Grammys do away with 'secret' nomination review committees

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The Recording Academy is making major changes to the Grammy Awards.

The organization said Friday it has made adjustments "that reflect its ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape and to ensure that the GRAMMY Awards rules and guidelines are transparent and equitable."

Among the notable changes is the elimination of the nomination review committees, long regarded as "secret" committees that have been accused of hurting the chances of nominations and wins by artists.

"Nominations in all of the GRAMMY Award general and genre fields will now be determined by a majority, peer-to-peer vote of voting members of the Recording Academy," the academy said in a statement. "Previously, many of the categories within these fields utilized 15-30 highly skilled music peers who represented and voted within their genre communities for the final selection of nominees."

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The Weeknd previously announced he would boycott the Grammys over 'secret' committees that have now been eliminated. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

The peer-recognized process is designed to give "further validation" to the nominations and wins. Ninety percent of the academy's members will go through a "requalification process" this year to determine if they are "actively engaged in music creation."

Additionally, the number of categories that members of the voting body may vote in has been reduced.

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Now, only voters that are "most knowledgeable and qualified" in a field will be able to vote in categories related to that field. Each member will be allowed to vote in only 10 categories rather than 15.

"Additionally, those 10 categories must be within no more than three fields," the organization said. "All voters are permitted to vote in the four General Field categories (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist)."

The Grammys will also add two new categories: best global music performance and best música Urbana album. (Getty Images)

Craft fields will now also be divided into presentation and production fields with members choosing which field categories they feel qualified to vote in, "respecting category vote limits, without being excessively limited by the three-field restriction."

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Finally, a pair of new categories have been added: best global music performance (global music field) and best música Urbana album (Latin music field).

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All changes are effective immediately. The 64th annual Grammy Awards will air Jan. 31, 2022. The eligibility period for the upcoming awards is set from Sept. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021.