A coalition of musicians is demanding the Recording Academy restore more than 30 categories cut from the Grammy Awards they felt were targeting ethnic music and done without the input of its members. I thought that was the whole reason they spun off the Latin Grammys.
A protest was held last Thursday outside an academy board meeting in Beverly Hills, where musicians toted signs, those who brought instruments turned the rally into a spontaneous jam session. Kinda hard to drive the protest point home if it makes you want to dance. It was last month that a decision was made to reduce the Grammy fields from 109 to 78.
Letters were delivered that day to the Recording Academy as well, with the support of musicians like Carlos Santana and Paul Simon (aka the guys who have done world music albums after their mainstream success). But Grammy President Neil Portnow said changes would stay in effect for the 2012 awards, and the effect of the changes would be reviewed before the 2013 awards.
He added, "In this year's awards, there were 34 mainstream categories. Next year, with the changed revision, there will be 20 mainstream categories. That's a significant reduction in mainstream areas. In non-mainstream categories...there were 71. In the upcoming awards, there will be 54." So percentage-wise, the mainstream categories were effected more.
I think it's great that there's a mini-civil ethno-war brewing over these categories, because the Grammys are are just worthless anyway. Best Latin Jazz record versus Best Vocal Performance, Male? Who gives a shit about all the backstroking. Any real musician makes their music for the love of the art, not because a bunch of other musicians who are not even in their genre or familiar with their work cast a vote for them. Nobody gets into music because they're looking to get a Grammy, and the complaint is just crushed egos. They can give out a mountain of awards to Lady Antebellum and Usher and it still won't convince me they're "best anything...other than marketed.
A protest was held last Thursday outside an academy board meeting in Beverly Hills, where musicians toted signs, those who brought instruments turned the rally into a spontaneous jam session. Kinda hard to drive the protest point home if it makes you want to dance. It was last month that a decision was made to reduce the Grammy fields from 109 to 78.
Letters were delivered that day to the Recording Academy as well, with the support of musicians like Carlos Santana and Paul Simon (aka the guys who have done world music albums after their mainstream success). But Grammy President Neil Portnow said changes would stay in effect for the 2012 awards, and the effect of the changes would be reviewed before the 2013 awards.
He added, "In this year's awards, there were 34 mainstream categories. Next year, with the changed revision, there will be 20 mainstream categories. That's a significant reduction in mainstream areas. In non-mainstream categories...there were 71. In the upcoming awards, there will be 54." So percentage-wise, the mainstream categories were effected more.
I think it's great that there's a mini-civil ethno-war brewing over these categories, because the Grammys are are just worthless anyway. Best Latin Jazz record versus Best Vocal Performance, Male? Who gives a shit about all the backstroking. Any real musician makes their music for the love of the art, not because a bunch of other musicians who are not even in their genre or familiar with their work cast a vote for them. Nobody gets into music because they're looking to get a Grammy, and the complaint is just crushed egos. They can give out a mountain of awards to Lady Antebellum and Usher and it still won't convince me they're "best anything...other than marketed.
No comments:
Post a Comment