Grammys add new categories, including songwriter of the year
LOS ANGELES » The Grammys are adding a special song for social change award and five new categories including songwriter of the year, giving the Recording Academy an avenue to honor music’s best composer.
The academy announced that the new non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the “most prolific” non-performing and nonproducing songwriter for a body of new work during an eligibility year. The category is taking a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriter or songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.
“This new category is truly for an expert person at the songwriting craft,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Associated Press.
Songwriters must have written a minimum of five songs in which they are credited “solely” as a songwriter or co-writer.
“Somebody who writes their own music and records it would not be eligible,” he said. “They would have to be doing songs for others. We want to highlight the craft of writing songs professionally for artists.
“Songwriters are at the heart of our business and industry. Nothing happens without songwriters. For us, this was a no-brainer. It’s in alignment with all the changes. We thought, ‘How can we do more? Showcase more people and be more inclusive to different genres?’ ”
The new category is another huge step for songwriters. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on an album nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.