The GRAMMY Award Update Center

Nominations Updates for the 65th GRAMMY Awards

Each year, the Recording Academy makes adjustments to the nominations list as necessary after the list is first published. Common changes are often the result of updated credits and may include spelling corrections, title modifications, and the addition of nominees who were not included in the original submission, among other revisions. Again this year, we are making these updates public to ensure transparency and accessibility to the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Update March 13, 2023

CATGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/UN VERANO SIN TI/BAD BUNNY

  • Add the following producer and production team members:

    Bass Charity
    Luzian Gregor Tuetsch aka Nightlie
    Jorge Miguel Cardoso Augusto aka César Americo
    Feliciano Ponce Ecar aka Feli Ciano
    Harissis Tsakmaklis aka Drift boy

  • Add the following songwriters:

    Luzian Gregor Tuetsch aka Nightlie
    Jorge Miguel Cardoso Augusto aka César Americo
    Feliciano Ponce Ecar aka Feli Ciano
    Harissis Tsakmaklis aka Drift boy

  • Add the following sample songwriters:

    Chidera Godfrey
    Joseph Akinwale Eseani
    Lekan Adesina
    Feliz Gerardo Ortiz Torres
    Francisco Saldaña
    Victor Cabrera

  • Update the following songwriter credit:

    COOGANMICK Mick Coogan aka MICK

CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE/PAGE 2/ENTRY 4

  • Add the following songwriter:

    Jameil Aossey

CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/KENDRICK LAMAR/MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS/PAGE 4/ENTRY 8

  • Add the following Engineer/Mixer:

    Sean Tallman

CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/SPECIAL/LIZZO/PAGE 4/ENTRY 9

  • Remove the following engineer/mixer:

    Bryce Bordone

  • Remove the following producer:

    Gavin Chris Tenille

  • Update the detail on sample songwriters (samplesngw) listed below with nominations removed:

    Christian Devivo
    Gavin Chris Tenille

CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/MARY J BLIGE/GOOD MORNING GORGEOUS (DELUXE)/PAGE 3/ENTRY 5

  • Update the detail on sample songwriters (samplesngw) listed below with nominations removed:

    Kim Owen (namecode KEM)
    Peter Skellern

  • Add the following sample songwriters:

    Amanda Flores
    Bryan Ponce
    Shawn Carter
    Douglas Gibbs
    Ralph Johnson
    Ellas McDaniels
    Willie Cobbs
    Dexter Wansel
    Cynthia De Mari Biggs

Update February 27, 2023

CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE

  • Add Matheus Braz as engineer

Update January 11, 2023

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE

  • Remove nominee, sample writer Kevin Marquis Bellmon

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/GOOD MORNING GORGEOUS (DELUXE)/MARY J. BLIGE

  • Update spelling of producer, Hostile Beats to Hostile Beatz

Update December 21, 2022

IN CATGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/UN VERANO SIN TI/BAD BUNNY

  • Change spelling of Leutrim Bequiri aka BYRD to Leutrim Beqiri (remove the U)

Update December 19, 2022

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/ RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE

  • Remove Jerel Black, songwriter

IN CATEGORY 80/BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL/PERSPECTIVES/THIRD COAST PERCUSSION

  • Add Mark Alletag as an Engingeer

IN CATEGORY 1/RECORD OF THE YEAR/DOJA CAT/WOMAN

  • Correct spelling of Kelani Thompson to Kalani

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/ BAD BUNNY/UN VERANO SIN TI

  • The names in bold type below have been added to this entry.

