| January 29, 2020 | Dang Le | managing editor |
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It is hard to argue the prestigiousness of the Grammy Awards when talking about the music industry. However, its 62nd ceremony last Sunday proves its long-time problem: The winners are not what the critics like best and not what the general public listen to either.
Billie Eilish won five out of six nominations and swept the “big four” categories: Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year, making her the biggest winner of the night.
While Eilish worked hard, her album was not the highest-rated by critics nor the most-consumed by the general public.
When looking at the nomination list, the general public and Metacritic disagree with the committee most of the time and scratch their heads every time the winners get announced.
Lana Del Rey’s “NFR” is one of the most acclaimed albums this award season. However, she only received two nominations and won none.
While “Old Town Road” is a record-breaking single, it is difficult to fathom the Grammy’s decision to nominate Lil Nas X for “Album of the Year” with an 8-track, 18:44 EP.
If the committee cannot nominate the best albums, the least they can do is choose the best-selling albums, but Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” the only record that sold a million pure copies last year was kept out of the “Album of the Year” race.
It’s even more alarming as ex-CEO Deborah Dugan filed a lawsuit against the Recording Academy five days before the ceremony. She has then shown evidence of racial discriminations, sexual harassment and corrupting in voting results, one of which is Ariana Grande’s snub for Song of the Year this year.
The Grammys’ promise is “to recognize the best recordings, compositions and artists in the eligibility year.” Now that they cannot even commit to their integrity and the viewership number is sinking, maybe artists, and viewers should ignore the award’s credibility.
