Seven Takeaways from the 2020 Grammy Nominations Announcement

Nominations for the 2020 Grammy Awards were announced on Wednesday morning (11/20).  Leading the pack is Lizzo, who is up for eight awards. She is followed by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X with six nods a piece, and Ariana Grande and H.E.R. with five nods a piece. A full list of nominees can be found here. The Grammy Awards telecast is set to take place January 26.

With the announcement of this year’s Grammy nominees list, VinylBay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a closer look at some of its highlights and lowlights. Here are seven things we took away from this year’s announcement.

1.       Women are dominating the big four categories: The Grammys have been in hot water for the last few years about how women have been represented in their nominations and winners lists. Tides seem to be changing though. As Billboard points out, this is the second year in a row where five of the eight nominees for Album of the Year and Best New Artist are women. Seven of the eight Song of the Year nominees are performed by female artists.

2.       But not rap: While the bigger categories seem to be getting more diverse, the genre categories are still lacking that same diversity, and in some senses falling backward. That is what seems to have happened in the rap category this year. Rolling Stone pointed out that there are no women nominated for any of the rap categories despite many very eligible artists who are having a moment right now. Megan Thee Stallion released her debut this year, not to mention had one of the songs of the summer with “Hot Girl Summer.” Lizzo wasn’t included in the rap category either, instead putting her in the more female-friendly R&B categories. The only female artist on the nominations list is Cardi B, who featured on husband Offset’s single “Clout.” Even the notoriously male-dominated rock and alternative categories had a few women getting nods for songs they had top-billing on (Karen O, Brittney Howard, The Cranberries), so this is a head-scratcher.

3.       Newcomers are reigning king: This seems to be one of the first years in a while where new artists are dominating the big four categories. The three top-nominated artists have never been nominated for a Grammy before. Lizzo and Billie Eilish’s nominations in all four of those major categories also marks the first time two artists have achieved that feat in the same year, not to mention they are only the 11^th and 12^th artists to ever do so.

4.       The Grammys still haven’t figured out what K-Pop is: Considering that K-Pop has exploded in popularity lately, it seems odd that there are no artists in the genre nominated for an award, not even in the international categories (which other award shows have done). With BTS breaking all sorts of chart records with April’s ‘Map Of The World: Persona,’ this seems like a bigger than usual snub.

5.       Latin is getting another boost: While the Recording Academy’s knowledge of K-Pop might be weak, Latin music’s popularity continues to shine. Rosalia has become the first Spanish-language artist to be nominated for Best New Artist. Unfortunately, this is Latin’s only mainstream spot this year. All other tracks are only being honored in the Latin categories.

6.       Posthumous awards: Nipsey Hustle dominated the rap categories this year. He got Best Rap Performance and Song nods for his single “Racks In The Middle,” which was released just weeks before he was fatally shot, as well as a Best Rap/Sung Performance nod for his featured spot on DJ Khaled’s single “Higher.” The Recording Academy also nominated The Cranberries ‘In The End’ for Best Rock Album, honoring her nearly two years after frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan’s untimely passing.

7.       Popularity Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Getting the Nomination: Ultimately, popularity doesn’t seem to be the deciding factor when it comes to nominations. In the last decade especially, there have been a lot of head-scratching inclusions on the nominations lists, most notably and controversially with the big four categories. Bon Iver makes that list again as his album ‘I,I’ was nominated for Album of the Year and its single “Hey Ma” was nominated for Record of the Year seemingly out of the blue. The album wasn’t necessarily a big hit overall, topping out at 26 on the Billboard 200 and “Hey Ma” not even charting on the Hot 100. Bon Iver was in a similar spot in 2012 when he won Best New Artist over Nicki Minaj. Other odd inclusions for 2020 include Black Pumas and Tank And The Bangas, who were both nominated for Best New Artist even though neither one have spent much time on the charts, or appear anywhere else in the nominations.

The 2020 Grammy nominations list may have its ups and downs, especially when it comes to inclusion. However, there is no denying that this year’s awards will be an interesting night of music and firsts.

---

Find music from this years and past Grammy-winning artists at Vinyl Bay 777. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres to choose from. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

Grammy Awards 2018 Nominees Announced: Six Takeaways

The nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards were announced Tuesday morning. Now in its 60^th year, the show is slated to air January 28 on CBS.

The Grammy Awards has been honoring the best in all genres of music for six decades now. Leading the pack in nominations this year is Jay-Z, whose new album, ‘4:44,’ received a total of eight nods. Following close behind are Kendrick Lamar with seven and Childish Gambino and Bruno Mars with five each.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a closer look at some of this year’s Grammy nominees. From diversity to posthumous awards and history-making nominations, here are six interesting takeaways from this year’s list.

1.       Rap was very popular this year: In recent years, the Grammys has been plagued by criticism over the lack of diversity in their nominees. That gap decreases slightly this year, as hip-hop and R&B are finally getting their due. As stated previously, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Bruno Mars are all dominating the nominees list. Rap also fills the New Artists category this year with Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert and SZA all vying for the award.

2.       The lines of dance and alternative were blurred: There are always a couple of head-scratchers when it comes to nominations. The one that sticks out this year is the nomination of Gorillaz and LCD Soundsystem for Best Dance Recording. While Gorillaz did make an album this year with electronic leanings, both are a big surprise to find in this category. Both are also nominated in the Best Alternative Album category as well, which seems more understandable.

