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63rd Grammy Awards (2021) • Page 6

Discussion in 'Music Forum' started by ItsAndrew, Nov 23, 2020.

  1. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    I though Stephen Thomas Erlewine's take on this situation was pretty fair and made a lot of sense (it's a thread of tweets).

     
    cshadows2887 likes this.
  2. "It’s not a popularity contest, it’s an industry award and those two things are not synonymous."

    I'm not saying this isn't true, I'm just standing in front of the recording academy asking why the hell Bieber was nominated for anything then lmao
     
  3. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    There's some discussion in the comments after the thread about having members of your team who are voting members/familiar with the Grammy voting process/on the Nominations Review Committee who can either advocate for you or help position you in a way that is going to get you nominations. I have to assume The Weeknd would have at least some of those things, but based on some of the nominations Bieber has scored over the years for (IMO) across-the-board mediocre work, he's probably got a few friends in high places.
     
    Anna Acosta likes this.
  4. Oh, I assume as much. Thing is, that makes it... a popularity contest, just with industry people and not the masses.
     
  5. mattfreaksmeout

    Trusted Supporter

    Here's where I'm at. This is a snub, there's no question about it. Blinding Lights in particular deserved some recognition given that it's a good song and also a very popular song. At the same time, snubs happen. And I don't doubt some of the infamous Grammy politics had an impact, whether directly or indirectly. We all know there's a ton of nonsense behind the scenes and it's basically a competition of who can lick the most boots. When you compound that with some of the other things that were nominated along with the Grammys terrible history of appropriately recognizing artists of color, it's hard to fault the Weeknd for calling it out. And if it's even a little true that it has to do with his Superbowl performance then that's insane.

    But at the same time, I just don't see this as a culturally defining album the way To Pimp a Butterfly, Lemonade, etc. were. I'd be surprised if this is one of the Weeknd albums we're still talking about in 5 years. So sure it's a "snub" but I also don't think it's as wild of a snub as it's being made out to be.
     
  6. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    I don't have a ton of familiarity how the voting process works for The Grammys, or how much campaigning there is for, say, Best New Artist or Album of the Year. I'm much more familiar with the Oscars, where there are all sorts of machinations behind the scenes that go into campaigning for those awards. With the Grammys, I know there's some sort of first round voting, and then I think a final "Top 20 vote-getters" final round (or something like that). But I have no idea how the voting actually works across those multiple rounds, or how much (if any) redress there is if a shoe-in nominee somehow fails to make the cut. I would be fascinated to learn what happened to bring about some of the unlikelier nominees from over the years, like Sturgill Simpson somehow showing up in Album of the Year 3-4 years back.
     
  7. The Grammy's are man-made, and as such it's impossible for them to be above human behavior. Objectivity is a myth: anything voted on is going to be subjective and built on implicit bias. I guess I kinda just want the industry to own that and say that part out loud instead of this weird thing that happens where we (meaning the music industry, especially the academy) lowkey pretend the results just arrive on their own and are inherently meaningful because the voters are faceless to the public.

    Wishful thinking, I guess.
     
    Contender and mattfreaksmeout like this.
  8. jorbjorb

    7 rings

    [​IMG]
     
    Joe4th, Sean Murphy and Contender like this.
  9. CarpetElf

    douglas Prestigious

    *replace Swift with Coldplay tho
     
  10. The one Weeknd single definitely should been nominated for song of the year because I swear I hear it every fucking time I start up my car. I’ll give him that, for sure.

    Also, why is Coldplay nominated for album of the year? Did anyone even know they released a new album? I sure didn’t. I had to do a double take when I saw that nomination.
     
  11. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Ha, yes, people knew they released a new album. Got a fair amount of coverage when it came out last November, and sold like 200,000 copies in the first week worldwide. They aren’t as big stateside anymore, but they’re still a huge global name and are I guess the token “legacy” artist in the category this year. Even if you didn’t know about the album, I’m surprised that was the big double take, given that the list also includes Jacob Collier, the only album ever to get an Album of the Year nomination without charting on the Billboard 200.

    Coldplay album is pretty good, though! You should check it out.
     
    bradsonemanband likes this.
  12. I’ll have to give it a listen. I haven’t even heard a new Coldplay single or anything so the nomination for album of the year really threw me haha.
     
  13. I know music is subjective but anyone who doesn't think Folklore deserved the nominations it got is honestly invited to come catch these hands
     
  14. iCarly Rae Jepsen

    run away with me Platinum

    [​IMG]
     
  15. GrantCloud and iCarly Rae Jepsen like this.
  16. [​IMG]
     
    Anna Acosta and mattfreaksmeout like this.
  17. mattfreaksmeout

    Trusted Supporter

    The most important thing about these grammy nominations for me is that it finally got me to listen to the Chloe x Halle album and I'm now very annoyed I've been living my whole year without it
     
    Anna Acosta and CarpetElf like this.
  18. Joe4th

    Memories are nice, but that's all they are. Prestigious

    I genuinely cannot imagine going to bat for Coldplay being in that award nomination while in the same breath pretending The Weeknd single hasn’t been absolutely massive and all over the place.

    The Weeknd is a massive snub, and continues to show racial issues with awards. It’s just absolutely insane to me. Like in the grand scheme of things awards like this are irrelevant, but culturally they impact a good amount of people and it’s a shame that a POC seems to have been snubbed over a performance disagreement
     
    tdlyon, jorbjorb, Mary V and 6 others like this.
  19. CarpetElf

    douglas Prestigious

    Yeah, Coldplay over The Weeknd is a joke lol
     
  20. ItsAndrew

    Prestigious Prestigious

    That Coldplay album made no real waves here even whereas The Weeknd’s album was huge in the states. And if they weren’t going to give The Weeknd an AOTY spot they should have given Fiona Apple one, someone who actually has what many say is the best album of the year and an album that got near universal critical acclaim.
     
    Joe4th likes this.
  21. CarpetElf

    douglas Prestigious

    Oh I mean if they were actually in the business of giving nominating the best then we'd be having a VERY different conversation rn haha
     
    jorbjorb, Joe4th, GrantCloud and 2 others like this.
  22. CarpetElf

    douglas Prestigious

    Though tbh you could make a good list with like, the top 15 from Metacritic.

    Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
    Moses Sumney - Grae
    Run the Jewels - RTJ4
    HAIM - Women in Music Pt III
    Taylor Swift - Folklore
    Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
    Rina Sawayama - Sawayama
     
  23. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Please point out to me where I pretended this.

    All I said in Coldplay's defense is that it wasn't like that album was a complete non-factor or a flop. It was a solid global seller from an established act, and the Grammys have a habit of awarding or nominating artists for less-heralded late career work after not awarding those artists' earlier, more center-of-the-culture albums (see also: Beck, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, etc.) It's a less surprising nomination in that category than probably half the other nominees.
     
  24. Joe4th

    Memories are nice, but that's all they are. Prestigious

    Legitimately hear Blinding Lights everywhere, just as much as Old Town Road.
     
    jorbjorb likes this.
  25. ItsAndrew

    Prestigious Prestigious

    Also the reason you may think Blinding Lights isn’t as massive as Old Town Road or whatever hit song is because a lot of the places you would normally hear it - bars, stores, malls, clubs, etc. are all not open or being frequented less so you’re hearing the song less in public but that does not mean it is not a smash hit like Old Town Road.