Say what you will about the Grammys: They’re out of touch. They’re outdated. They’re straight-up boring. But at least they’re making an attempt to keep up with the times, with a recent announcement that albums without a physical release will still be eligible for awards. Previously, a piece of music had to be “available for purchase” in order to be considered for a Grammy, but according to Pitchfork, that’s no longer the case. Now, an album or single can still count if it’s released on an “applicable streaming service,” which means ones that are “paid subscription, full catalogue, on-demand streaming/limited download platforms that have existed as such within the United States for at least one full year.”
That news comes in the light of controversy surrounding Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book mixtape, which would’ve been ineligible under the old rules because it’s only available through Apple Music. This morning, Chance posted a message on Twitter about the rule change:
In addition to that change, the Grammys have also changed some of the rules surrounding the Best New Artist award, which has always been one of the more inexplicable parts of the ceremony. The way it used to work was that an artist or group would be eligible as long as they “hadn’t previously released an album or won a Grammy.” That’s pretty open-ended, so now the rule has been changed to only include artists that “have released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album, but no more than 30 singles/tracks or three albums.” Plus, they “may not have entered into this category more than three times” and “must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape.”