Grammy Awards update new artist and album eligibility, add Asian, Latin categories
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The Recording Academy announced significant changes for the 2027 Grammys, introducing several new genre categories and updating eligibility rules for two of its top awards.The rule changes will most prominently affect the new artist and album categories.A change to allow for four submissions for new artist instead of three “establishes more specific language surrounding prominence,” the academy said in a statement.
The change updates the famously confusing criteria for new artist, in which acts familiar to some fans for years can suddenly break through and earn new consideration for the category.It’s likely to benefit an artist such as Ella Langley, who had previously submitted several times for new artist but finally had a commercial and critical breakthrough with her single “Choosin’ Texas” and LP “Dandelion.” Music “I’m gonna go ahead and burst your bubble,” Ella Langley said about halfway through her main-stage set Friday night.“We’ve heard from the music community that the way artists are being developed is changing, and the time it’s taking to find success or recognition can take longer than it once did.
Artists are often releasing more music before they actually break through the consciousness of consumers or of our voters, and that evolution directly impacts this Category,” Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr.said in a statement announcing the changes.
The changes “reflect the reality that artist development looks different than it did even a few years ago.” In the album category, new rules state that “the threshold of new recordings required on an eligible album is lowered from 75% to 66% to reduce the exclusion of entries that are widely recognized throughout the music industry as new albums.” Given the fast streaming-centric release cycle of new singles, remixes and live cuts, the rule changes reflect that a new al...