Allegations of rigging, favouritism, and racism have prompted the organisers of the Grammy Awards to scrap anonymous voting committees and let the Recording Academy’s thousands of voting members select nominations and winners instead.
The Recording Academy, a not-for-profit organisation that represents music makers, said that the selection of nominees and winners was being ‘placed back in the hands of the entire voting membership body’, according to the BBC.
Stars such as Zayn Malik and Halsey had claimed the selection process was unfair and lacked transparency, and artists of colour have long criticised the awards for a lack of diversity.
The BBC reports that, earlier this year, the Canadian singer The Weeknd accused the Grammy organisers of being corrupt after he was snubbed in this year’s nominations, despite a hit single that spent a record-breaking 52 weeks in the US Top 10.
The Recording Academy says that more than 90% of its members would go through a ‘requalification process’ to ensure that the voting body ‘is actively engaged in music creation’.
It would also be reducing a number of categories in which voters may vote, and adding two new award categories.
The BBC notes that the Grammy’s voting procedure has until now been notoriously complex, with committees made up of 15-30 ‘highly-skilled music peers’ having the final say in 72 categories. This meant they could overrule the votes of rank-and-file members.