List of Grammy Award categories
The Grammy Awards are awarded in a series of categories, each of which isolate a specific contribution to the recording industry. The standard awards list nominees in each category from which a winner is selected. 28 Grammys were awarded in the first award ceremony, but the number of awards has grown and fluctuated over time as new categories are added and some older ones removed, at one time over 100 awards were given.[1]
Special awards
There are special awards which are awarded without nominations, typically for achievements of longer than the past year, which the standard awards apply to:
- Lifetime Achievement Award is a Special Merit Award presented to performers (and some non-performers through 1972) who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.
- Trustees Award is a Special Merit Award presented to individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance (and some performers through 1983), to the field of recording.
- Technical Grammy Award is a Special Merit Award presented to individuals and/or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
- Grammy Legend Award is a Special Merit Award is presented to individuals or groups for ongoing contributions and influence in the recording field; it was inaugurated in 1990.
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award was established in 1973 to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Winners are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts.
- The MusiCares Person of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize a musician who has made an outstanding contribution to music and in addition has been active in works of philanthropy. This award is presented by the MusiCares foundation annually.
General Field
The General Field (also known as the 'Big Four') are four standard awards for musical works which do not restrict nominees by genre or some other criterion:
- Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.
- Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.
- Song of the Year is awarded to the writer(s)/composer(s) of a single song.
- Best New Artist is awarded to an artist without reference to a song or album.
2016 Grammy Awards
As of the 2016 ceremony, there are 83 categories, not including special awards.
- Pop
- Best Pop Solo Performance
- Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
- Best Pop Vocal Album
- Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (previously in Traditional Pop)
- Dance/Electronic
- Best Dance Recording (previously in Pop)
- Best Dance/Electronic Album
- Contemporary Instrumental
- Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (previously in Pop)
- Alternative
- R&B
- Country
- New Age
- Jazz
- Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music
- Latin
- American Roots
- Reggae
- World Music
- Childrens
- Comedy
- Musical Theatre
- Music for Visual Media
- Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Visual Media
- Best Score Soundtrack Album for Visual Media (Previously in the "Composing and Arranging" field)
- Best Song Written for Visual Media (Previously in the "Composing and Arranging" field)
- Composing
- Notes
- Historical
- Engineered Album
- Surround Sound
- Classical
- Music Video/Film
No longer awarded
- Pop
- Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (now: Best Pop Solo Performance)
- Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (now: Best Pop Solo Performance)
- Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (now: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance)
- Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- Best Performance by a Vocal Group
- Best Performance by a Chorus
- Best Instrumental Performance
- Best Contemporary (R&R) Solo Vocal Performance – Male or Female
- Best Contemporary Performance by a Chorus
- Best Performance by an Orchestra – for Dancing
- Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra – Primarily Not Jazz or for Dancing
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance with Vocal Coloring
- Best Contemporary Song
- Rock
- Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
- Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
- Best Rock Solo Vocal Performance
- Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
- Best Rock Instrumental Performance
- Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, Vocal or Instrumental
- Best Hard Rock Performance
- Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance
- R&B
- Rap
- Country
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
- Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
- Best Country Instrumental Performance
- Best Country Performance, Duo or Group – Vocal or Instrumental
- Best Country & Western Recording
- Best New Country & Western Artist
- Jazz
- Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music
- Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
- Best Rock Gospel Album
- Best Traditional Gospel Album
- Best Contemporary Gospel Album
- Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album
- Best Contemporary Christian Music Song
- Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance
- Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album
- Best Gospel Performance, Traditional
- Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary
- Best Gospel Song
- Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Female
- Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male
- Best Gospel Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus
- Best Soul Gospel Performance
- Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional
- Best Soul Gospel Performance, Contemporary
- Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female
- Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male
- Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male or Female
- Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus
- Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
- Best Inspirational Performance
- Latin
- Best Latin Recording
- Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album
- Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album
- Best Banda or Norteño Album
- Best Regional Mexican Album
- Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
- Best Banda Album
- Best Norteño Album
- Best Tejano Album
- Best Latin Urban Album
- Best Merengue Album
- Best Salsa Album
- Best Salsa/Merengue Album
- American Roots Field
- Spoken Word
- Children's
- Comedy
- Musical Theater
- Composing/Arranging
- Crafts
- Production/Engineering
- Classical
- Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)
- Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
- Best Classical Performance, Operatic or Choral
- Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra)
- Best New Classical Artist
- Best Chamber Music Performance
- Best Classical Album
- Best Classical Crossover Album
- Music Video/Film
- Disco
- Best Disco Recording (awarded only in 1980)
- Folk
- Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording (Folk recordings moved to the American Roots field)
- Polka
- Best Polka Album (Polka recordings moved to the American Roots field)
Changes in the 2010s
2012
On April 6, 2011 the Recording Academy announced a major overhaul of many Grammy Award categories.[2] In 2012, the number of categories fell from 109 to 78. Some categories were discontinued, others were merged or renamed.
