February means one thing – awards season. The Recording Academy pick which artists released the best music in the past 12 months and reward them with the prestigious gold GRAMMY award.
I don’t think these awards mean anything at all anymore and I think others are starting to agree. For me, they tend to celebrate commercial success as opposed to actual talent. I know the two do often go hand in hand, however in recent years it’s felt like the Academy can’t be bothered anymore and are just picking names out of a hat.
For example, take the alternative/rock categories. Why were Arctic Monkeys nominated for anything off their last album when it received such low ratings and a lukewarm response at best? James Bay, George Ezra and Tonight Alive were but a few artists who would fit in these categories that released brilliant albums last year. Also, in 2018 Paramore’s critically acclaimed After Laughter and Kings of Leon’s Walls were completely snubbed.
That’s another thing. Of course, art is completely subjective, but every year these ceremonies cause drama. Example: when Cardi B didn’t win anything last year, it was a massive snub. This year when she won best rap album over the late Mac Miller, the internet basically imploded on itself in rage.
All great artists deserve to be recognised and commended for their outstanding work, however are the GRAMMYs really as reputable as they were in the past? In the age of streaming, I feel like the opinions of the Academy are no longer held in as high regard because it’s so much easier to access all sorts of music.
At the end of the day, it’s all down to personal taste – if an album/artist you love gets ignored by the GRAMMYs doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad, the same way recognition doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good.
Let me know what you think – do you take the GRAMMYs seriously, do you go along with it for a bit of fun or do you ignore them all together?
Love always, Fiona X
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