In a blow to musicians in lesser-known genres across North America, NARAS (the body that governs the Grammy Awards) has cut several folk and regional ethnic music Grammy Awards categories and combined them into one catch-all. Best Traditional World Music Album, Best Traditional Folk Album, Best Traditional Blues Album, Best Hawaiian Music Album, Best Native American Music Album, and Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album have all been cut, according to a press release from NARAS, which states declining numbers of entries in these fields as a reason for the cut. Here's how it'll look from here on out:
- "Best Traditional World Music" will be combined with "Best Contemporary World Music" to create a "Best World Music" category
- "Best Traditional Folk" will be combined with "Best Contemporary Folk" to create a "Best Folk" category (in addition to still-existing "Best Bluegrass" and "Best Americana" categories)
- "Best Traditional Blues" will be combined with "Best Contemporary Blues" to create a "Best Blues" category
- "Best Hawaiian," "Best Native American," and "Best Zydeco or Cajun," along with "Best Polka Music Album," which was eliminated in 2009, will be combined to create a "Best Regional Roots Music Album"
Word from NARAS is that they'll now be looking for at least 40 entries per category, up from 25, which does slim down these "lesser categories." Cuts were made across the musical board, from classical to jazz to rock, narrowing the total number of Grammy Awards from 109 to 78. The comparison of old categories to new can be seen at the NARAS website.
I can't say I'm thrilled to see these traditional and regional music categories cut down -- I think the Grammy Awards should be celebrating more music, not less. I also think that the old category breakdown gave musicians who'll never make it to "Song of the Year" heights a chance to be recognized on an international scale for their accomplishments. What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
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I feel your pain Megan. World music isn’t really a music genre as much as a description of a niche in the music-buying market. Combining traditional world music and contemporary world music categories is akin to combining the hip hop and folk categories. They’re completely different animals. It just reiterates the sad fact the Grammies are for the Justin Biebers and Arcade Fires of the world while everyone else creates their art under a veil of anonymity.