Recording Academy members have exactly one month to submit recommendations for awards and nominations changes, including new categories. Members have two months to submit recommendations for artists and others to receive what are called “special merit awards” – lifetime achievement awards and the like.
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People who hope to join the Recording Academy have one month to submit materials to be considered for this year’s membership class. But that process is complex and involves getting recommendations from two other people in the industry. People who hope to join in time to be in the next new member class better get cracking.
These administrative deadlines were unchanged even though the 64th annual Grammy Awards telecast was pushed back more than two months, from Jan. 31 to April 3.
We’ll break it all down for you.
Awards and Nominations Process Proposals:
Members of the Academy may submit proposals year-round, but the cutoff date for proposals to be considered for the following year is March 1. Proposals can be submitted to awards@recordingacademy.com.
Any proposal to create a new category requires a special submission form (which can be obtained at that same address.) Be aware that it’s not easy to add a new category: Proposals to create a new category require a two-thirds super-majority vote of both the awards & nominations (A&N) committee and the board of trustees to pass.
Proposals are debated and voted on by the A&N committee. Those that pass go to the board of trustees. Proposals that are ratified by the trustees go into effect for the following year’s Grammy Awards. Proposals that are rejected by the A&N committee won’t be considered again until the following year, except for proposals that need to be viewed in a different light due to changes in the industry or technology.
The Recording Academy announced more than the usual number of rule changes last year, so much so that the announcements were presented in two parts. On April 30, in a blockbuster move, it announced the end of nominations review committees. Less than a month later, on May 26, it announced more changes, including extending album of the year eligibility to all producers, songwriters, featured artists and others who worked on an album, rather than insisting they appear on a certain percentage of the album’s playing time. (That resulted in this year’s glut of nominations for such albums as Kanye West‘s Donda and the deluxe edition of Justin Bieber‘s Justice.)
Special Merit Award Recommendations:
Members can recommend recipients of the Academy’s special merit awards – lifetime achievement awards for performers, trustees awards for people whose main contribution is as non-performers and technical Grammy Award recipients.
These are due April 1. There is a great deal of competition for these honorary awards, so members should make a well-reasoned, well-researched case for why the would-be recipient is deserving. These should also be submitted to awards@recordingacademy.com.
Here’s the Recording Academy’s description of these awards and how the recipients are chosen: “The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award honors such contributions in areas other than performance. The Recording Academy’s national board of trustees determines the honorees of both awards. Technical Grammy Award recipients are voted on by the Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing advisory council and chapter committees and are ratified by the Academy’s Trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording industry.”
The special merit recipients that were announced in December 2020 will finally receive their honors at the Grammy telecast in April, along with Bonnie Raitt, whose selection for a lifetime achievement award wasn’t announced until December 2021. COVID-19 delayed the class’s recognition bya full year. This year’s class will consist of seven lifetime achievement award recipients (Raitt, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Lionel Hampton, Marilyn Horne, Salt-N-Pepa, Selena and Talking Heads), three trustees award recipients (Ed Cherney, Benny Golson and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds) and one technical Grammy award recipient (Daniel Weiss). Those numbers are typical for a year’s class. That may seem like a lot, but keep in mind that artists and others from all genres and multiple eras are vying for those spots.
New Member Submissions:
The deadline to submit materials to be considered for this year’s new member class is March 1. Prospective members cannot simply recommend themselves. The process begins with two other people providing a recommendation. Those two people do not have to be current Recording Academy members. Anyone who works full-time in the music industry may recommend up to two people each annual membership cycle.
The Recording Academy offers three types of membership — voting (for performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists and other creators currently working in the recording industry), professional (non-voting, for people who work in the music business) and Grammy U (non-voting, for those aspiring to a career in the music industry).
Recommendation forms should be received by the Recording Academy by Feb. 15 to ensure that the candidate has adequate time to complete their profile by March 1.
According to the Grammy site, the peer review committee looks for two strong recommendations from music industry peers; proof of a primary career focus in music, such as active marketing and promotions; awards and honors; established online presence; current and historical touring dates/performances, fan base interaction, music videos, charts or streaming statistics, current releases available, etc.; press such as interviews, highlights, reviews by relevant outlets; professional support system (i.e. manager, booking agent, publicist, etc.); and 12 commercially distributed, verifiable credits in a single creative profession. (At least one of those credits should be within the previous five years).
If someone has been nominated for a Grammy Award within the previous five years, the credit requirement is waived. If someone is a current year’s Grammy nominee or winner, no recommendations are required.
Candidates who do not meet the above factors can nevertheless be considered for membership if their body of work has achieved “unique distinction” and/or earned “special merit.”
After the two recommendations are received by the Academy, the Academy will reach out to the applicant to find out more more about his or her career. Candidates will receive an email with a link and candidate code to complete the career profile. Profiles must be completed by midnight on March 1 to be considered for that year’s class.
New member submissions are considered by the Recording Academy’s peer review committee each spring. If approved by that committee, candidates are invited to join the Recording Academy by July 9 and have until that year’s Grammy Awards voting deadline to accept.
As part of an ongoing effort to ensure all members are still actively working in music, renewing members may be asked to demonstrate recent credits and career materials in order to maintain their Recording Academy membership. The peer review panel will also review this information prior to accepting the renewal.
If someone’s membership has been expired for less than five years, he or she can renew anytime. If someone’s membership has been expired for more than five years, he or she will need to re-submit for membership consideration through the Academy’s annual invitation process.
Recording Academy membership dues are $100 annually, but were waived the last two years due to the financial impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, the Recording Academy announced that invitations were extended to 2,710 potential new members in a continuing effort to diversify the organization’s membership. That marked an increase from about 2,300 invitees in the 2020 class to help ensure that the academy’s “membership is diverse and representative of the entire music community,” Kelley Purcell, vice president of membership and industry relations, told Billboard in June.
Here’s a link to a page at Grammy.com with complete information about joining. For any questions, contact membership@recordingacademy.com or 866-794-3391.