GRAMMY nominations: a formality or a celebration of true talent?

Nominations for the annual GRAMMY awards were officially announced on Friday, November 10th. 

The announcement, which aims to celebrate the greatest in music this year, is always bound to cause controversy, with fans of different artists feeling their favourite singer is most deserving. But have the nomination lists become too predictable? Or are the most popular artists always bound to take home the most prestigious awards?

This year in music has certainly been dominated by women, and this was well-represented in the nominations. Beyoncé received the most nominations, racking up 11 for her genre-bending country album “Cowboy Carter”. Other artists who received masses of nominations include Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, and Kendrick Lamar. 

An artist that fans were surprised to see absent from the major categories was Ariana Grande, who returned to music this year with her album “eternal sunshine”. Many feel her hit song “we can’t be friends” was ‘snubbed’. After all, the song was everywhere at one point this year. Grande only received 3 nominations in the Pop and Dance categories, noticeably absent from the major awards.

Another controversy came from the Recording Academy’s choice to nominate Sabrina Carpenter in the ‘Best New Artist’ category, despite her already having released 6 albums. The GRAMMYs define the category as when an artist has ‘broken through into the mainstream’, rather than when they technically debuted. Sabrina Carpenter has obviously had a massive impact this year, but her previous album already included popular songs like “Feather” and “Nonsense”. This has made many people question whether it is fair for her to be nominated for and possibly win this category.

Many of the same artists are nominated in the three general categories: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. This can make the awards feel stale, but isn’t this bound to happen in an industry where ‘stan’ culture rewards only those with the most popularity?

It’s difficult to predict what the Recording Academy will vote for each year. Some voters value the musical production, while others base it on popularity and reception. Everyone has their own biases, resulting in an award show that can never objectively assess the most talented artist. What is meant to be a celebration of musicians inevitably becomes fuel for online drama.

Edited by: Eleanor Robinson