After this years Grammy Awards show was criticized by the fans and many in the music industry including executive Steve Stoute in his open letter to the board earlier this year, it was announced yesterday that the Grammy’s were making several drastic changes to the award show structure. In reaction to the changes, the.LIFE Files obtained an exclusive statement from Stoute:
“I’m glad for the artist community that my open letter has brought to light many issues facing the Grammy’s and their current process which at times fails. As we continue our discussions I expect to see more modifications that clearly reward and acknowledge the artists that truly deserve the prestigious award.”
Find out what some of the changes will be to next years award show after the jump.
In the broadest reorganization of the Grammy Awards’ 53-year history, the Recording Academy has consolidated dozens of awards categories, altered eligibility requirements and rewritten the rule on how members may vote. The impact will be immediate as next year’s 54th annual Grammy Awards will have only 78 categories, 31 fewer than presented at the 53rd ceremony held in February.
The most noticeable changes are in the stripping of gender-based categories in pop, R&B, rock and country. There will no longer be separate awards for male or female vocals, simply an award in each genre for a single “solo performance.” Several instrumental categories have been eliminated as well.
They were taken to task soon after this year’s telecast when longtime marketing and music executive Steve Stoute called the show “a series of hypocrisies and contradictions” in a full-page ad in the New York Times. After meeting several days later, Stoute and Portnow issued a joint statement saying they would discuss how the Recording Academy could evolve “in an ever-changing cultural environment.”
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wow. Open letters still work… Kudos to the commissioner lol
Steve Stoute, I respect your swag to stand up to the institution in an effort to make it better.
Stoute, I never heard anyone say you didn’t have clout.
proud o’ ya Pimpin’.
…..and thanx?
consolidating Pop and R&B vocals will make it better? How?
theres just fewer awards making it worse than before…now there will be more controversy when Justin Timberlake has to compete directly with Lady Gaga….sigh
They are not consolidating Pop and RnB they are consolidating male and female pop into one category e.g. best female pop performance and best male pop performance will now be best pop performance etc.
Yeah, the consolidation of awards makes competition stiffer not more lax. And there should be a difference between the sexes. Men sing/perform a certain way and the ladies sing/perform a certain way.
TOTAL WTF moment….
PRECISELY! What’s this consolidation bullshit??? o_0 SMDH
They didn’t make changes because of him.
His point was high sales should equal awards. he was referring to Eminem.
The changes came as a direct result of his open letter the chairman of the Grammys took a meeting with him strait away.
stoute may have provoked the changes but they still don’t reflect his concerns. matters have worsened because it eliminates recognition for the artists who may not be mainstream.
He also made the point that the Grammys will not show all the hip hop awards and some other popular awards on camera and on stage, but will use those genres to sell the show and get viewers.
The changes don’t reflect Stoute’s complaints. The problem is what producer’s choose for the broadcast, not the categories and voters.
The changes don’t address anything Stout was talking about…and his views are not good either. So now othere are no female or male categories but you now have them dismissing all or most of the instrumental categories! Is that not music either?! Grammy’s is bull and has been for quite sometime.
This was honestly the worst thing the Grammys ever did to itself.
Hooray! Mediocrity wins again! Thank you once again Black America!
Shut up you idiot.
Sour grapes! The man shouldn’t complain. The Grammy’s are about awarding artistic talent, not about who is more popular.
Arcade Fire is a hell of a good band, with excellent talent. They deserved that win.
And the fact that they beat the likes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga is even better. Not to insult the two popstars. In fact, I think their albums deserve merit in their own right, and that award could have gone either way.
It’s just that people are quick to insult Arcade Fire because they’re Indie, Canadian, not popular, etc. Listen to more than 30 seconds of their song. Heck, listen to their discography. You’ll get it. They’re actually pretty damn good.
I didn’t know that people still paid attention to these self-congratulatory awards shows. Who even cares what the Grammy’s do?
Just find music you like and listen to it.