Bias at the Grammys

For years, partiality, sexism and racism have been prevalent themes in the once-prestigious Grammy awards. In the 61-year history of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won Artist of the Year, the last person being Herbie Hancock in 2008. Of these, only three were women. 

Many artists and avid watchers of the Grammy awards have expressed grievances regarding the lack of transparency in the voting and nomination process. Nominations are chosen through a first-round ballet conducted among Recording Academy members, all of whom are heavily involved in the music industry. To choose awards, the members vote once again. This method seems fairly foolproof. However, vote counts are never released and rankings of the songs are never known. Due to this, many people suspect snubbing of many artists due to inherent biases of the committee members. 

In an interview on Good Morning America, former president of the Recording Academy Deborah Dugan claimed it was common for members to “push forward artists with whom they have relationships” and that “not unusual for artists who have relationships with board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end up receiving nominations.” 

This statement sparked further speculations of discrimination and partiality.  

In 2018, #GrammysSoMale trended after only one female artist, Alessia Cara, won a major award. SZA, who was nominated in five categories, went home empty handed. Lorde, the only woman to be nominated for Album of the Year, lost to “24K” by Bruno Mars. 

There are also accusations of racialized categories at the Grammy awards. All twelve songs from Beyonce’s “Lemonade” album charted on the Billboard’s Top 100, smashing records. Yet, the album was only nominated in the best urban contemporary pop category. 

Many artists, such as the Weeknd, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and Zayn Malik, have decided to boycott the Grammys for this reason: the discrimination and lack of transparency. 

“Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,” The Weeknd said in a statement to the New York Times. 

The Canadian pop star’s hit song “Blinding Lights” stayed on the Billboard Hot 100’s top ten for 52 weeks. Not only this, “Blinding Lights” was also the most streamed song on Spotify. However, to the surprise of many, he did not receive a single nomination at the Grammys. 

This year, #Scammys trended by ARMYs, BTS’s fandom, when the group lost the award to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me.” The fandom accused the Grammys of taking advantage of the group and fans to boost viewership by postponing the group’s performance until the very end of the show. 

Sophomore Swetha Sridaran from Poolesville High School remarked that she doesn’t think the Grammys are considered the most prestigious music awards anymore with all the controversy surrounding them. 

“There were a variety of unique artists that could’ve won this year and many years before, including The Weeknd and Zayn, but preference went to many white artists. In 2018, the only female who won an award was Alessia Cara. The Grammys need to do a better job at being inclusive to all races and genders,” Sridaran said.

When asked how the Grammys could improve, she responded that more information on the voting process should be shared. With these changes, she remarked that it was possible for them to build back their reputation. 

“I think that things will take time to recover; bad things tend to last longer than good things. But the more good they do, and the more inclusive they’ll be, the quicker they’ll build back their reputation,” Sridaran said.

The Grammy Awards, once regarded as the most prestigious event for a music artist, is slowly losing its venerance. With serious efforts to boost inclusivity and a more public voting process, however, it can still gain back the public’s trust and respect.

Article by Akshya Mahadevan of Richard Montgomery High School Graphic courtesy of Dmileson under a CC BY 4.0 License