The Recording Academy announced today that The Grammys are reducing award categories from 109 to 78. Hardest hit are indie labels and artists who often benefit from recognition in many of the eliminated categories. The minimum number of entries per category has been upped to 40 from 25. Award categories often won by indies that that have been combined or eliminated include:
- Best Tejano Album
- Best Norteño Album
- Best Banda Album
- Best Contemporary Folk Album
- Best Hawaiian Music Album
- Best Native American Music Album
- Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album
- Best Contemporary World Music Album
A second rule change reconfigures voting. Previously, voting members were allowed to vote in up to nine genre Fields plus the General Field on the first ballot and eight genre Fields plus the General Field on the second ballot, including every category within each chosen Field. Now, on each ballot, voters may vote in up to 20 Categories in the genre Fields plus the four Categories of the General Field—which includes Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist.
Confused yet?
The Academy is offering an online interactive “Category Mapper" where users can select a category from the new awards list and see if a category has “shifted." Or you can see the entire new vs. old awards list here.