2013
On June 8, 2012, the Academy announced a few changes as of 2013, including the addition of three new categories: Best Classical Compendium, Best Latin Jazz Album and Best Urban Contemporary Album. This meant the number of categories in 2013 rose to 81.
According to the Academy, the Best Classical Compendium is "for an album collection containing (...) newly recorded material of performances (vocal or instrumental) by various soloist(s) and/or ensemble(s) involving a mixture of classical subgenres."[3] Albums entered in this category cannot be entered in other classical album categories, but individual tracks can.
The intent for the newly formed Best Latin Jazz Album is "to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinean tango music."[2]
The new Best Urban Contemporary Album category is for albums with contemporary songs derivative of R&B. It is for artists who blend contemporary styles with R&B music, such as urban (euro)pop, urban rock and/or urban alternative.
Other changes for the 2013 Grammy Award season were:
- Best Small Ensemble Performance category (in the classical field) has been renamed Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
- Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album has been split into two categories: Best Latin Pop Album and Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album, thereby returning to the situation prior to 2012.
- The Best Banda or Norteño Album and Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album categories have been merged into one category: Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano).
- Mastering engineers will now be considered nominees and award winners in the Record of the Year category.
2014
From 2014, there will be further changes. One is the introduction of a new category, Best American Roots Song, which will encompass all of the subgenres in the American Roots Music field such as Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk and regional roots music. The award will be presented to the songwriter(s). The Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category, introduced in 2012, will be split and will recognise metal performances only. Hence it will be renamed Best Metal Performance (returning to the situation prior to 2012). Hard rock performances will now be screened in the Best Rock Performance category, thus losing its own genre award. The two Music Video categories will be renamed. The Best Short Form Music Video will become the Best Music Video category, while the Best Long Form Music Video will now be known as Best Music Film. The rules and description of these two categories will not change. Also new for 2014 is the Music Educator Award per the Grammy Website "...to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools..."[4]
2015
The Recording Academy introduced further changes beginning on the 2015 ceremony: particularly allowing samples or interpolations of previously written songs in all songwriting categories, most notably the Song of the Year category.[5] Additional changes include:
- the introduction of Best American Roots Performance in the American Roots Music Field
- Dance/Electronica Field to Dance/Electronic Music Field
- renaming Best Dance/Electronica Album to Best Dance/Electronic Album
- introduction of Contemporary Instrumental Music Field
- renaming of Best Pop Instrumental Album to Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
- restructuring the categories of the Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Field[6]
- creation of Best Gospel Performance/Song, with both the artist(s) and songwriter(s) as recipient(s)
- creation of Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, with both the artist(s) and songwriter(s) as recipient(s)
- introduction of Best Roots Gospel Album
- moving Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album to the Pop Field
- changing Best Classical Vocal Solo (albums and tracks) to Best Classical Solo Vocal Album (limited to albums only)
- renaming Best Instrumental Arrangement to Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals
- renaming Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) to Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella
The introduction of the changed will push the total number of categories to 83.[5]
References
- ↑ "Grammys history and winners through the years". Los Angeles Times. January 28, 2015.
- 1 2 Recording Academy Awards Category Restructuring
- ↑ "THE RECORDING ACADEMY®'S BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING RESULTS IN CONTINUED EVOLUTION OF GRAMMY® CATEGORIES". The GRAMMYs. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ↑ "A TOTAL OF 25 SEMIFINALISTS FROM ACROSS THE U.S. ANNOUNCED FOR FIRST-EVER MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD PRESENTED BY THE RECORDING ACADEMY® AND THE GRAMMY FOUNDATION®". The GRAMMYs. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- 1 2 "The Recording Academy Announces GRAMMY Awards Process Changes". The Recording Academy. June 12, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
- ↑ "The Grammy Awards Makes Changes to the Christian/Gospel Categories". Music Times. June 12, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.