  • Correct Mick to Martin Coogan

Un Verano Sin Ti

Bad Bunny

Rauw Alejandro, Bomba Estéreo, Buscabulla, Chencho Corleone, Jhay Cortez, Tony Dize & The Marías, featured artists; BYRD, De La Cruz, Demy & Clipz, Elikai, Hassi, HAZE, Albert Hype, La Paciencia, Cheo Legendary, Richi Lopez, MAG, MagicEnElBeat, Masis, MICK, Jesus Alberto Molina, Mora, Jota Rosa, SCOTT, Subelo Neo, TAINY & ZULIA, producers; Josh Gudwin & Roberto Rosado, engineers/mixers; Raul Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz, Kamil Assad, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Julian Quiles Bentancourt, Leutrim Bequiri, Raquel Berrios, Abner Jose Cordero Boria, Marco Daniel Borrero, Joaquin Calderon Bravo, Harry Alexis Ramos Cabrera, Joshua Conway, Martin Coogan, Kaled Elikai Cordova, Orlando Javier Valle Vega, Jesus Nieves Cortes, Jose Cruz, Misael De La Cruz, Luis Del Valle, Scott Dittrich, Etienne Gagnon, Jason Garcia, Juan Diego Linares Gonzalez, Nicolas Jara, Ritchie Lopez, Steve Martinez-Funes, Marcos Masis, Michael Masis, Adrian McKinnon, Alberto Carlos Melendez, Jesus Alberto Molina, Freddy Montalvo, Gabriel Mora, Hector Pagan, Darwin Cordale Quinn, Tony Felician Rivera, Jose Raphael Arce Rodriguez, Joel Hernandez Rodriguez, Egbert Rosa, Roberto Rosado, Joselly Rosario, Elena Rose, Liliana Margarita Saumet & Maria Zardoya, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/ MR MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS/ KENDRICK LAMAR

  • Add Mike Larson, Engineer/Mixer and Johnny Juliano, Producer

  • Change Tyler Mehlenbacher to Tyler Reese

IN CATEGORY 3/SONG OF THE YEAR/ BAD HABIT/STEVE LACY

  • Correct misspelling of Brittany Fousheé to Britanny Fousheé

IN CATEGORY 64/BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA

  • Add the following compilation producers & music supervisor in bold type below to the Category 64 entries:

1. ELVIS

(Various Artists)

Dave Cobb, Baz Luhrmann, Jamieson Shaw & Elliott Wheeler, compilation producers; Anton Monsted, music supervisor

2. Encanto

(Various Artists)

Mike Elizondo, Tom MacDougall & Lin-Manuel Miranda, compilation producers

3. Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4 (Vol 2)

(Various Artists)

Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer, compilation producers; Nora Felder, music supervisor

4. Top Gun: Maverick

Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe

Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga & Hans Zimmer, compilation producers

5. West Side Story

(Various Artists)

David Newman, Matt Sullivan & Jeanine Tesori, compilation producers

IN CATEGORY 91/BEST MUSIC FILM/BARN: A BAND A BROTHERHOOD A BARN/ NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE

  • Change film name to just BARN (remove a band a brotherhood a barn)

IN CATEGORY 1/RECORD OF THE YEAR/THE HEART PART 5/ KENDRICK LAMAR

  • Change Michelle Mancini to Emerson Mancini

IN CATEGORY 1/RECORD OF THE YEAR/ABOUT DAMN TIME/LIZZO

  • Change Michelle Mancini to Emerson Mancini

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/MR MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS/ KENDRICK LAMAR

  • Change Michelle Mancini to Emerson Mancini

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/SPECIAL/LIZZO

  • Change Michelle Mancini to Emerson Mancini

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/UN VERANO SIN TI/BAD BUNNY

  • Change the spelling of Bentancourt to Betancourt

IN CATEGORY 25/BEST RAP SONG/CHURCHILL DOWNS

  • Change Ace G to Alex Ernewein, and BEDRM to Ryan Bakalarczyk

IN CATEGORY 76/BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM/BLACK RADIO III

  • Change Keith Lewis to Qmillion

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE

  • Remove songwriters Jimi Stephen Payton and Andrew Richardson

IN CATEGORY 20/BEST R&B SONG/CUFF IT/BEYONCE

  • Remove songwriter Mary Christine Brockert

IN CATEGORY 89/BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION/SIMON: REQUIEM FOR THE ENSLAVED/CARLOS SIMON

  • Add Marco Pavé as librettist

Update December 2, 2022

IN CATEGORY 9/BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC RECORDING/DAVID GUETTA & BEBE REXHA/I’M GOOD (BLUE)

  • Remove David Guetta and Timofey Reznikov as Mixers

  • Add Serban Ghenea as a Mixer

IN CATEGORY 20/BEST R&B SONG/MUNI LONG/HRS & HRS

  • Correct misspelling of Hamadi Aaabi to Hamadi Zaabi & move placement for alphabetization

