Grammys set to diversify list of nominees

Members of the music industry are torn over how the Recording Academy's move to increase the number of Grammy nominees will impact the award show's diversity problem.

The Recording Academy announced this week that next year's ceremony will feature eight nominees in each of the best new artist and song, record and album of the year categories, as opposed to five as its been in the past.

The move comes five months after a much-maligned Grammys ceremony where only one female artist (Alessia Cara) won a major award, and only one woman (Lorde) was nominated for record or album of the year.

“I think that a lot of people will be happy with this decision because it means more inclusivity within the nominees,” Jason Lipshutz, editorial director at Billboard, told the Daily News. “This opens up the field a little bit more and things that might have seemed like longshots will now be there on Grammy night. I think that's important, because it diversifies the nominees, it opens up different genres to have a better shot, and I think that there will be more representation based on some of the moves that the Recording Academy has recently made.”