Grammy Awards adds three new categories

The Recording Academy announced on June 13 that they would be adding 3 new categories for the Grammy Awards in 2024. The categories include Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording. 

The announcement came on the heels of the most recent semiannual Board of Trustees meeting held last May. The introduction of the new categories was followed by news that Producer Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year would be considered to be categories in the general field. The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. stated:

“By introducing these 3 new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists – and relocating the Producer Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year categories to the General Field ensures that all our voters can participate in recognizing excellence in these fields.”

The changes in the Recording Academy’s considerations for Grammy awards make way for more artists to win in each category. Adding the Best African Music Performance allows for artists such as previous Grammy-Award-winning artist DJ Black Coffee to be present in more distinct award consideration, and the changes also open artists for contention in other, broader award categories.

The addition of the Best Pop Dance Recording category can also help circumvent controversy. Controversy such as last year’s Grammy Awards Best Dance/Electronic Album wins by Beyoncé for her album ‘Renaissance’. Public fan displeasure can be avoided by such a category moving forward.

The Grammy Awards usher in a new era with these changes, evolving to adapt and learn in an ever-changing musical landscape. This begins to open the Grammy Awards up to the possibility for more artists to be recognized for their work. It will be exciting to see just how much the new changes heralded in by the Recording Academy affect the winners of the 66th Grammy Awards.

Image Credit: Colby Sharp via Flickr | License: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)