Grammy CEO speaks on The Weeknd omission, explains their process

[Bradley 54,835]

The committees have shown no disinclination to nominate The Weeknd in the past, as he’s received ten nods over three different years and won three trophies.

Which leaves two possible explanations, both of which have little to do with the actual music on the album. First, as mentioned above, a recording must be officially submitted for consideration — but since The Weeknd’s label, Republic, not only handles six-time 2021 nominee Taylor Swift but also Drake, it seems unlikely that they neglected to submit him, unless it was intentional; reps for The Weeknd and Republic did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.

Another, more likely, possibility is one that Variety nodded to in an article earlier this year: whether The Weeknd is considered a pop or R&B act. While that factor would have played little role in him being left off of the three main categories for which he is eligible (Album, Song and Record of the Year), it’s entirely possible that the screening committees, which determine which releases are appropriate for their respective categories, may have decided that he didn’t fit their categories: In other words, the Pop committee may have considered him R&B and the R&B committee considered him Pop.

The Grammy nominations are two-step process in which committees, which include veteran music professionals who are not publicly identified, make their decisions based on a shortlist handed down from a screening committee that considers thousands of submissions. Variety spoke with Recording Academy interim president/CEO Harvey Mason, jr. about the matter on Monday, and while he exerts no control over the nominations, he did speak generally on the process.

“I don’t think [the Weeknd’s omission calls the nominations] process into question, honestly,” he said. “The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence. I was in the ‘core room’ this year [which decides the main categories] and I observed, and the people in it are music professionals, at the top of their craft in songwriting and producing and there are a lot of artists. And they were critically listening to every song that came across their desks — or virtual desks — so I don’t think it shows a flaw in the process. It’s a long, arduous process and people take pride in it. The people in that room care: there are no agendas in there, there’s no ‘let’s snub this person’ or that person. It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence.’”

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/weeknd-grammy-snubs-1234839064/

 

I'm not saying the Weeknd snubs are justified, but pop stans need to realise that the process is not just selecting the most popular artists. It's not about choosing the albums and singles that made the 'most noise'. While popularity does play a role in affecting the chances of getting nominated, it does not guarantee it. Otherwise, how would non-pop acts fare in face of pop acts who chart extremely well? If you really look at the process, it's music experts sitting down to talk technicalities, and I don't think they'd go "Hey let's reward this because it has a billion streams".

[weed 66,735]

I found exactly 0 explanation in all of that lol

[Lazzarus 2,411]

[BROSEIDON 1,214]

They can say what they want but he at least deserved ONE nom

[COOOK 76,405]

5 minutes ago, Bradley said:

It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence.’

Spoiler

 

[moonsago 5,315]

Wait... the artist of the year, literally, didn’t get nominated at all? Someone please explain whats going ok, I just entered this site and I am shocked at everything I see 

[ShayCristoforo 10,223]

What a load of nonsense.

As if a core room of "professional" opinions can't leave room for bias.

I cannot. Try harder. 

[Enzo 37,977]

He not fitting in Pop and R&B categories still doesnt explain him being absent in the general field

[Morphine Prince 96,069]

This is the reason: 

 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

I think... The Grammys don't want to admit that they didn't like how Abel worked relentlessly this year while also calling out the racism within the music industry. Deflecting to the label is just passing the buck

[Jed 7,716]

Well After Hours WAS excellence

[Mister G 9,163]

 

Their explanation makes little to no sense but whatever fits their narrative. Each year they engage in these actions that make them look less and less prestigious. 

[CantGetEnough 474]

I get you cannot make everyone happy. Obviously there is a large, diverse field and not everyone can be nominated...nor should nominations necessarily be based on popularity and charts. However, their General categories this year were uninspired, boring, and not representative of the musical diversity this year. So many repeat nominations while solid works went completely unrecognized. The issue isn't the nomination process, it really lies with the categories and how they are defined. Their categories are outdated and need to be completely revamped if they ever want more credibility in the coming years. 

[Jed 7,716]

Literally so uninterested in the awards in general this year because of this. Everything feels so invalidated because he isnt there

[Anderson123 30,827]

That doesn't make any sense lol. That Pop or R&B thing is bullsh!t, they simply switched Bieber's Changes to the Pop category when they submitted it to R&B, which is still a pretty bad album and took someone's spot.