What's the Big Deal with the Grammys?

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On February 10, 2008 The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will celebrate - thanks in part to a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America - the 50th anniversary of its illustrious Grammy Awards. Bands and artists from across the country and globe will wait with bated breath, hoping against hope to take home one of the coveted golden phonographs. The awards and accompanying gala garner a tremendous amount of speculation, hoopla and hype every year - but so many people are so busy caring so much about the awards that they don't even bother to stop and wonder if they really should.

The Academy bills these awards as, "...truly a peer honor, awarded by and to artists and technical professionals for artistic or technical achievement, not sales or chart positions" but have they and do they really serve such a function? When Michael Bolton, Justin Timberlake, the Bee Gees, Culture Club, and Captain and Tennille each hold at least one award while the Ramones, Patti Smith, the Who, the Velvet Underground, Blondie, and Led Zeppelin collectively hold zero can these awards really mean anything in terms of naming the most artistic and most significant releases of any given year?

In truth the Grammys are a pat on the back given by the major recording studios to the artists they most feel like promoting - typically with a slight bonus in the form of a spike in record sales after winning. Independent labels and artists are largely frozen out from consideration no matter the level of their work. These awards are not a signifier of quality and cannot (and in fact do not even attempt to) recognize the best overall music during any particular award period.

Nomination and Voting

According to the Grammy Web site, nominations are submitted by record companies, record executives and Academy members. After being broken down by category and genre these submissions then undergo a preliminary round of voting to whittle down the pool to five nominees in each category. These votes are tallied and the remaining bands and artists are then subjected to one final vote to determine the winners. Voting membership in the Academy is given to applicants who can verify that they have been credited on six commercially released tracks - twelve for artists who choose to distribute electronically. Since the Big Four record labels (and their imprints) account for roughly 70% of worldwide record sales, it stands to reason that they have a disproportionate level of influence in award voting. The results are almost always skewed toward the majors while indies are rarely or never recognized for their outstanding work.

2007 Album of the Year: A Case Study

The eligibility year for this year's Grammy Awards ran from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007 and for this period the nominees for Album of the Year are:

• Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

(Roswell/RCA records - Division of Sony BMG)

• Vince Gill - These Days

(MCA Nashville - Division of Universal Music Group)

• Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters

(Verve - Division of Universal Music Group)

• Graduation - Kanye West

(Roc a Fella Records - Division of Universal Music Group)

• Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

(Universal Republic Records - Division of Universal Music Group)

While music taste is certainly debatable from any standpoint I find it highly suspect that not a single independent release made it into the top five of the year, especially given that 2007 was a tremendous year for independent music (not to mention the fact that Echoes... is widely considered to be one of the Foo Fighters' worst albums). That The Shins (Sub Pop), LCD Soundsystem (DFA), or The Arcade Fire (Merge) were snubbed in this category is a travesty and a sign that the almighty Best Album Grammy isn't worth the hairspray used by whatever presenter is handing it out. In fact I'd stack this year's releases from the completely snubbed Menomena (Barsuk), The National (Brassland), Bon Iver (self-released in 2007), and Brother Ali (Rhymesayers) against anything on that best album list.

Further, note that Radiohead's In Rainbows didn't receive a single nomination despite almost unanimous critical acclaim, an incredible amount of press, and widespread fan acceptance. Should I take it as a coincidence that the single album this year setting a precedent that could unravel the major label business model went ignored at this, supposedly music's biggest night? I'm apparently oblivious and didn't notice In Rainbows came out after the cut-off for the 2007 Grammys.

A Helping Hand

It isn't terribly difficult to find good independent acts. In fact, if NARAS is having trouble locating them Listen In is more than happy to lend a hand in a few different ways. If the Academy wants these prizes to be taken seriously it needs to do a better job of finding and awarding talent instead of having a Best New Artist category in which two nominees have three records under their belt. When the major labels release their hold over these "honors" - as they were recently forced to do with radio - then maybe one day as Grammy night nears they will finally silence the doubts of all those still wondering: What's the Big Deal with the Grammys?

© Eric Atienza 2008 for ListenIn. Some rights reserved.

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