Grammys Axe Anonymous Voting Committees, Add New Categories

The Weeknd called the award show "corrupt". 

Over the past year, a number of artists including The Weeknd, Zayn Malik and Halsey have called out the Grammys for their controversial voting process. 

In fact, the Weeknd vowed not to submit his work for consideration at the annual awards ceremony after his 2020 album After Hours didn't receive any nominations for the 2021 show.

The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency...

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020

Considering you couldn't get in your car or scroll down social media without hearing "Blinding Lights", which spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the snub was definitely weird.

"It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and 'bribes' that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as 'not-bribes'," Halsey wrote on her Insta story in November 2020.

Additionally, in March 2021, Malik tweeted an angry message about the awards five days before the ceremony was due to take place. 

"Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there's no nomination considerations. Next year I'll send you a basket of confectionary," the former One Direction star wrote.

So, what was the problem with the voting process?

Well, the Grammys have had an anonymous voting committee in place since 1989. 

This committee cuts down the nomination choices made by the members of the Recording Academy, ultimately deciding who appears on the final ballots. 

Voting committees included 15 – 30 "highly-skilled music peers" who would have the final say across 72 categories. While regular members were involved in the process too, their votes could be overruled by the voting committee. 

Why is the committee anonymous? 'Cos those who serve in it have their identities protected to avoid being influenced by any external figures or being attacked by fans.

In the past, artists including Nicki Minaj, Teyana Taylor and Wiz Khalifa have also spoken out about how the voting process should be more transparent to avoid perpetuating racism and sexism. 

Right, so what's happened now?

Over the weekend, it was announced that the organisers of the Grammys have scrapped their anonymous voting committees in response to the backlash.

According to BBC, the Recording Academy said its voting members would instead select next year's nominations and winners.

The Recording Academy added that more than 90 per cent of its members would go through a "requalification process" to make sure that the voting body "is actively engaged in music creation". 

While this may be a step in the right direction, the Grammys have also also added two new categories: Best Global Music Performance (Global Music Field) and Best Música Urbana Album (Latin Music Field).

As both performers and music fans have pointed out, these types of categories can be used to segregate BIPOC artists. 

yea it’s just very tiring still seeing these global categories being added or amplified. to me it’s just all an excuse to push aside and ostracize

— josie (@vfxjimin) April 30, 2021

Header Image: Joshua Blanchard / Stringer / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images