Update December 1, 2022

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/RENAISSANCE/BEYONCE

  • Remove Freddie Ross from songwriters

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/30/ADELE

  • Add John Hanes to engineers/mixers

IN CATEGORY 71/BEST RECORDING PACKAGE/TAMUSI-KAVALAN CHINESE ORCHESTRA/ BEGINNINGLESS BEGINNING

  • Name spelling correction: Chun-Tien Hsia to Chun-Tien Hsiao

IN CATEGORY 71/BEST RECORDING PACKAGE/SPIRITUALIZED/EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL

  • Add Art Director: Jason Pierce

IN CATEGORY 79/BEST IMMERSIVE AUDIO ALBUM /AGUILERA /CHRISTINA AGUILERA

  • Add Immersive Mix Engineer: Mike Seaberg

  • Add Immersive Mastering Engineer: Mike Seaberg

Update November 30, 2022

IN CATEGORY 91/BEST MUSIC FILM/NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE/A BAND A BROTHERHOOD A BARN

  • Add “BARN:” to the beginning of the title of the entry, as well as commas after band and brotherhood.

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/MARY J BLIGE/GOOD MORNING GORGEOUS (DELUXE)

  • Remove Adriana Flores & Bryan Ponce from songwriters.

IN CATEGORY 83/BEST OPERA RECORDING/DAVIS: X – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X/GIL ROSE

  • Add Joshua Conyers as principal soloist.

Update November 29, 2022

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/KENDRICK LAMAR/MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS

  • Remove Producer: The Donuts.

  • Add Producer: Timothy Maxie.

  • Add Songwriters: John Julian, Danny McKinnon & Ely Rise.

CATEGORY 1/RECORD OF THE YEAR/DOJA CAT/WOMAN

  • Add Tyler Sheppard & Kelani Thompson as engineers/mixers.

Update November 28, 2022

IN CATEGORY 69/BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA/MAGNUS LINDGREN, JOHN BEASLEY & THE SWR BIG BAND FEATURING MARTIN AEUR/SCRAPPLE FROM THE APPLE

  • Change Martin Aeur to Martin Auer in artist line.

IN CATEGORY 57/BEST GLOBAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE/MATT B FEATURING EDDY KENZO/GIMME LOVE

  • Change artist line from Matt B & Eddy Kenzo to Matt B Featuring Eddy Kenzo

Update November 22, 2022

IN CATEGORY 82/BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE/ADAMS, JOHN LUTHER: SILA – THE BREATH OF THE WORLD/DOUG PERKINS

  • Add The Crossing and JACK Quartet as part of the orchestra.

IN CATEGORY 81/PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL/JUDITH SHERMAN/HUANG RO’S A DUST IN TIME

  • Correct misspelling on Huang Ruo’s name in Judith Sherman’s Producer Of The Year, Classical entry from Huang Ro to Huang Ruo.

IN CATEGORY 87/BEST CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM/STRANGER – WORKS FOR TENOR BY NICO MUHLY/NICHOLAS PHAN

  • Correct misspelling of Eric Jacobson to Eric Jacobsen.

IN CATEGORY 57/BEST GLOBAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE/AROOJ AFTAB FEATURING ANOUSHKA SHANKAR/UDHERO NA

  • Change artist line from Arooj Aftab & Anoushka Shankar to Arooj Aftab Featuring Anoushka Shankar.

Update November 21, 2022

IN CATEGORY 29/BEST COUNTRY SONG/TAYLOR SWIFT FEATURING CHRIS STAPLETON/I BET YOU THINK ABOUT ME

  • Change the artist line to Taylor Swift Featuring Chris Stapleton. There are no changes to the nominees.

IN CATEGORY 77/PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL/DERNST “D’MILE” EMILE II

  • Change Lucky Daye album title from Candy Drip to Candydrip

IN CATEGORY 77/PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL/BOI-1DA

  • Add featured artist to Silent Hill. Should now read: Kendrick Lamar Featuring Kodak Black.

