GRAMMY AWARDS 2024
2024 Grammys: What to know about the voting process and the new categories
Ahead of Sunday’s Grammys in Los Angeles, we take a look at how the nominees and winners are chosen at the music awards ceremony.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards are to be held in Los Angeles this weekend, with comedian Trevor Noah returning as host for the fourth consecutive year.
Singer SZA leads the nominees at the music awards gala, with nine nods. She is followed by Phoebe Bridgers, Victoria Monét and Serban Ghenea, who each received seven nominations. Jon Batiste, Boygenius, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff are all up for six awards.
Three new awards brought in for 66th Grammys
The Record Academy, which organises the Grammys, has announced a series of “updates and amendments” ahead of the 2024 awards, including the introduction of a trio of new prize categories: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording. This takes the total number of awards up for grabs to 94.
“By introducing these three new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr says.
How does Grammys voting work?
The nominees and award winners are chosen by Recording Academy members who are given the right to vote in the Grammys (known as ‘voting members’). The Academy says this jury is made up of “vetted and venerable performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists, and other creators currently working in the recording industry”.
According to the Grammys’ official website, the voting process begins with the submission of candidates. Recording Academy members and record companies put forward recordings and videos released during the awards’ eligibility year.
A group of over 350 experts in several fields then runs the rule over the submissions to ensure that they are eligible and are placed in the correct awards category.
First round voting: choosing the nominees
To take part in voting, members must be up-to-date with their subscription fees. In the first round ballot, the Grammys’ nominees are selected. “To help ensure the quality of the voting, members are directed to vote only in their areas of expertise,” the Recording Academy notes.
Final voting: choosing the winners
Once the nominees have been chosen, the Recording Academy’s voting members cast their ballots to decide the winners in each category.
Members may vote in up to 10 categories across a maximum of three genre fields, plus the six categories in the general field (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best New Artist, Non-Classical Producer Of The Year and Non-Classical Songwriter Of The Year). Again, members are instructed to vote only in their areas of expertise.
Results
In each category, the nominee with the most votes wins. Ties are possible; if that occurs, the award is shared by the two or more candidates that have received the most votes. Votes are tabulated by the accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
2024 Grammys: start time, how to watch
The 2024 Grammy Awards are to take place on Sunday 4 February 2024, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony will be aired on CBS and Paramount+ from 8pm ET/5pm PT.
You can also tune in to the Grammys via a live stream on fubo, which offers users a free trial.
What’s more, music fans will be able to enjoy additional Grammys content, including the premiere ceremony and red-carpet interviews, on live.GRAMMY.com.