3.       Posthumous rock nods: The rock world lost a lot of icons this year and the Grammys are recognizing a few of them. Leonard Cohen, whose final album ‘You Want It Darker’ was released in October 2016, three weeks after the eligibility cut-off for last year’s ceremony, is nominated in the Best Rock Performance category this year for the album’s haunting title track, as well as in Best American Roots Performance for the non-single “Steer Your Way.” Late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is also nominated for Rock Performance, picking up a solo nod for his one-off single “The Promise,” which was released as a charity single benefiting the International Rescue Committee. Finally, Gregg Allman is up for two awards: Best Americana Album for ‘Southern Blood’ and Best American Roots Song for “My Only True Friend.”

4.       ‘La La Land’ continues to shine: There is no doubt that ‘La La Land’ was a huge success when it came out in December of 2016. The film won six of its 14 Oscar nods and dominated the Golden Globes. Apparently the film is still riding high because it is nominated for four awards, including all three Visual Media categories and a composition award for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.

5.       “Despacito” is the first Latin track in a while to be nominated for the big awards: It was very hard to escape the sound of “Despacito” coming out of every speaker over the last year. The break-out crossover single from Luis Fonsi was everywhere and the Grammys are giving it its due. The song is nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, as well as Pop Duo/Group Performance. According to Billboard, the last time a Latin crossover song took the English-speaking world like this was in 2000 when Ricky Martin’s “Living La Vida Loca” was blowing up.

6.       Kesha got her first Grammy nods: Over the last seven years, Kesha has been a pop powerhouse with a handful of top 10 singles and two top 10 albums to her name. But in all that time, she has never received a Grammy nomination. That is until now. Her latest album, ‘Rainbow,’ has produced two nominations for her, one for Best Pop Vocal Album and one for Best Pop Solo Performance for the beautiful and powerful “Praying.”

With the announcement of the 2018 Grammy nominees this morning, the Recording Academy continues to honor some of the best music of the year. Honoring a more diverse group of artists this year, as well as artists who truly had banner years in their careers, the award show’s 60^th year is looking to be a good one.

---

Find award-winning music from these artists and more at Long Island’s top new independent record shop, Vinyl Bay 777. We have thousands of titles to choose from in a wide variety of genres. Browse our selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia in store at our Plainview location or shop online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

New Grammy Rule Amendments Announced - What’s Changing?

The Grammy Awards are back in the news today as the annual music event has announced some amendments to their voting and nomination rules. Effective immediately, these amendments aim to update the nomination and voting process and make it fairer for everyone involved.

There are five basic fixes the Recording Academy has announced: 1. the implementation of online voting, 2. including songwriters in the Album of the Year category, 3. adding more review committees, 4. expanding the definition of an album and 5. letting alternative versions of songs be nominated for visual media.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, has decided to take a closer look at these Grammy changes. Here is what our blogger thinks about the amended rules and whether they will make any difference in this year’s process.

1.       Online Voting: This makes sense for 2017, to be quite honest. Aside from making it easier for touring artists to cast their ballots, as was one of the academy’s intentions, it will also make it easier to keep track of votes. As for whether this will stop block voting, the academy’s other intention, will remain to be seen. I personally do not think it will help because people will vote with whatever allegiances they have either way.

2.       Songwriters Being Recognized for Album of the Year: With this rule change, songwriters who are credited on at least a third of the album will also earn the award, giving them their due. Given that it is not usually one person who writes an album, especially if you take a look at a lot of the pop music that comes out, this is a good idea. Credit should be given where it is due. 

3.       More Review Committees: This amendment creates committees to review who gets nominated in the categories of rap, contemporary instrumental and new age music so they do not become “popularity contests.” This is something the academy has been doing for the last 25 years in various other categories to even things out. Such is probably why you see that one indie artist nominated for Album of the Year every year that makes much of the public scratch their heads. But while this might give a slight boost to underground artists who deserve to be nominated, it doesn’t really seem to make much of a difference in the end. After all, the other four nominees for Album of the Year are almost invariably those that had the most popular selling albums of the year, not necessarily the best.

4.       What Defines an Album: Aimed at making it easier for classical, jazz and dance albums to be nominated, the academy is expanding what constitutes an album. Before this year, an album had to be at least 15 minutes long and feature at least five songs, which would mean a five-song rock EP would count as an album but a single-opus classical album would not. The new rule takes this into account, expanding the definition of an album to include something with a 30-minute play time, even if it only has one song on it. This seems fair, as more artists will have the opportunity to be nominated because of it.

5.       Visual Media: The first part of this amendment says that “the film version of a track” can be entered in the Best Song Written for Visual Media category, “even if a different version of the track is submitted in other categories.” This seems a little inconsequential; however such a change means that the academy is making a distinction between soundtracks and albums, saying that the soundtrack version of a song is its own entity.  The second part requires that a compilation soundtrack for a documentary or biopic needs to be more than 51 percent newly recorded music to qualify for a Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media nomination. This makes sense, since the Grammys are about new music.

While I do have mixed feelings about some of these changes, they are steps in the right direction to making the Grammys a fairer platform for honoring music and artists. Extra input from experts and an easier, more streamlined voting system, while not a panacea, will help to get more voices included in the discussion. The only way to know how well these changes work will be when Grammy nominations are announced on November 28 and winners are revealed on January 28, 2018 at Madison Square Garden.

---

Find music from Grammy-winning and nominated artists and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of genre-spanning titles to choose from. Visit our Plainview store or shop online to find a wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia. With more titles being added all the time, there is always something new to find at Vinyl Bay 777.