The Grammy Awards Changes The Rules After Being Protested By The Weeknd

Grammys (Grammys site)

JAKARTA - The Recording Academy announced new regulations that will apply to the Grammy Awards.

The role of an anonymous committee for the nomination and winner selection process will be converted into a voting system. Previously, the anonymous committee could make decisions about which artists or songs belong to a particular category.

The identities of the experts and committees who joined were never released publicly, therefore many protests came from various parties. One of them is the singer The Weeknd.

November 2020, The Weeknd wrote on Twitter after finding out the album that was listed, After Hours is not included in any nominations.

“The Grammys are still corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the (music) industry transparency".

The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency ...

- The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020

Continuing the tweet, The Weeknd made a statement that he would not register his work to compete in the Grammys. The Weeknd boycotted all of his work for the Grammys.

Change

"The significant changes to the awards show reflect the committee for the development of the music industry and ensure transparent Grammy rules".

There have been several changes made to determine the category and who is nominated for the Grammys.

They will carry out a qualification process by the end of 2021 to ensure the voting process is carried out by people related to music.

"This is a new Academy, acting and committed to meeting the needs of the music community", said Harvey Mason Jr., President of the Recording Academy.

A number of changes to this rule include a reduction in the number of nominees from 15 to 10. All voters have the opportunity to vote for four general nominations (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist).

Apart from that, the Recording Academy added two new categories; Best Global Music Performance and Best Musica Urbana Album. These rules will apply to the 2022 Grammys which will be held on January 31, 2022.

The Weeknd's response

The Weeknd appreciates the change in rules made by the Recording Academy. Regardless, the Save Your Tears singer will still not register his work for the award.

"Trust has been broken for a long time between the Grammys and artists so it is not wise to fly the flag of victory", The Weeknd told Variety on Monday, May 3.

He appreciates how the Grammys have taken to improve the system but he is not interested in becoming part of the Grammys in the future.

"There is no change without a sound being heard. I'm proud of Abel (real name The Weeknd) for standing up for what he believes in. "I was surprised when this all happened but now I see it clearly and I'm happy we are keeping our faith", said Wassim Slaiby, manager of The Weeknd.