IN CATEGORY 76/BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, NON-CLASSICAL/BAYNK/ADOLESCENCE

  • Add Engineers: Yonatan (Yoni) Ayal, Maxwell Byrne, Patrick Liney, Tim Nelson, Jock Nowell-Usticke, Aidan Peterson, Pierre Luc Rioux, Ike Schultz, Rutger Van Woudenberg

Update November 18, 2022

IN CATEGORY 72/BEST BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE/THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS/BOOK

  • Add art directors: John Flansburgh, Brian Karlsson & John Linnell.

IN CATEGORY 91/BEST MUSIC FILM/NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE/A BAND A BROTHERHOOD A BARN

  • Change director “dhlovelife” to Daryl Hannah.

IN CATEGORY 74/BEST HISTORICAL ALBUM/FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP/TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

  • Add Lucas MacFadden as Restoration Engineer.

Update November 17, 2022

IN CATEGORY 70/BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTALS AND VOCALS/CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT/OPTIMISTIC VOICES/NO LOVE DYING

  • Remove arranger Cécile McLorin Salvant, and replace with arranger, Sullivan Fortner.

IN CATEGORY 25/BEST RAP SONG/JACK HARLOW FEATURING DRAKE/CHURCHILL DOWNS

  • Remove Jose Velazquez and Rogét Chahayed as songwriters.

IN CATEGORY 71/BEST RECORDING PACKAGE/UNDEROATH/VOYEURIST

  • Remove company name, Tnsn Dysn, initially submitted and replace with art directors, Joel Cook, Brandon Rike & Nate Utesch.

IN CATEGORY 72/BEST BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE/BLACK PUMAS/BLACK PUMAS (COLLECTOR’S EDITION BOX SET)

  • Remove the company name, “Preacher”.

IN CATEGORY 2/ALBUM OF THE YEAR/BEYONCE/RENAISSANCE

  • Remove “From The Internet” after songwriter Patrick Paige II’s name as shown below.

IN CATEGORY 91/BEST MUSIC FILM/ROSALIA/MOTOMAMI

  • Add Karen Saurí Marchán and Christy Alcaraz Moyer as video producers.

IN CATEGORY 90/BEST MUSIC VIDEO/HARRY STYLES/AS IT WAS

  • Add Bryan Younce as video producer.

IN CATEGORY 90/BEST MUSIC VIDEO/ADELE/EASY ON ME

  • Add Jannie McInnes as Video Producer.

IN CATGORY 91/BEST MUSIC FILM/JUSTIN BIEBER/OUR WORLD

  • Add Michael D. Ratner as a video producer.

Award Process Updates for the 65th GRAMMY Awards

Category, Field and Definition Updates

Fields and/or Categories Added:

  • Best Alternative Music Performance is a new Category for singles and tracks in the Alternative Field

    • Criteria: This Category recognizes artistic excellence in an alternative performance by a solo artist, collaborating artists, established duo, or established group that embraces attributes of progression and innovation in both the music and attitudes associated with it. It is often a less intense version of rock or a more intense version of pop and is typically regarded as more original, eclectic, or musically challenging. It may embrace a variety of sub-genres or any hybrids thereof and may include performances that do not fit into other genre Categories.

  •  Songwriting is a new Field and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical is a new category in that Field

    • Criteria: This Category recognizes the written excellence, profession and art of songwriting for non-performing and non-producing songwriters. This category is for songwriters whose body of work released for the first time during the current eligibility year represents artistic excellence in the area of songwriting.  Award to Songwriter(s) with a minimum of 5 newly written songs in which they are listed as a non-performing, non-producing songwriter or co-writer.

  • Best Spoken Word Poetry Album is a new Category for the performance of poetry with or without music.

    • Best Spoken Word Poetry Album: This Category recognizes excellence in spoken word poetry albums. Spoken Word or Spoken Word Poetry is an oral poetic performance art that refers to the poem as well as the performers’ aesthetic qualities such as intonation, vocal inflections, rhythmic cadence and musicality. Albums of spoken word poetry with or without music collaboration or accompaniment, and instructional recordings are eligible. (If the recording has musical accompaniment but is primarily spoken word, the narrator would be eligible while the musical accompanist(s) may be identified in parentheses.)

  • Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media is a new category for video game score soundtracks which had previously been part of the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film, Television, Video Games, and Other Visual Media) Category.

