The Recording Academy has announced a change to its awards criteria that will now permit samples and interpolations of previously written songs to be allowed in all Grammy Award songwriting categories, including song of the year.
The announcement comes along with an extensive list of additional alterations made at the Academy’s annual spring trustees meeting intended to continue the evolution of the Grammy Awards categories and process.
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Previously, samples or interpolations were allowed in only the Best Rap Song category. The change comes in recognition of craft of writing rap songs, as it is now common for songs to include a few lines of an old song as a reference point, says a press release announcing the change, “providing creative and interesting compositions that often reach across genre lines.”
Now, for example, songs like Jay Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind” which won the Grammy for Best Rap song honors in 2011 and features a sample of “Love on a Two-Way Street” written by Sylvia Robinson and Bert Keyes and performed by The Moments, would now also be eligible for a Song of the Year award.
Some of the board of trustees’ other changes include establishing a new category for Best American Roots Performance in the American Roots Field; and changing the name of the Dance/Electronica Field and album category to Dance/Electronic Music (Field) and Best Dance/Electronic Album; restructuring the categories of the Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) Field; and renaming Best Pop Instrumental Album to Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, establishing a new Contemporary Instrumental Music Field, and moving Best Traditional Pop Album into the Pop Field.
“The Academy’s Board of Trustees continues to demonstrate its passionate commitment to keeping The Recording Academy a relevant and responsive organization in our dynamic music community,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, in a statement. “This year’s changes to our awards process are thoughtful, inclusive, and reflective of the current musical landscape.”
Other changes include changing Best Classical Vocal Solo (Album or Tracks) to Best Classical Solo Vocal Album (Albums Only); and renaming and remaking the Best Instrumental Arrangement and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals categories to Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella and Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, respectively, such that vocal arrangers/arrangements are eligible to compete.
In addition, a more official guideline has been established for the Alternative Music Field, stating “the Best Alternative Music Album category is intended for recordings that take as a starting point any existing musical genre or combination of genres, and expand and redefine the boundaries of those genres. Though there may be considerable overlap with the Alternative radio format, this category is not intended to mirror it.”
The trustees of The Recording Academy’s decisions were made with academy senior staff, chapter regional directors, executive directors, and chapter presidents over its May 20 – 23 semiannual series of meetings with agendas designed to chart the course of The Academy and its affiliate corporations.