Back in May, a petition was created to attempt to change the rules regarding which forms of music could be eligible for Grammy consideration. Spearheaded by Chance the Rapper, the effort was primarily directed towards the inclusion of streaming-only recordings such as his recent mixtape, Coloring Book. At the time, eligible music was defined as, “commercially released in general distribution in the United States, i.e. sales by label to a branch or recognized independent distributor, via the Internet, or mail order/retail sales for a nationally marketed product.” Today, however, the future of the music industry was reflected when the Grammys decided to include streaming as part of their criteria in selecting award-winning music.
Naturally, the free online music market, much like the one that most up and coming electronic producers, has been exempt from this list as long as the Internet’s been around. Today, however, the future of the music industry was reflected when the Recording Academy announced it would be including streaming-only recordings in the mix for the very first time in its history. The amendment will take effect for all 2017 Grammy considerations, from October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.
In a press release issued by the Academy, streaming-only music is described as music “released via general distribution, defined as the nationwide release of a recording via brick and mortar, third-party online retailers, and/or applicable digital streaming services. Applicable streaming services are paid subscription, full catalog, on-demand streaming/limited download platforms that have existed as such within the United States for at least one full year as of the submission deadline.”
Bill Freimuth, Senior Vice President of Awards for the Recording Academy, expressed his satisfaction at having fairly and cooperatively changing the system to include the new strains of online music: “The Grammys aren’t just peer-awarded, they’re peer-driven. Throughout the year, members of the music community come to us asking to make changes to the Awards process, and we work with them to figure out how those changes might work. I’m proud of this year’s changes because they’re a testament to the artists, producers, writers – the people who rolled up their sleeves to shape the proposals and, in turn, the future of the Grammys. It’s exactly what they should be doing. It’s their award.”
With celebrations in order for producers, singers and writers around the world, Chance’s collaborator on Surf, Donnie Trumpet, took to Twitter to thank house that helped catalyze the change.
The Grammys are part of a an amorphous music industry. I'm happy they see now that as music and the way we consume music evolves so do they.
— nico (@nicosegal) June 16, 2016
Shoutout everyone who said I needed to sell Surf to be considered for a Grammy in May 2015 and voted to make streaming eligible 2016.#smaht
— nico (@nicosegal) June 16, 2016
It's 2016. Stand by your ideals and things may change for the better.
— nico (@nicosegal) June 16, 2016
For further information on the other updates made by the Academy today, visit Complex‘s full report here.
Source: Complex
