Games have never had an issue sitting alongside movie DVDs and music CDs (back when such things were distributed physically) in stores, so it’s frankly overdue to work out them pop up in a mainstream awards show just like the Grammys . The united states Recording Academy has finally deigned to handle games and their aural landscapes as a separate class of entertainment, and has now amended four of its awards to spell that out. What was formerly referred to as “Motion, Television, or Other Visual Media” is now reclassified as “Motion, Television, Games Music, or Other Visual Media,” resulting in there now being four awards that explicitly recognize excellence in online game music scores. Guess that was inevitable after Christopher Tin’s Baba Yetu won a Grammy this February, ostensibly due to its inclusion as one of many marquee songs on Civilization 4, but in a class entirely unrelated to gaming. Skip past the break to listen to it for yourself, which include a few other favorites of ours.
Restructuring of Categories Across All Genres Brings Total Variety of Categories to be Recognized on the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2012 to 78; All Fields Remain Intact
Minimum Selection of Entries Per Category Will Now Be 40, Up from 25
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 06, 2011) – With the intention 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 full collection of Categories to be recognized on the 54th GRAMMY Awards in 2012, to 78 (from 109). All Fields remain a similar. The announcement was made this morning on the Academy’s headquarters by President/CEO Neil Portnow, Academy Board Chair Emeritus and five-time GRAMMY winner Jimmy Jam, and Vice chairman of Awards Bill Freimuth. Additionally, not less than 40 distinct artist entries would be required in each Category (up from 25). Detailed information on these and other recent changes could 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.
“Each year, we diligently examine our Awards structure to develop an overall guiding vision and make sure 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 ongoing competition and prestige of the best and only peer-recognized award in music. Our Board of Trustees continues to illustrate 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 – probably 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 newest 53rd GRAMMYs. This growth springs from a practice of honoring specific genres and/or subgenres within a Field, and it has basically been approached one Category at a time with no current overall guiding vision and without consistency around the various genre Fields. In 2009, The Academy initiated a primary-ever comprehensive evaluation of its Awards process, which brought about a desire for change. a change of the full Awards structure would make sure that all Fields will be treated with parity. Diligent research, careful analysis, and thoughtful discussion of all Fields ended in an overarching framework and a restructuring of Categories to 78, and ensures that each submission continues to have a house.
Besides the restructuring of Categories, two rule changes had been established and 4 Fields were renamed. It’s now expected that every Category shall have a minimum of 40 distinct artist entries, up from 25. If a class receives between 25 – 39 entries, only three recordings would receive nominations that year. Should there be fewer than 25 entries in a class, that Category would immediately go on hiatus for the present year – no award given – and entries will be screened into the subsequent most sensible Category. If a class receives fewer than 25 entries for 3 consecutive years, the class will be discontinued, and submissions will be entered inside the next optimum Category.
The second one rule change is regarding voting. Previously, voting members were allowed to vote in as much as nine genre Fields plus the overall Field at the first ballot and 8 genre Fields plus the final Field at the second ballot, including every category within each chosen Field. Now, on each ballot, voters may vote in as much as 20 Categories within the genre Fields plus the four Categories of the final Field – such as 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 – made out of elected Academy leaders from around the country representing various genres of the music community – and was voted on and gone by The Academy’s Board of Trustees – made from musicians, producers, engineers, songwriters, and other music professionals. The A&N Committee spent greater 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 from time to time incredibly challenging for every member of the committee to restructure Categories of their own respective genres, the greater purpose of selling unity inside the music community and ensuring that each one Fields be treated with parity outweighed natural inclinations to withstand change.
Please visit www.grammy.com/announcement for the next resources and detailed information:
a class Comparison Chart (comparing Categories from the 53rd GRAMMYs to the impending 54th GRAMMYs)
An evidence of Category Restructuring across all genres
a class Mapper (an interactive feature to be able to show where to go into submissions under the hot structure)
Commonly asked Questions
Upcoming dates and deadlines for the 54th GRAMMY Awards online entry period
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is a company of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that’s devoted 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 probably the most credible brand in music – The Recording Academy is accountable for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to highlight its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible portion of our culture. For more info concerning 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.
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