    • Criteria: This Category is for scores and musical compositions within a video game or other interactive media. The Award would go to composers with at least 33% playing time of the album. This Category recognizes excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominantly of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current video game, or other interactive media (AR/VR/portable devices, etc.), released within the qualification period. At least 2/3 of the musical tracks for the album must have been used in the shipped game product, as either in-game, live action play, or Cinematics within the video game or interactive media product. Album releases will adhere to the same timing guidelines delineated in the Music for Visual Media Field whereby the media product and the soundtrack album often are not in the same eligibility year. The Academy recognizes these timing discrepancies, evaluates them and adjusts accordingly. Eligible scores may include vocal coloring (not songs) when used in the overall texture of the composition, such as choral groups or solo voices with or without words or syllables.

    • Albums and songs that are released during the current eligibility period but belong to a visual media that will be released during the next eligibility period and after the deadline for the First Round of GRAMMY voting will have two options:

      1. Enter them during the current year in Categories other than the ones in the Music For Visual Media Field. They will not be eligible the following year in the Music For Visual Media Field if this option is chosen.

      2. Enter them the following year as long as they do not get entered in any Category during the current year. Albums will only be eligible in their respective Category: Compilation or Score. Songs will be eligible in Song Written For Visual Media. They will also be eligible in other song Categories as long as they fulfill the “track from a previous year is eligible” rule.

  • Best Americana Performance is a new Category for singles and tracks in the American Roots Music Field.

    • Criteria: This Category recognizes excellence in performances of Americana music: contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music and vocal styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B, and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana often uses a full electric band.

 

Field and/or Category Amendments:

  • The Field name and album Category name have changed from New Age to New Age, Ambient Or Chant to acknowledge all the rich diversity of music represented in this genre.

    • Criteria: This Category may incorporate elements and influences from diverse musical genres to serve common artistic intentions and functional uses which may include a) creating a textural-focused atmospheric musical journey, b) forming soundscapes for relaxation, meditation, introspection or focus, c) fostering wellness or inner/spiritual awakening, or d) making devotional offerings. Recordings may include sacred as well as secular components; recordings of a spiritual nature may originate or be adapted from global sacred traditions or come from an intent that is universal in nature. The music may be improvisational and exploratory, emphasize texture and space, or be structurally composed including melody, rhythm, repetition, and themes. Music may be consonant or dissonant and may be contemplative and gentle, dynamic, or avant-garde. Vocal music is welcomed as well as solo or multi-instrumentals. Recordings may incorporate acoustic, synthesized, or environmental sounds.

  • Some language in the criteria for Best Compilation Soundtrack which had been removed has now been restored to recognize Principal Artist(s) and in studio Producer(s). 

    • Award To:  Principal Artist(s) with significant contributing performances, and/or in studio Producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of those, award to the individual(s) proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. For albums consisting largely of preexisting masters, up to 2 album Producers and up to 2 Music Supervisors, per criteria. For albums consisting largely of new recordings, awards to the Principal Artist(s) with significant contributing performance(s) (Ensemble-Driven Casts in which performers have comparable musical and dramatic participation in the recording are not eligible); up to 3 Producer(s) (in extraordinary circumstances an appeal for a possible 4th will be considered); and up to 2 Music Supervisors, per criteria. Award also to the Engineer/Mixer(s) of greater than 50 percent playing time of newly recorded material.

  •  In the Best Musical Theater Album Category, lyricists and composers are eligible for any subsequent recordings of the scores.

    • Criteria: Award to composer(s) and lyricist(s) of greater than 50% of the score of a new recording of a musical theater work. If any previous recording of said score has been nominated in this category, the composer(s) and lyricist(s) of such shall be ineligible to receive an Award, but shall receive a Certificate. This Category is for recordings of the score of a musical theater work created to support an underlying dramatic intention or theme. This award honors excellence in the performance(s) in and production of musical theater recordings. Elements of the corresponding stage production should not be considered in evaluating the recording. Recordings of revues that reflect a dramatic theme, including those consisting of songs from the score of a specific musical theater work and those with scores comprised of pre-existing material re-purposed for said revue are also eligible.

  • In the Classical Field, the Best Opera Recording Category recognizes the composer and librettist for new recordings if the recordings is of an entire opera and if the composer and librettist each wrote 100 percent of the music and libretto of the opera.

