Grammy Nominations

The Recording Academy recently announced that 66% of its voting members have joined since 2019, when the academy adopted a peer-reviewed membership model. Harvey Mason Jr., the academy’s CEO, says the change in the membership can be seen in this year’s nominations.
Album of the year nominees include three albums from genres that are not in regular rotation in this top category – André 3000’s New Blue Sun, which is also nominated for best alternative jazz album; Charli XCX’s Brat, which is also nominated for best dance/electronic album; and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, which is also nominated for best country album.

Mason took time on the eve of the nominations reveal to talk to Billboard about the nominations. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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In a press release, you were quoted saying “These nominations reflect the work of a voting body that is more representative of the music community than ever before.” Can you point to a specific nomination that illustrates that point?

I would start by looking at the General Field [which includes the Big Four categories – record, album and song of the year plus best new artist]. The reach of genres in those categories – country, rap, alternative jazz – is a direct reflection of the diversity of our membership.

66% of this year’s voters are new [since 2019]. More than 3,000 women voters have joined. People of color are now almost 40%. That is a stark difference from where we were about four or five years ago. Definitely, the tastes, the ears, the outcomes are going to change.

Back in July, I sent a very direct message to our voters. I asked them to please vote with purpose; vote with intention; vote with your ears. And I’m really, really pleased. It seems like they definitely did that.

I was a little surprised by The Beatles being nominated for record of the year for “Now and Then.”

You can never be surprised by The Beatles popping up. When I was nominated many moons ago [for Dreamgirls, nominated for best pop compilation soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media], I thought I had that sucker won, and then The Beatles came along and snatched it [for Love, featuring music remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name].

To me, the AI is kind of the interesting part [of ‘Now and Then’]. It’s a great example of how AI definitely enhanced some creativity as opposed to creating a fake voice. This was a cool use of AI that I felt made a lot of sense and I’m pleased it’s been nominated.

Beyoncé was shut out in the nominations at the CMA Awards, a very credible show, and leads here with 11 nominations for the same album. How do you reconcile that?

I would reconcile it by saying our voters really resonated with the music. And it wasn’t just one group of voters. Because of our 10-3 rule, voters have to declare [no more than] three fields you’re going to vote in, so you’re not just wandering all over the ballot voting. Country voters voted for Beyoncé in country. Different voters voted for her in rap – she’s nominated for best melodic rap performance. It’s totally different subsets of voters. So, I think it’s really impressive.

Jack Antonoff co-produced two albums that are nominated for album of the year (Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department). He’s the only producer with two albums in that category, but he’s not nominated for producer of the year, non-classical. How do you explain that?

Yeah, that’s definitely different. I can’t speak for the voters. They each vote in their own way, but it’s something to look at.

This is the second year in a row you’ve had eight nominees in each of the Big Four categories. Before that, it was 10 for two years and before that it was eight for three years. Do you like eight?

I do because I think it gives us the opportunity to celebrate more music than five [nominees, which was the norm before 2018]; more diverse genres and to hear from a lot of different artists. I think maybe to get much higher than that, it starts to get confusing, too many to choose from for voters and maybe diluting the category. We’re trying to find the sweet spot, the right number. We’ll continue to look at it.

André 3000’s album wasn’t a big hit – it spent two weeks on the Billboard 200 last December – but it’s up for album of the year.

That’s hopefully reflective of the fact that they listened to the music and they’re not basing it on chart positions or fan reactions or streaming numbers. It’s really based on the quality of the music. You don’t know what’s going to resonate from year to year. This year, these eight albums resonated with our voters and I think they did a great job.

Cowboy Carter is the only country album up for album of the year and even Beyoncé wrote on Instagram, ‘This ain’t a Country album, it’s a Beyoncé album.’ We don’t have a Chris Stapleton or a Kacey Musgraves or a Lainey Wilson in there. It seems to me you’re perennially a little light on country. When you see the nominations every year, do you think ‘We need to work on this’?

I say that about a lot of things when I see the nominations – more so when I see our voting membership numbers. We’re always working on this. The membership team is working really hard, making adjustments to the membership so that we’re reflective of the music community. Yes, we’re working on balancing out different genres, and we’ll continue to do that work. But you’re not wrong.

