The Recording Academy® Announces Restructuring of Categories Across All Genres and Fields to be Recognized at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2012

Restructuring of Categories Across All Genres Brings Total Number of
Categories to be Recognized at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2012 to
78; All Fields Remain Intact

Minimum Number of Entries Per Category Will Now Be 40, Up from 25

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 06, 2011) — In an effort to continuously evolve its GRAMMY® Awards process, The Recording Academy® (www.grammy.com)
announced today that it has restructured the GRAMMY Categories across
all genres and Fields, bringing the total number of Categories to be
recognized at the 54th GRAMMY Awards in 2012, to 78 (from 109). All
Fields remain the same. The announcement was made this morning at The
Academy’s headquarters by President/CEO Neil Portnow, Academy Board
Chair Emeritus and five-time GRAMMY winner Jimmy Jam, and Vice President
of Awards Bill Freimuth. Additionally, a minimum of 40 distinct artist
entries will be required in each Category (up from 25). Detailed
information on these and other recent changes may be found at www.grammy.com/announcement. For updates and breaking news, please visit The Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

“Every
year, we diligently examine our Awards structure to develop an overall
guiding vision and ensure that it remains a balanced and viable
process,” said Portnow. “After careful and extensive review and analysis
of all Categories and Fields, it was objectively determined that our
GRAMMY Categories be restructured to the continued competition and
prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music. Our
Board of Trustees continues to demonstrate its dedication to keeping The
Recording Academy a pertinent and responsive organization in our
dynamic music community.”

For 53 years, The Recording Academy has
recognized musical excellence with the GRAMMY Awards — the most
prestigious and only peer-recognized award in music — and the awards
have grown from 28 Categories in 1959, to awards in 109 Categories for
the most recent 53rd GRAMMYs. This growth springs from a tradition of
honoring specific genres and/or subgenres within a Field, and it has
basically been approached one Category at a time without a current
overall guiding vision and without consistency across the various genre
Fields. In 2009, The Academy initiated a first-ever comprehensive
evaluation of its Awards process, which led to a desire for change. A
transformation of the entire Awards structure would ensure that all
Fields would be treated with parity. Diligent research, careful
analysis, and thoughtful discussion of all Fields resulted in an
overarching framework and a restructuring of Categories to 78, and
ensures that every submission continues to have a home.

In
addition to the restructuring of Categories, two rule changes have been
established and four Fields have been renamed. It is now expected that
each Category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries, up from
25. If a Category receives between 25 – 39 entries, only three
recordings would receive nominations that year. Should there be fewer
than 25 entries in a Category, that Category would immediately go on
hiatus for the current year — no award given — and entries would be
screened into the next most logical Category. If a Category receives
fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years, the Category would be
discontinued, and submissions would be entered in the next most
appropriate Category.

The second rule change is regarding 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.

Additionally, there are
name changes to four Fields: Musical Show is now Musical Theater; the
Film/ Television/Other Visual Media Field is now called Music For Visual
Media; the Gospel Field has been renamed the Gospel/Contemporary
Christian Music Field; and the Dance Field has been renamed the
Dance/Electronica Field.

The Awards restructuring proposal was
presented by The Recording Academy’s Awards & Nominations (A&N)
Committee — comprised of elected Academy leaders from across the country
representing various genres of the music community — and was voted on
and passed by The Academy’s Board of Trustees — made up of musicians,
producers, engineers, songwriters, and other music professionals. The
A&N Committee spent more than a year reviewing, analyzing, and
evaluating the GRAMMY Awards process and Categories with great
objectivity and fair-mindedness, before presenting its recommendations
to the Board of Trustees for ratification. While at times incredibly
challenging for each member of the committee to restructure Categories
in their own respective genres, the greater purpose of promoting unity
within the music community and ensuring that all Fields be treated with
parity outweighed natural inclinations to resist change.

Please visit www.grammy.com/announcement for the following resources and detailed information:

  • A Category Comparison Chart (comparing Categories from the 53rd GRAMMYs to the upcoming 54th GRAMMYs)
  • An Explanation of Category Restructuring across all genres
  • A Category Mapper (an interactive feature that will show where to enter submissions under the new structure)
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Upcoming dates and deadlines for the 54th GRAMMY Awards online entry period

Established
in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians,
producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to
improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its
makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent
peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand
in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking
professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and
human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission
of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of
music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our
culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization’s social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/thegrammys, a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/thegrammys, and a YouTube channel subscriber at www.youtube.com/thegrammys.