Will Gaga (or Taylor) ever win SOTY Grammy?

[Spartacus 4,485]

On 2/9/2024 at 5:15 PM, Future Lovers said:

I'm going to but for everyone else's benefit. I know you're being sarcastic and will likely try and refute any point I make, but maybe not so let's give it a try. 

The Recording Academy is the antithesis of the film Academy. Whereas the latter doesn't like people who oversell their desires to be nominated and win, the Recording Academy thrives on two things: loyalty and relationships. They like artists who want it. They like campaigners, they like people who make winning a Grammy out to be a big deal, they like people to get up on their stage and be excited to be holding that trophy. 

Every single artist that wins a Grammy has this sort of relationship to the Grammys whether you see it right out in front of you or not. They campaign behind the scenes and they talk about the importance of the ceremony and they show those same feelings to the world in how they discuss their wins and what they say in their speeches. The artists who genuinely don't care and make that known are far less likely to get recognition at the ceremony unless their work is just truly undeniable in every way. 

The RA also likes to keep artists around whom the relationship they share is beneficial. There are certain artists that are just always going to make people want to watch, and the RA will typically treat them pretty well. Despite Beyonce not winning AOTY last year for example, they essentially built the entire show around her breaking the win record. 

Think of the Recording Academy like the head bosses at a job and the artists as employees seeking a promotion. They're going to give that promotion to the employees who fight for it, show they want it, and do things to benefit the company to get it. The bosses aren't really paying that close attention to the every day work done by these employees, but they are paying attention to what they're doing to get ahead. 

This is why ultimately I think winning a Grammy is only as important as each individual makes it to be. To some, it's a truly important and monumental occasion. To some it's nice but ultimately meaningless. I don't think either of those perspectives are wrong. It's just a matter of how much weight someone gives playing and winning that game--and make no mistakes, the Grammys is a game. 

That isn't to say that every artist who wins a Grammy is underserving and won only because they played the game well. I'd honestly say more often than not the person who wins is the deserving winner with some obvious exceptions. But those winners most definitely put effort into establishing a relationship and maintaining loyalty to the hands that are feeding them. 

I agree with you. All that should matter is the quality of the album, but that's certainly not the case.