When The Weeknd, Zayn Malik, and other artists voiced out their displease about the Grammys, the 2022 award show will be making major changes.
According to a press release from the Recording Academy, the anonymous nomination committees, which had a final say on who ended up on the ballot in a number of categories, will be removed.
“It’s been a year of unprecedented, transformational change for the Recording Academy, and I’m immensely proud to be able to continue our journey of growth with these latest updates to our Awards process,” said Harvey Mason Jr., Chair & Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy in a statement. “This is a new Academy, one that is driven to action and that has doubled down on the commitment to meeting the needs of the music community. While change and progress are key drivers of our actions, one thing will always remain—the GRAMMY Award is the only peer-driven and peer-voted recognition in music. We are honored to work alongside the music community year-round to further refine and protect the integrity of the Awards process.”
The press release confirmed that while there were previously “15-30 highly skilled music peers who represented and voted within their genre communities for the final selection of nominees,” now, “the results of Grammy nominations and winners are placed back in the hands of the entire voting membership body, giving further validation to the peer-recognized process.”
The complaints
November of last year, The Weeknd called out the Grammys after his album ‘After Hours,’ which was chart-topping and a huge success, was not recognized.
“The Grammys remain corrupt,” the artist tweeted at the time. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
Come March, the artist announced that he would no longer submit his music to future Grammys, saying “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.
Malik echoed the “Heartless” singer’s statement, tweeting, “@recordingacad are moving in inches and we need to move in miles. i’m keeping the pressure on & fighting for transparency & inclusion. We need to make sure we are honoring and celebrating ‘creative excellence’ of ALL. End the secret committees. Until then … #f—thegrammys.”
At the time, Mason said in response to The Weeknd’s statement, “We’re all disappointed when anyone is upset. But I will say that we are constantly evolving. And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees.”
Now, we can finally see some relevant actions from the award show, however, it is not clear if we’ll be seeing The Weeknd on any future Grammys.