  • In the Classical Field, the Best Classical Compendium Category recognizes the composer (and librettist/lyricist, if any) of greater than 50 percent playing time on the winning product of new works. Only composers whose music comprises 50 percent or more of the recordings made on the album shall be eligible to receive a statue. In the case of librettists/lyricists, only those who are the sole librettist/lyricist on the winning product, and whose lyrics comprise greater than 50 percent of the playing time on the product, are eligible to receive a statue.

  • Craft Committees in the Classical Field were created for: 1.) Producer of the Year, Classical, 2.) Best Engineered Album, Classical, and 3.) Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

  • The eligibility rule for Best Remixed Recording is clarified.

    • Criteria: This Category recognizes excellence in remixed recordings (“remixes”) where the remixer takes previously recorded and released material and creatively adds to, alters, or transforms it in such a way as to create a new and unique performance. The Category is not for “covers,” re-recordings, remastered releases of previously-issued recordings, or edits which are only a shortened version of a master recording for marketing or broadcast purposes. Also, the addition of a vocal performance by a featured artist without substantive change to the original music recording is not eligible as a remix. Singles or tracks do not have to be commercially released for sale or streaming if they have been released to clubs or radio in the U.S. for the first time during the eligibility year. Both the remixed version and the original version of the recording must be available to the Academy for judging purposes.

  • The Best Spoken Word Album is renamed as Best Audio Book, Narration And Storytelling Recording. It provides a home for audio books, along with narration and storytelling recordings.

    • Best Audio Books, Narration And Storytelling Recording: This Category recognizes excellence in spoken word albums (not including Spoken Word Poetry). Albums of audio books, storytelling, non-musical drama, sermons, narrations with or without music collaboration or accompaniment, and instructional recordings are eligible. (If the recording has musical accompaniment but is primarily a spoken work, the narrator would be eligible while the musical accompanist(s) may be identified in parentheses.) Recordings that accompany children’s picture books are eligible if the recorded content is non-repetitive and otherwise meets the requirements for an album entry. Recordings that feature song lyrics that are spoken or rapped are eligible in the appropriate genre Categories. Incidental talk or conversation in a studio used as an accent to a musical recording does not constitute a spoken work performance. Compilations or excerpts of previously broadcast radio or television shows, albums of sound effects, and albums of environmental recordings are not eligible in this Category.

Eligibility Update

For the 65th GRAMMYs®, albums must contain greater than 75 percent playing time of newly recorded (within five years of release date), previously unreleased recordings. To be eligible in a specific Genre Field, an album must contain greater than 50 percent playing time of the genre specified by the Field. A recording may not be in more than one specialized Genre Field. However, an album may be in one Genre Field while one or more tracks from the album may be in a different Genre Field.

Entry Requirements Update

The per-entry fee structure has been created which encourages entrants to consider the value of each entry and make mindful decisions to put forward work that they truly believe is GRAMMY-worthy. All professional and voting members of the Recording Academy will receive five (5) courtesy entries every year. Any member who would be burdened by the entry fees can request the fees be waived by reaching out to the Awards Department at awards@recordingacademy.com.

The per-entry fee structure is listed below:

PER ENTRY FEE SCHEDULE
Early Bird Pricing Standard Pricing Final Deadline Pricing
July 18 - July 31 August 1 - August 21 August 22 - August 31
Members $40 (after 5 courtesy entries) $75 (after 5 courtesy entries) $125 (after 5 courtesy entries)
Media Companies $65 $95 $125

 

Special Merit Award Update

  • Best Song For Social Change is a new special merit award for songwriters.

    This new special merit award recognizes the social impact of music. The award will be given to songwriters to celebrate the year’s Best Song For Social Change.* This award will recognize creators of message-driven music that responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact by disseminating messages in songs that promote public awareness and engagement in our most pressing social issues. The award recipient is determined by a Blue Ribbon Committee. (If the Blue Ribbon Committee does not believe any of the entries meet all the award criteria, then an award does not have to be given that year.) Songs released during the last five GRAMMY qualifying calendar years are eligible for consideration.

Full Calendar, Rules & Guidelines

The Board of Trustees ratifies all changes to the GRAMMY process each spring. Please click here to read the full Rules & Guidelines.