Per Billboard, new classes are added to the Grammys from proposals made to the Recording Academy’s Awards & Nominations Committee, with every proposal being voted on by the Academy’s board of trustees.
Explaining the change, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. informed the publication: “The neighborhood of individuals which might be making nation music in all totally different subgenres got here to us with a proposal and mentioned we wish to have extra selection in how our music is honored. They mentioned: ‘We expect we’d like extra space for our music to be celebrated and honored.’”
He additionally claimed that this explicit proposal had been submitted a number of occasions up to now, however was solely accredited by the board this 12 months.
The definition for the Conventional Nation class reads: “This class acknowledges excellence in albums of conventional nation music, each vocal and instrumental. Conventional nation contains nation recordings that adhere to the extra conventional sound constructions of the nation style, together with rhythm and singing fashion, lyrical content material, in addition to conventional nation instrumentation similar to acoustic guitar, metal guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electrical guitar, and dwell drums. It additionally contains sub-genres similar to Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw nation.”
“Folks from that neighborhood are making extra music, it’s extra diversified, there’s totally different kinds of writing and performing,” Mason added. “I’m hopeful that that neighborhood understands that the academy is doing what it all the time does, which is keep in tune with what’s taking place of their style.”
