The Recording Academy is dropping the number of fields on the Grammy ballot from 26 to 11 in an effort to give voters more flexibility in their voting.
All Grammy voters can vote in the General Field, which has long consisted of record, album and song of the year, plus best new artist. As of next year, that field will also include producer of the year, non-classical and songwriter of the year, non-classical.
After that, voters can vote in no more than 10 categories spread across no more than three fields. This is done so that voters focus on the areas in which they have real expertise and not just areas where they happen to recognize a name. But voters were complaining that the previous field structure was too restrictive.
“What we were hearing was many voters weren’t able to even come close to using their 10 votes because so many of the fields had only one or two categories,” Mason told Billboard. [Last year, seven fields consisted of just one category. Five others consisted of two categories.] “That was the problem. That didn’t feel fair or right for a lot of our members. So consolidating fields gives voters a little more flexibility.”
The most crowded field on next year’s ballot is the country & American roots music field, with 13 categories. The least-crowded field is the Package, Notes & Historical Field, with four categories.
Here are the 11 fields below the General Field (which the Academy inexplicably doesn’t consider to be a field, even though it has the word “field” in its name) and what categories they contain. The three newly-added categories are marked NEW.
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Pop & Dance/Electronic Music Field (6 categories)
Best pop solo performance
Best pop duo/group performance
Best pop vocal album
Best dance/electronic recording
Best pop/dance recording (NEW)
Best dance/electronic music album
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Rock, Metal & Alternative Music Field (6 categories)
Best rock performance
Best metal performance
Best rock song
Best rock album
Best alternative music performance
Best alternative music album
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R&B, Rap & Spoken Word Poetry Field (10 categories)
Best R&B performance
Best traditional R&B performance
Best R&B song
Best progressive R&B Album
Best R&B album
Best rap performance
Best melodic rap performance
Best rap song
Best rap album
Best spoken word poetry album
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Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theatre Field (9 categories)
Best jazz performance
Best jazz vocal album
Best jazz instrumental album
Best large jazz ensemble album
Best Latin jazz album
Best alternative jazz album (NEW)
Best traditional pop vocal album
Best contemporary instrumental album
Best musical theater album
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Country & American Roots Music Field (13 categories)
Best country solo performance
Best country duo/group performance
Best country song
Best country album
Best American roots performance
Best Americana performance
Best American roots song
Best Americana album
Best bluegrass album
Best traditional blues album
Best contemporary blues album
Best folk album
Best regional roots music album
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Gospel & Contemporary Christian Music Field (5 categories)
Best gospel performance/song
Best contemporary Cristian music performance/song
Best gospel album
Best contemporary Christian music album
Best roots gospel album
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Latin, Global, African, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, or Chant Field (10 categories)
Best Latin pop album
Best música urbana album
Best Latin rock or alternative album
Best música Mexicana album (including Tejano)
Best Tropical Latin album
Best gospel music performance
Best African music performance (NEW)
Best global music album
Best reggae album
Best new age, ambient or chant album
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Children’s, Comedy, Audio Book Narration and Storytelling, Visual Media & Music Video/Film Field (9 categories)
Best children’s music album
Best comedy album
Best audio book, narration and storytelling recording
Best compilation soundtrack for visual media
Best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television)
Best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media
Best song written for visual media
Best music video
Best music film
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Package, Notes & Historical Field (4 categories)
Best recording package
Best boxed/special limited edition package
Best album notes
Best historical album
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Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement Field (8 categories)
Best engineered album, non-classical
Best engineered album, classical
Producer of the year, classical
Best remixed recording
Best immersive audio album
Best instrumental composition
Best arrangement, instrumental or a capella
Best arrangement, instruments and vocals
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Classical Field (8 categories)
Best orchestral performance
Best opera recording
Best choral performance
Best chamber music/small ensemble performance
Best classical instrumental solo
Best classical solo vocal album
Best classical compendium
Best contemporary classical composition
