The Grammys Add New Categories, Including Song of the Year

The Grammys adds a special song to the Social Change Awards and five new categories, including Songwriter of the Year, giving the Sound Recording Academy a way to honor the best songwriter in music.

The academy announced Thursday that the new non-classical composers category recognizes an individual who was the “most prolific” composer who did not perform and produce for their new work during the qualification year. The category takes a different approach than Song of the Year, which awards songwriters who have written lyrics or melodies for a single song.

“This new category is definitely for someone who is proficient in the field of songwriting,” Harvey Mason, executive director of the Recording Academy, told the Associated Press. Composers must have written at least five songs on which they are “only” named as composers or co-authors.

“Anyone who writes their own music and records it will not be allowed,” he said. “They have to make music for each other. We want to highlight the craft of writing professional music for artists.”

“Songwriters are at the heart of our business and industry,” he said. “Nothing happens without songwriters. It didn’t make sense to us. Adapts to all changes. We thought, ‘How can we do more? Show more people and be more inclusive across different genres?’”

The new category is another big step for songwriters. Last year, a rules update allowed any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist to finally be nominated for Album of the Year.

Four other categories include Best Spoken Poetry Album, Alternative Music Performance, American Music Performance, and Video Game Soundtrack and Other Interactive Media.

The academy created a special award that identifies the best music for social change. The award will be based on lyrical content related to a current social issue and that promotes “understanding, peacebuilding and compassion”.

“It’s always a good time to recognize music that is changing the world,” he said. “I think he deserves special recognition. These songs are important and influential. We want to make sure that we respect and celebrate this art form. That’s the perfect way to do it.”

Mason said it was a year-long process to get proposals from music creators and professionals who create associations.