There are no two ways to say this: the Grammy Award is the most popular, if not the most prestigious, music award globally.
Speaking frankly, every musician, whether African, Asian, European or American, wants to be a Grammy Award winner.
Photo credit: @davido/@recordingacademy
Source: Instagram
Even if you don’t win it, just by getting nominated, that musician’s career will witness immeasurable growth with immense global recognition.
However, artists don’t just want to get nominated. They want to win it, and that’s the conundrum this article wants to address.
How to win the Grammys as an African?
During a recent interview, the CEO of the Academy Music Awards, Harvey Mason, shared five important prerequisites that any artist who wants to win the Grammys must fulfil before they could even be nominated:
1. You’ve to be a member of the academy:
During a briefing, Harvey Mason shared that for anyone or rather say any artist to win the Grammys that person must be a member of the Music Academy.
2. Work in music professionally in the United States of America:
He also noted that it was important for any artist who wants to win the Grammys to know that they must be a register music professional in the United States of America for them to stand a chance to get nominated and win a Grammy award.
Though, Mason noted that the Music Academy was actively working to enlarge their area of considering in this respect.
3. An Academy member has to vote and vouch for you before you can be nominated:
Mason further shared during the briefing that before a person could be nominated that artist must get a member of the music academy bench to vote for them.
4. To win is not based on streams, fanbase nor popularity:
The Grammy CEO further revealed that for an artist to win isn’t based on the number of streams, fanbase or even popularity.
Mason noted that it is more about the art itself. What message does the art carry and convey. What type of art does it portray not just garbage music and loud noise instead pure art that carries value and represents something.
However, the Grammy CEO noted that the award is won more based on opinions of members of the board which could tend to have a sniff of bias sometimes.
3 main requirements to meet before submission
1. Release date:
There is a specific time limit for a person to submit their record for nomination. For an artist that wants to be nominated his/her record must be have been available publicly for distribution between 1st October of the previous year to the 31st of August of the voting year.
This kind of explains why Nigerian artist Rema and his global hit Calm Down didn’t get nominated for a Grammy award.
2. Length of recording:
For the length of record note that for album submission the record has to have an average of a 15 minute recording of playtime.
With the recordings having a minimum of five different recordings (5 tracks). When the number of tracks isn’t been considered the playing time must not exceed 30 minutes. It is however, a different set of rules for singles.
3. Format of record:
Every recording that is to be submitted must be available for sale via physical stores or through online platforms especially with respect to digital downloads even through the known established streaming platforms.
Every submitted song needs to also have the correct metadata information and an International Standard Recording Code (ISRCs) for each track.
When all of this requirements are duly fulfilled then an artist becomes eligible for nomination and with an opportunity to win.
Source: Legit.ng
