The Recording Academy, the body behind the Grammy Awards – has announced that they are scrapping the rule that required albums and singles to be available for purchase to be eligible for nomination.
As a result, steaming-only releases will be considered for Grammy nomination for the very first time in 2017. “Applicable streaming services 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 as of the submission deadline,” the academy said in a statement on its website.
For the next set of awards on February 12th 2017, albums and singles released between October 1st 2015 and Septermber 20 2016 will be eligible for Grammy Awards.
The news is a huge win for artists like Chance The Rapper, who’s mixtape Colouring Book has recently become the first streaming-only album to chart on the Billboard 200. Chance took to Twitter to celebrate the news; tweeting “The victory this morning isn’t about me, it’s about all the Soundcloud albums that may now be recognized for excellence.”
The victory this morning isn't about me, it's about all the Soundcloud albums that may now be recognized for excellence.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 16, 2016
Contained in the announcement were several other changes to elgibility rules, including a change to the rules for the Best New Artist award. Now, artists can have released an album and still be eligible, as long as they have released no more than 30 tracks or three albums – or entered into the category more than three times.
The academy also renamed its Best Rap/Sung Collaboration to Best Rap/Sung Performance. For full details of the changes visit the Recording Academy website.
Chance The Rapper – Angels (Ft. Saba)
