For music lovers and pop culture enthusiasts, Grammy nomination season is always a roller coaster of emotion filled with anticipation, excitement, and, ultimately, disappointment, all in that order. This year proved to be no different. On November 8, 2024, The Recording Academy’s announcement of the 2025 Grammy Awards nominees triggered an instant flood of opinions on social media. Many were surprised by some of the nominees but more so shocked by the absence of certain artists, songs, and albums – projects that were widely expected to earn nominations but were instead “snubbed” from their key categories. This leaves the question: will the Grammys be able to sustain any relevance in pop culture if they continue to clash with public opinion? As the years go by, the Grammys seem to become more and more irrelevant to the music industry, and the constant controversy they cause is only making it worse.
The Grammy’s nomination process is the catalyst of the outrage. Artists and, or their teams must submit their entries - songs, albums, etc- within a period of eligibility for them to be screened by committees in the Recording Academy. Then, members of the Recording Academy undergo the first round of voting to select the nominees and another to select the winners. The voting committees are believed to not consider things such as chart data or virality on social media to make decisions. For this reason, the nominees and winners often do not embody the general public’s musical opinions. This system causes a disconnect between the Grammys and the audience, making the Grammys seem out of touch with popular culture.
Henry Jenkins III (1988) describes a concept in which audiences take a cultural product and challenge it with a new perspective that ultimately strains the control that the creators have on its meaning. The Recording Academy has given the Grammys - an example of a cultural product - this superior societal meaning, which is reflected in their self-given title of “music’s biggest night.” The Grammy’s audience observes the decisions they make and then takes to the internet to post their opinions and think pieces. These publicized thoughts deconstruct the prominent reputation that the Grammys have historically had and offer a new cultural meaning to the award show. The consistent controversy that the Recording Academy brings with their decisions has led to an increased amount of conversation questioning the validity of the Grammys and whether they hold any significance anymore. In recent times, these conversations of the Grammys’ decline have taken precedence over any significance the Grammys had in its prior years. The audience makes “music’s biggest night” seem a lot less big and makes the Recording Academy unable to control the narrative, as Jenkins suggests.
A notable snub from this year’s Grammy nominations was Ariana Grande for her album Eternal Sunshine and her hit single, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” Grande received three nominations but none in the major categories- Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year- where everyone predicted her to be. Eternal Sunshine debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and remained in the top ten for six weeks. “We can’t be friends (wait for your love)” was released eight months ago and already has one billion streams on Spotify. Online, people have expressed their shock and confusion regarding Ariana’s notable absence from the categories, especially on platforms such as X and TikTok. Even publications such as The Rolling Stone and Billboard have also acknowledged how Grande was snubbed. Conversations such as the one surrounding Ariana Grande have overshadowed the actual nominations and any positive publicity the Grammys could have been receiving. There are more articles and TikTok videos on the snubs than on the Grammys itself, showing a shift in the perception of the Grammys, which only hurts their fading prestige.
In “We can be heroes: How the nerds are reinventing pop culture,” author Laurie Penny (2019) states that the internet has damaged the “cultural center,” creating a new popularized movement for people to follow. For a long time, the Grammys were viewed as a cultural center in the music industry as it had a reputation of being the highest form of recognition for artists. The internet has allowed for the Grammy’s cultural impact to be questioned and depreciated as social media has made it much easier for people to share their thoughts. As more people criticize the Grammys, it becomes a trending topic everyone wants to join in on. These popularized disparaging opinions replace the highly regarded reputation that the Grammys once had, damaging and ultimately changing how it is defined in the view of societal impact. As Penny mentions, this creates a new mainstream movement in which people have an inconsequential view of the Grammys – a movement that will only continue to grow if the Grammys continue with their outdated ways.
A big contributor to this cultural redirection is the people in the music industry who become a part of the conversation. The Weeknd, one of the biggest artists of this generation, boycotted the Grammys in 2021 after receiving no nominations for his hit album After Hours and single, “Blinding Lights.” He publicly condemned the Grammys for being corrupt, having racial bias, and the now terminated secret voting committees. Various other celebrities voiced their support of The Weeknd’s sentiments. Following this controversial moment, the Grammy Awards had the lowest viewership in its entire history, with under 10 million viewers. The Weeknd’s denunciation of the Grammys represents how those within the industry themselves are detaching from its once-established prestige, further damaging their cultural importance.
With industry figures turning away, audiences consistently contesting its current cultural impact online, and the declining viewership for the award show, it is safe to say that the Grammy’s importance to popular culture is nearing its end.
Works Cited
Jenkins, H. (1988). Star Trek rerun, reread, rewritten: Fan writing as textual poaching. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 5(2), 85–107.
Penny, L. (2019). We can be heroes: How the nerds are reinventing pop culture. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/culture-fan-tastic-planet-fanfic/
Julie Phan:
ReplyDeleteYasheka, I genuinely enjoyed reading your article about one of the most prominent music entertainment academies, being the Grammys. For years, the Grammys has been the case study of controversies in the mainstream media and being known for its discriminative recognition for many of the most legendary artists today, who revolutionized this industry. I really agree with your argument that this major music award company's voting processes is horrendous and their distorted nomination techniques rigs not only an unfair system of recognition to many other deserving artists but doesn't take consideration the public's opinion and doesn't represent the global musical landscape of today.
In adding onto your stance on the irrelevance of the Grammy's nomination structure, your stance to me clearly defines the idea "celebrities as an industry" by Graeme Turner. Where he explores how the media often places a central focus on market interests rather than the artistry and cultural expression of musicians that make up this production. "The idea that celebrity becomes a product, the celebrity of commodity, can be manufactured, and traded by the promotions, publicity, and media industries" (Turner, 2020, p.13). The Grammy often chooses to based their nomination system on artists who dominated the charts in terms of sales, Billboard charts, or contribution to recent trends across social media platforms. Another artists who have been faced with the setback of this company includes BTS. They have made global impact showing advocacy through societal issues we face today through their music, and change the lives of the youthful generations. While not many are in a taste of KPOP music, we cannot deny how much impact they have made to diversify the representation of the music industry in the dominant forces of western culture, perish the stigmas of non-english music and building one of the most powerful fanbase in the world.
You have done exceptionally well in breaking down what is making the Grammys losing its place and value in the music industry. Incorporating other artists like Ariana Grande, who also doubt with the same issue of not receiving the recognition that she deserves for her albums. Though, I am not an Ariana Grande fan or consider myself liking her music, I do think she deserves more than just consecutive nominations. Her legacy and being one of the most accomplished artists with an incredible vocal range of our generation deserves a spotlight.