Every year, several months before the Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy announces their nominees for the upcoming awards show. The nominations go into 94 categories, with Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist being unofficially known as the Big Four. This year, some of these main awards have come under scrutiny for their controversial nominees and confusing criteria.
Album of the Year considers the quality and artistry of albums from the last year, which are defined as recordings that must contain at least five different tracks and a total playing time of least 15 minutes. Some of the most popular nominees this year include Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish, Short N’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter and Brat by Charli XCX. Sophomore Marina Boskoska explains how she believes the award will be determined.
“A lot of the albums had a big impact this year and were super talked about,” Boskoska said. “I think either Brat or Short N’ Sweet will win, each of those artist’s fan bases are super powerful. And I feel like Brat had such a big moment with Brat summer, it was big both musically and in pop culture.”
Record of the Year recognizes songs based on their production and recording, rather than songwriting. One of this year’s nominees includes Now and Then by The Beatles, which has been criticized for its use of AI. The song is sometimes mistakenly reported as using generative AI, when in reality, AI programs were only used to enhance late band member John Lennon’s vocal track.
“I think the track using AI is okay since it was only used to improve a recording that already existed,” junior Kirstyn Limsico said. “I don’t know how I would feel about them winning compared to other songs, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the nomination.”
The nominees for Record of the Year include some of the most popular and viral songs of the year, including Now And Then by The Beatles, Texas Hold ‘Em by Beyoncé, Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, 360 by Charli xcx, Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish, Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar, Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan and Fortnight by Taylor Swift and Post Malone.
“I think Espresso will win,” Limsico said. “I think it’s really nicely produced and was super popular over the summer, it really had a big audience.”
Similar to Record of the Year, Song of the Year is awarded to an individual song. This year’s songs that have been recognized for songwriting include some of the same nominations as Record of the Year with the addition of Sabrina Carpenter’s Please Please Please.
“Birds of a Feather, in my opinion, has really good lyrics,” said Limsico. “The song just has good vibes and I think it was one of my favorite songs off of Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
One of the highest anticipated awards of the year is Best New Artist. This award recognizes breakthrough artists. However, rather than recognizing people that have recently started their music career, the award can go to anybody who has released breakthrough material in the eligibility period. The prerequisite has led to many becoming confused on how artists like Sabrina Carpenter, who has been releasing music since 2014, are nominated.
“I love Sabrina’s music, but I don’t think nominating her as Best New Artist was right,” Limsico said. “She’s been making music for nearly ten years, that doesn’t exactly sound new to me. There’s tons of other artists that could probably be nominated for that.”
Boskoska believes the opposite and shares how she thinks Carpenter’s nomination is valid. Carpenter has only recently come into the spotlight and her newest album, Short N’ Sweet, was her first number 1 debut on the Billboard charts.
“I think Sabrina Carpenter can be eligible since she’s grown so much in the past year,” Boskoska said. “Like I’ve been listening to her since she was really small, but I think her huge growth is something that is award-worthy. She’s almost unrecognizable from when she released Eyes Wide Open, both visually and with her writing.”
While many peers have different opinions on the Recording Academy board’s decisions, the nominees are here to stay. The Grammy Awards will take place on February 2nd, 2025, and will be available to watch on CBS and Paramount+.
“It was a big year for music,” Boskoska said. “[So] many artists deserve awards, no matter if they were nominated or not.”
