The Grammys are changing the requirements for top award, album of the year, and are also introducing a new rule for songs created using artificial intelligence: “Only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration.”
In the past, every producer, songwriter, engineer, or artist on an album earned an album of the year nomination, even if the person co-wrote one song for a 10-song project. Now the Recording Academy says the music creators must be part of at least 20 percent of an album to earn a nomination.
When the Academy announced that any songwriter or producer could earn a bid for the grand prize in 2021, some defended the decision because more people would be recognized by the awards and be able to call themselves “Grammy Nominees.”
But others criticized the change as it also meant overloading the album of the year nominees—most contemporary pop, rap, and R&B albums feature multiple collaborators. For example, in addition to Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige, more than 65 people were nominated when those stars competed for album of the year in February. Bad Bunny shared its nomination with over 50 creators and over 30 people were nominated with Lizzo and Coldplay.
That’s in contrast to some rock, country and jazz albums, where one producer works on the entire project. When Harry Styles’ Harry house won album of the year, sharing the award with 11 people.
Other major pricing updates — which were approved last month at the Academy’s Board of Trustees meeting — include rules around music made with artificial intelligence. “Only human creators are eligible to be considered for, be nominated for, or win a GRAMMY Award. A work that does not contain human authorship does not qualify in any category,” the Academy says.
Coincidentally, the Grammy news comes the same week Paul McCartney said he used AI to produce a “last” Beatles song.
The Academy says that music with elements of AI is eligible if it meets the following requirements: “The human authorship component of the submitted work must be meaningful and more than de minimis; such component of human authorship must be relevant to the category in which such work is included (for example, if the work is entered in a songwriting category, there must be meaningful and more than de minimis human authorship with respect to the music and/or or lyrics; if the work is submitted in a performance category, there must be meaningful and more than de minimis human authorship with respect to the performance); and the author(s) of any AI material incorporated into the work are not eligible to be nominees or Grammy recipients to the extent of their contribution to the portion of the work comprising such AI material. De minimis is defined as the lack of meaning or importance; so small that it is worth neglecting.”
Another change that will affect Hollywood at the Grammys: More music documentaries and films will have the chance to compete for best musical film, as the Academy removed the previous requirement that a musical film contain at least 51 percent of performance-based material. need. Some major music-based projects have gone missing because of the previous rule, including Netflix’s jeen-yuhs: a kanye trilogy.
“While dramatic feature films and biopics are not eligible, films with fictional elements are eligible,” explains the Academy.
The Grammys also announced that the four major awards — Album, Song and Record of the Year, along with Best New Artist — will be reduced to eight nominees instead of ten.
The show also consolidates the number of “fields” from 26 to 11. Grammy voters must choose which fields to vote in, and the change gives voters more flexibility in casting their votes.
Some minor changes are: Best Improvised Jazz Solo has been renamed and redefined as Best Jazz Performance and Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) has been renamed Best Música Mexicana Album (including Tejano).
Earlier this week, the Academy announced the addition of three new categories: Best African Music Performance, Best Pop Dance Recording, and Best Alternative Jazz Album.
Songs and albums released between October 1, 2022 and September 15, 2023 will be eligible for nominations at the 2024 show. The nominees will be announced in November.