Tyla, the 21-year old South African singer/songwriter, has exquisite timing.
She has broken big just as the Recording Academy added a new category this year, best African music performance. Her global hit “Water” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart on Oct. 21, one day after first-round voting for the 66th Grammy Awards ended. On Nov. 10, “Water” was announced as one of the nominees in that category. This week, just two weeks before final-round voting begins, that hit breaks into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Final-round voting extends from Dec. 14 to Jan. 4, 2024.)

Tyla couldn’t have timed her breakthrough, and her song’s emergence as a top 10 hit, better if she had done it all specifically with Grammy deadlines in mind.

Does having a hit right as Grammy voters are making their final selections make a difference? Let’s just say it never hurt.

And Tyla isn’t alone. Here are other songs in this week’s top 40 on the Hot 100 that are nominated for Grammys this year (or are from albums that are Grammy-nominated). We also included two artists with hits in the current top 40 who are nominated for best new artist (Jelly Roll and Noah Kahan).

The numbers shown are the song’s ranking on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 2.

3. Doja Cat, “Paint the Town Red.” Best pop solo performance

5. SZA, “Snooze.” Best R&B song, album of the year and best progressive R&B album (SOS).

6. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.”  Best country duo/group performance, best country song, best country album (Zach Bryan)

10. Tyla, “Water.” Best African music performance

14. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night.” Best country song (Note: Wallen isn’t nominated because he didn’t co-write the song.)

18. Luke Combs, “Fast Car.” Best country solo performance

21. Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor.” Best new artist

22. Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson, “Save Me.” Best new artist, best country duo/group performance

23. Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire.” Record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, album of the year and best pop vocal album (Guts)

27. Chris Stapleton, “White Horse.” Best country solo performance, best country song

30. Miley Cyrus, “Used to Be Young.” Album of the year and best pop vocal album (Endless Summer Vacation)

31. Dua Lipa, “Dance the Night.” Song of the year, best song written for visual media, best score soundtrack for visual media (Barbie: The Album)

36. Billie Eilish, “What Was I Made For.” Record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, best music video, best song written for visual media, best score soundtrack for visual media (Barbie: The Album)

37. Noah Kahan, “Stick Season.” Best new artist

Last week, the Recording Academy added Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as arrangers of the classical-shaded treatment of The Rolling Stones’ rock classic “Paint It Black,” which was recorded for a memorable cello scene in the first episode of Netflix’s Wednesday. Jagger and Richards are now listed alongside Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon and Alana Da Fonseca, who had been listed as the arrangers of the track when the nominations for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella were announced on Nov. 10.
Wednesday, which debuted on Netflix in November 2022, has also aired cello renditions of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Dua Lipa’s “Physical.”

This is the first Grammy nomination as arrangers for Jagger and Richards. The rock legends have shared 15 nods over the years; Jagger has achieved two more on his own. Jagger and Richards are also nominated this year for best rock song for co-writing “Angry,” which was the lead single from Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first studio album of new material in 18 years.

The Stones’ original version of “Paint It Black” was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1966. (The title was originally shown as “Paint It, Black,” apparently due to a typo.)

This is the second time Jagger and Richards have been nominated for a Grammy on account of a new recording that borrowed from a Stones classic. At the 41st Grammy Awards in February 1999, they were nominated for best rock song for The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” which was based on a sample from a version of The Stones’ “The Last Time” by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in April 1998.

The Verve had obtained rights to use the sample of “The Last Time” from the copyright holder, Decca Records, but were denied permission from The Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein. Following a lawsuit, The Verve relinquished all royalties, and Jagger and Richards were added to the songwriting credits, alongside The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft. In 2019, a decade after Klein’s death in 2009, Jagger, Richards and Klein’s son ceded the rights to Ashcroft. The Grammy nods for Jagger and Richards (alongside Ashcroft) remain, however.

The Stones’ original versions of “The Last Time” and “Paint It Black” weren’t nominated for Grammys. In fact, The Stones weren’t nominated for a Grammy in any category until 1978, when their Billboard 200-topping album Some Girls was nominated for album of the year. How to explain the Grammys snubbing such all-time classics as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Brown Sugar”? The Grammys were resistant to rock in the 1960s, and didn’t have genre categories exclusively dedicated to rock until 1979. The Academy attempted to make amends with the band in 1986 when it presented them with a lifetime achievement award.

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