It is officially the season of award shows. From the Grammys to the AMAs, there are so many different kinds of award shows, but why are these shows so crucial for the music industry?
The recent generations of music have made a huge impact on the world. We have advanced technologically, and our entertainment industry seems like it is at its peak.
It seems like the world has developed a big interest in fame and popularity as well. Award shows allow people to share a platform of change and recognition, not just in Hollywood but all over the world. They are the biggest events of the year since they are basically how we define entertainment.
Shows like the Grammys give musicians the recognition they deserve, but recently these award shows have also been centered around politics and social issues as well.
The 2019 Grammy nominations included the impactful, powerful Black Panther movie. This movie was the talk of the internet since it included an almost completely black cast. It celebrates black culture and was the first of its kind to be nominated for so many awards at various different shows.
The soundtrack Black Panther: The Album, produced by Kendrick Lamar, which also includes black singer/songwriters, earned eight Grammy nominations this year.
This further proves my point that these award shows are platforms for people to make a change in the world. They give a voice to minority groups and will continue to make a change in Hollywood and the rest of the world.
However, there is a problem with these shows that I would like to address: they do not actually award new artists with the “new artist” award category.
Chance, the Rapper, won the Grammys’ Best New Artist award at the February 2017 ceremony. That same year, Forbes included Chance the Rapper on its top-earning celebrities list with a take of some $33 million USD. Since then, the Grammys have changed the eligibility requirements for this category, but it still fails to recognize the true new artists every year. Another example happened the following year, in 2018 when Alessia Cara won the award. She was already a massive star with several hits. This win was met with a lot of backlash, and for a good reason. Cara was definitely not a new artist since she had already established herself in the music industry.
I think that in order to solve this problem, the Grammys need to award someone who is actually “new” (or close to it). If this award continues to be given out to well-established artists, it will detract from the relevancy of the award. This also makes me question what a new artist is anyway since we live in an era of streaming services. Maybe this award needs to be done away with after all.
