The Grammy Awards announced today they have overhauled the nomination process and slashed the number of categories from 109 to 78, starting with the 2012 Grammys.
Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow announced the changes this morning at a press conference broadcast online at grammy.com. Portnow said the motive for the change is about "ensuring that the Grammy remains a rare and distinct honor, and continues to be music's most prestigious and only peer-recognized award."
"Every submission will continue to have a home; it just may look a little different," Portnow said.
The biggest change is that there will no longer be separate Male and Female awards in each field. Instead, for each genre, there will be one award for "Solo" Performance and one for "Group" performance. This means that, in the pop field, for instance, Lady Gaga will have to compete head-to-head with her male counterparts Adam Lambert and Michael Jackson.
Other changes: Most of the instrumental awards have been eliminated, as have obscure categories like Best Native American, Hawaiian, and Cajun albums.
To many fans, this move is long overdue, as the excessive number of categories in recent years has taken some of the luster off what it means to win a Grammy.
Case in point: Country/bluegrass musician Alison Krauss has won 26 Grammys, more than any woman in history, thanks to her wins in obscure instrumental categories. While Krauss is an incredibly talented musician, the fact that she has more wins than Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and other legendary female artists has always seemed strange.
The Grammys began with 28 categories in 1959. You can view the press conference at the Grammy website.
To revisit my coverage of the 2011 Grammy Awards, click here.
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