The 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show, officially known as the 64th GRAMMY Awards rescheduled from Monday, January 31 to Sunday, April 3, will hold at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The Recording Academy on November 23, 2021 released its 86 categories nomination list for the Show initially slated for Los Angeles’ STAPLES Center.
Uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant at the time was cited by the organisers as the reason for the postponement.
They noted “holding the show on January 31st simply contains too many risks.”
Five Nigerian artistes, including Wizkid, Burna Boy, Femi Kuti, Made and Tems made the list.
According to the organisers, there have been some major changes behind the scenes at the Recording Academy to ensure that the GRAMMY Awards rules and guidelines are transparent and equitable. They emphasized the changes go into effect immediately for the 64th GRAMMY Awards.
Here are the major changes to expect:
- Addition of two new categories
Two brand-new categories will be introduced at the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show: Best Global Music Performance (Global Music Field) and Best Música Urbana Album (Latin Music Field). This brings the total current number of GRAMMY Award categories to 86.
- Elimination of nominations review committees in general and genre fields
This year, the Recording Academy eliminated nominations review committees in general and genre fields. This change means that nominations in all of the GRAMMY Awards general and genre fields will now be determined by a majority, peer-to-peer vote of Recording Academy voting members.
Previously, many of the categories within these fields used highly skilled music peers who represented and voted within their genre communities for the final selection of nominees.
With this change, the results of GRAMMY nominations and winners are placed back in the hands of the entire Recording Academy voting membership body, giving further validation to the peer-recognized process.
- Voters to vote in fewer categories
Starting this year, GRAMMY Award Voters may now vote in 10 specific genre field categories within no more than three fields; this is a reduction from 15 specific genre field categories previously. This significant change ensures music creators are voting in the categories in which they are most knowledgeable and qualified.
- Realignment of craft categories
Starting in 2021, six existing craft fields will be consolidated into two fields: Presentation Field and Production Field. This change allows the GRAMMY Awards to better reflect the overlapping peer groups within the voter membership body.
In either newly consolidated field, voters would have the ability to choose how many categories they feel qualified to vote in, respecting category vote limits, without being excessively limited by the three-field restriction. This benefits the integrity of the GRAMMY Awards by embracing and utilizing the specializations of the voters, without restricting their choice or contributions due to the field limits imposed by the recent reduction of the number of categories voters may vote in.
Field updates are as follows:
- Package Field, Notes Field and Historical Field renamed and consolidated to Package, Notes & Historical Field
- Production, Non-Classical Field; Production, Immersive Audio Field; and Production, Classical Field renamed and consolidated to Production Field
