pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

wait, i forgot that i learned that one grammy nomination for best forgotten music genre recorded in a shack can make a career for an artist, so it's not all for show

Karl: i would argue that the grammys matter far more to NONmusicfans and the moms who see eilish on CBS sunday morning. the grammy bump sells live performance tickets as much as it sells records. a "grammy winner" commands a bigger stage and higher ticket price because of a broader audience and general name recognition. Obviously COVID so not right now but for the long run, this shit REALLY matters.

this is 2012, so grain of salt for a decade of time between but via pollstar:

In the year after grabbing Grammy No. 1, crooner Bruno Mars' average nightly gross swelled from $130,000 to $202,000 (+55%); multi-instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding swung from $20,000 to $32,000 (+60%); and pop-country superstar Taylor Swift surged from $125,000 to $600,000 (+380%).

my mom knows who billie eilish is now. megan is pretty much set to do vegas shows in her 50's if she wants to. grammys still equal money equal exposure and power and acceptance by the music mafia.

yeah i know, but those are all megastars, helping their major label career, already several dimensions above all other musicians, soar to new heights. it's good for the industry, live sales, people who work at those arenas i guess, and all the PR appearances they put in, and the people that write about them, and the...ok, i guess i see your point

i'm at a point where i realize the "pro" version of whatever i like - sports, music, art, absolutely anything - seems completely unrelated to what i like about the things

anyway, so concludes my annual grammy gripe where i realize that actually my problem is with the concept of having a job

a corrupt parade of nonmeritocratic racist and misogynistic kingmaking

Not to belabor the point, but there were many women winners (and nominees) in the pop/rock/country categories, including the aforementioned Megan and Miranda.

(and rap and folk and comedy and "Traditional R&B")

systematic racism and misogyny does not preclude individual excellence

"does not NECESSARILY preclude" rather

At what point would you feel confident that the system has been adequately reformed?

morrisp, it might be worth it for you to read up on deborah dugan's short reign as recording academy chair

maybe we could start with gender and color parity among the membership to more accurately represent the most critically and commercially successful artists in the field, full transparency as to the voting nomination and review board process, and a complete overhaul of the categories and where music is slotted.

http://i.imgur.com/owc9MiN.png

forks won a grammy!!!!

yeah i know, but those are all megastars

morrisp, it might be worth it for you to read up on deborah dugan's short reign as recording academy chair

Thanks - I have read about that, as well as the reforms made in the wake of it. If industry insiders feel they're not going far enough, I'm interested to hear that.

(xp) for what it's worth, i don't think chick corea's grammy was a sorry you're dead grammy. he won a LOT of grammys when he was alive. he was pretty much on the "you put out a record? ok, here's a grammy" list.

the reforms made in the wake of it

the major reform was that deborah dugan was fired. beyond that, they made a web page and put some words on it.

incredible flex, forks

instant classic post

xxp IIRC they invited a bunch of new members, with an focus on diversity (I know this b/c Victoria Monét, one of my favorites, was among them). I don't know how diverse the overall membership base is.

xp otm

fcc: yeah i don't mean to disparage prine or corea's legacy, I just don't dig lauding of power to the dead when there's people who are alive who could use some of that action.

(and i should note that i am NOT a grammy voter or industry insider, just adjacent to a lot of insiders so i should be taken with a chunk of salt.)

Best Contemporary Flex (Messageboard/Non-Classical)

i wouldn't doubt some voters didn't even know chick corea had died, they just think oh yeah I've heard of him, he's won before

iirc Soundgarden not only did the "Rollins Band just kicked our ass and shoulda won" but also the "Best alternative, we're not really sure what that means"

I first heard of him when the Pavement guy shouted his name on "Cut Your Hair."

My mistake, it was best metal. I forget who said "don't know what that means"

IIRC they invited a bunch of new members, with an focus on diversity

this is from variety:

the 2020 class of invitees is 48% female, 21% African-American or African descent, 8% Hispanic, 3% Asian-American and Pacific Islander and 5% “other.” The Recording Academy’s current membership is 26% female and 25% from traditionally underrepresented communities, according to the announcement.

so they're trying to correct a problem of female underrepresentation by sending fewer than half of new invitations to women. which seems not very helpful.

Then I agree, it does sound like they need to diversify their membership base even more.

The best way to correct the Grammys is to end it and never do it again

no we need to end the grammies and reform it as the rock n' roll hall of grammies, which will of course be open to all styles of music

Are there people who would actually miss the grammys is they just disappeared? Besides Quincey Jones or Bono

rock n' roll hall of grammies

they should apply the rock hall of fame 25-year rule to the grammys: use the 2021 grammys to honor the music of 1996. with that kind of perspective, they'd have at least a chance of getting it right!

I really am starting to think the media's perception of popular culture is more and more at odds with reality

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/15/the-grammys-diverse-winner-list-isnt-box-ticking-these-are-terrific-artists

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/grammy-awards-ratings-2021-1234930898/

Just countless articles about the granular particulars of the Grammys diversity scorecard when, in reality, there's numbers that back up no one cares about the fuckin Grammys anymore

I first heard of him when the Pavement guy shouted his name on "Cut Your Hair."

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, March 16, 2021 2:37 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i laughed

xp This year’s super low ratings have gotten coverage though

Any good ally knows that the Grammys have had diversity problems for 60+ years and letting Meghan and Cardi scissor each other in COVID masks isn't going to change the geriatric clusterfuck and bottom-line acquiescence of an award show dictated by an industry that routinely protects its abusers and paedos + has been completely ripping off black artists for a solid century. These articles are for, like, children and the absolute dumbest neo-liberals and they just keep coming and coming and coming like some racist turd is going to surf his way over to the Guardian during a break at the meat-processing plant and change his mind about cancel culture because Alex Petridis says Brittany Howard is good actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=filcUwJR-sU

i do feel like people are talking a lot more about the grammys nowadays than they ever did when the music industry was at its actual commercial peak in the 90s (and extending into the '00s). why are people addicted to writing/talking about it these days? is it just the content industrial complex, or stan culture, or because artists themselves seem to care more?

all three + social media

also it doesn't feel to me like more people are talking about The Grammys?

I think Kanye had a lot to do with it tbh -- placing the idea in the heads of normies that it really matters who wins a meaningless trophy.

xp yeah, i never hear people talking about grammys

also, just want to issue a mea culpa about my use of "grammies" over the years. i'm sorry, usually i notice mistakes like that!

so, i would like to formally submit a revised nomination for the reformed Rock n' Roll Hall of Grammys

Music for the Meat Processing Plant.

by "people" i meant "the discourse," which is comprised of "very online people"

xp reznor's done it again!

i would like to suggest we start calling them "The Grammas"

yeah maybe no one IRL talks about this shit, but I definitely noticed a few years ago that even the dinkiest award show could generate a slew of GIFticles about the most WTF moments or whatever