The Recording Academy has voted to do away with their anonymous voting committees following allegations of rigging and favoritism.
The Grammys have used an anonymous committee of about 15-30 industry experts for years to review the initial choices from voting members and ultimately decide who makes the cut every year.
These committee will now be replaced by the Grammys more than 11,000 voting members to allow for more transparency.
The Academy has often been criticized of rigging, favoritism and racism by artists who felt their work was deserving of recognition. Most recently, Canadian artist The Weeknd vowed to boycott subsequent editions of the Grammys after he failed to gain a single Grammy nomination last year, despite After Hours being one of 2020’s biggest sellers.
The Weeknd – whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, tweeted last November “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
Five days before this year’s ceremony, former One Direction artist Zayn Malik tweeted: “F**k the Grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionery.”
He continued saying the current system “allows favouritism, racism, and networking politics to influence the voting”.
Last year, the then-chief executive of the Recording Academy, Deborah Dugan, claimed to have evidence of “serious” irregularities in the voting. Her claims came after she was placed on administrative leave following allegations of misconduct. She was later fired.
The Recording Academy on Friday said it was adding two new Grammy categories – for best global music performance, and best Latin urban music album – bringing the overall total number to 86 Grammy Awards each year.
It also added that more than 90% of its members would go through a “requalification process” to ensure that the voting body “is actively engaged in music creation”.