Five Questions We Have For The GRAMMYs

posted in: Music News

The 54th Annual GRAMMY Award Nominees have been announced and, like every year, people don’t entirely agree with the choices. It’s only natural for fans to be upset that their favorite artist or song wasn’t nominated for a certain category. However, every year there a few head scratchers, not just in the nominations but also in the categories. Therefore, we compiled a list of five questions we have regarding this year’s GRAMMY Award nominations.

1. What’s the difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year?

When the nominees were first announced, we found ourselves wondering the age old question, what is the difference between these two categories? We found it very odd that out of the five songs nominated in each category, four of them were nominated for both awards. It seems rather strange that the one song will likely win two awards for basically the same thing. After some research, we discovered that the Record of the Year is awarded to the song’s performer and production team, while Song of the Year is awarded to song’s writer(s)/composer(s). While this does make some sense (not all artists write their own songs), we still think they should have nominated different songs for each category to at least give us some variety.

2. Where’s the variety for Album of the Year?

We understand that the nominees for Album of the Year are going to be albums that are very popular and sold a lot of copies. We get that. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that this year’s list of nominee’s is dominated by pop. Four out of the five nominees are pop artists, leaving only the Foo Fighters, who seem to have become the token rock band for award shows. We would have liked to see some love for a hip hop album like Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Not only did that album sell well over a million copies, but it was also widely hailed as the best album of last year by most music critics. The fact that it was left off the list is puzzling.

3. Sum 41 is Metal?

While the GRAMMYs have been known to not really understand metal, we’re still surprised by the nominees for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance every year. Of course, this isn’t as egregious as giving the award to Jethro Tull over Metallica like they did in 1989, but it’s still a head scratcher. We’re not hating on Sum 41, we just think that there were so many other great metal albums this year that the GRAMMYs could have nominated if they looked a little deeper. We think they should consult OurStage’s resident metal expert next year before announcing the nominations.

4. Do we really need three separate awards for packaging?

We’re hardcore music fans, so we understand the importance of great packaging. Everyone loves reading through liner notes, flipping through picture books that come with the deluxe reissue of your favorite album and reading handwritten lyrics from the writer themselves. However, we think it’s a bit redundant to give three separate awards for Best Recording Package, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition and Best Album Notes. We think these three categories could be streamlined into just one category. After all, the GRAMMYs are about the music, right?

5. Where’s Beyoncé?

Beyoncé has been a mainstay at the GRAMMYs her entire career, winning a total of sixteen awards and holding the record for most wins in one night by a female artist (six). However, this year she only received two nominations, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Long Form Music Video. While getting nominated for two GRAMMY Awards would be an honor for anyone, we’re surprised Beyoncé wasn’t nominated for any of the four “General Field” categories. Was it because her newest album, 4, sold less copies than her previous albums? Are we the only ones who think 4 is still great?

Did any other GRAMMY nominations/snubs make you confused? Let us know in the comments!