To be fair, this is the category’s first year, and under Mason the Academy has shown no hesitation to change rules that aren’t really working in practice - most notably, the decision last year to do away with most of the “secret” committees that had previously curated the larger voting body’s list of nominees. At the end of the day, any time a songwriter is honored is a time for celebration!” Although the award’s requirements are confusing, if not controversial, the Academy is to be applauded for creating the award and for their good intentions. Linda Moran, CEO of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, tells Variety, “Since ‘it all begins with a song,’ it is hard to believe that it took so long for songwriters to be adequately acknowledged as an integral part of the recording process. “And even if it does, we have a committee to safeguard against any of that.”
“That was a contributing factor to the five-song threshold, because mostly that’s not happening five times in any given year,” he says. However, Bogart says there’s a guardrail in place for those as well. We didn’t want to create a category that would basically be a mirror image of producer of the year, and I actually think it’d be wonderful if somebody qualified for both - it would show just how much they impacted the landscape.”Īnother potential wrinkle is the occasional, usually surreptitious practice of a person receiving a songwriting credit (and royalties) for business reasons, rather than a substantive musical or lyrical contribution - a tactic that dates back to the dawn of the music industry. Bogart responds, “Similar to the artists, they could submit five songs where they only wrote, as well as four they wrote and produced. While the artist-writer divide seems fairly clear-cut, some have expressed displeasure with the producer caveat: Particularly in pop, hip-hop and R&B - today’s most popular and commercially successful genres of music - songwriters often produce their work as well. And if, for example, Ed Sheeran wrote at least five officially released songs for other artists that he didn’t perform or produce himself, “We would absolutely welcome him with open arms into this category based on those rules,” Bogart says. Ryan Tedder and Jon Bellion are two well-known artists who also write extensively for others. However, the rules do not necessarily exclude all artists and performers, as potential nominees may submit four additional songs on which they did perform or produce. But there really wasn’t a Grammy award that honors the people whose job is to write songs for others, the ones who can say, ‘Hey, I’m not performing at the Grammys I’m not on the cover of Rolling Stone and you’re not going to know my name - but you’re singing my melodies and lyrics.’ And some of the songwriters who have likely submitted for might have five cuts for country artists, two cuts in R&B, a pop single - they span genres and impact the musical landscape in ways that almost don’t exist in any other craft.” Songs in which the songwriter was also credited as a primary or featured artist, producer or any other supporting role do not qualify to achieve a minimum song threshold for consideration.”īogart stresses: “It’s not intended to take away from the incredible artists or producers who write their songs. The official 65th Grammy Awards Rules and Guidelines specify: “Songwriters must have written a minimum of five songs in which they are credited ‘solely’ as a songwriter or co-writer. There is, however, some fine print: This is not another award for the Taylor Swifts and Paul McCartneys of the world, unless they specifically wrote songs for other artists.
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