where teams of many behind-the-scenes producers and creatives work to make the music come alive.

For instance, several of this year’s nominees for the category – Beyonce’s Lemonade, Drake’s Views and Justin Bieber’s Purpose – had 20 producers listed. Adele’s winning 25 has eleven.

In contrast, the fifth nominee, country singer Sturgill Simpson, produced his record by himself.

To also entice younger members of its 13,000 members, voting is going online. It will also cater for musicians who’re on the road during the voting period in the northern fall.

Voting for 83 categories covers songs and albums released between October 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017.

Nomination review committees have been added to rap, contemporary instrumental and New Age.

It includes people who are experts in those styles. The committees were initially set up in 1989 to avoid famous Grammy embarrassments in the past.

These have included Jethro Tull winning a Metal category, and Hootie & The Blowfish trumping Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain for Best Newcomer.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s win for Best Rap Album in 2014 over Kendrick Lamar was such a downer that even a mortified Macklemore apologised.

Rock, R&B, and country have had their own committees since 1989, along with 12 other genres.

Recording Academy VP Bill Freimuth explains, “There may be certain genres within our awards categories where the demographic that tends to participate in making that particular music might be more tech savvy in general, or might have more of a mobile lifestyle than certain other genres, and we think this might appeal to those folks.”

The definition of an album has also changed.

Previously it had to last 15 minutes and had five tracks; now it must have a minimum playing time of 15 minutes with five distinctive tracks or minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track.

This is to cater for those genres like classical, dance, and jazz where track lengths are hugely variable.

The 2018 Grammys will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York on January 28.