Taylor Swift and Kanye West Were Last-Minute Additions for Top Grammy Awards
According to a source in the New York Times, the Recording Academy agreed to increase the number of Grammy nominations just 24 hours before the list was published on Tuesday, benefiting artists such as Kanye West, Taylor Swift, ABBA, and Lil Nas X.
When queried about the decision by Variety on Monday, CEO Harvey Mason jr. described it as a “natural process” that saw the list of nominees in the top four general categories rise from eight to ten. “We viewed it as a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate more artists and shed a light on more excellent music,” he said.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about for quite some time but it ended up happening quite lately,” he added of the abruptness of the shift. “We saw the vote and the number of submissions [for the Grammys in 2022] and viewed it as a fantastic possibility.” On Monday, the nominees’ advance lists, which are usually distributed to the media 24 hours before the announcement, arrived significantly later than usual. According to Variety, the delay was caused by the increase of the top lists.
According to the report, Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You” were added to the record of the year field; Swift’s “Evermore” and West’s “Donda” were added to the album of the year field; Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” and Brandi Carlile’s “Right on Time” were added at the last minute to the song of the year
By comparing the final list to a list generated before the Monday decision — a version that “had begun circulating outside the Recording Academy before the nominees were revealed on Tuesday,” the Times was able to determine which musicians benefited from the shift from eight to ten. The New York Times claimed to have gotten a copy of the previous list.
The musicians added to the list, according to Mason, were merely the ninth and tenth most chosen by Academy members, as determined by Deloitte, the Academy’s partner in gathering and tabulating votes. “A thousand per cent no,” he said when asked if the Grammy telecast’s multimillion-dollar ratings were a factor in the Swift-West inclusion. That wasn’t even a thought.”
“While it may appear hasty, it was really a thorough, well-intentioned approach that was also data-driven,” remarked Academy co-president Valeisha Butterfield Jones. The Academy’s representatives did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for additional comment.
Linda Chorney, who said she awoke this week to Google alerts connecting to news headlines suggesting she had been nominated for best American roots performance for her song “Bored,” raised other issues about the final nominations this week. According to screenshots and cached search results, Choney’s song was included in a list of nominees by Rolling Stone. Chorney’s song, however, was not among the nominees when the official list was released, and a song by Rhiannon Giddens got the slot that had appeared to be hers. Chorney claims she wrote to some of the reporters who published a storey claiming a nomination for her and received an apology from one of them, who said the material was cut-and-pasted from an incorrect source, but she hasn’t received any information on who that source was.
Chorney believes she did receive a nomination — and that it was somehow cancelled — despite the lack of explanations as to why erroneous news sources may have credited her with one. Chorney has chastised the Grammys for making changes to the voting procedure since she was nominated for best Americana album in 2012, which she feels were meant to keep self-releasing musicians like her out. Variety has also reached out to Academy representatives regarding Chorney’s concerns.
The New York Times’ report on the last-minute increase of top nominees sets an unpleasant tone for the upcoming Grammy Awards, which have been plagued by a succession of ugly events in recent years.
The Weeknd was inexplicably left out of any nominations last year, despite having one of the year’s most successful albums and hits in “After Hours” and “Blinding Lights.” Deborah Dugan, Mason’s predecessor, was fired due to apparent conflicts of interest and cover-up claims of sexual misbehaviour, including a rape allegation. The Academy finally got rid of its “secret” nomination review panels that created final nominee lists for most categories earlier this year, but only after years of allegations about insider trading, which culminated in the Weeknd snub. The list could go on and on.