Independent artist Chance the Rapper performing at the Hove Festival in 2014. Chance has made history by being the first artist to have a streaming only album nominated for the 59th Grammy Awards. Photo by NRK P3.
By CONNOR MCCAGE – Staff Writer
The Grammys finally woke up by changing their requirements for nominations and gave a new generation of artists a chance to be recognized on a national scale.
When the world woke up on Dec. 6, most people didn’t realize history had been made. The kind of history that would shape the format in which music is awarded for the foreseeable future. The kind would give independent artists a shot at a Grammy nomination. This was the nomination of Chance the Rapper’s streaming-only album, “Coloring Book”, which is up for multiple Grammy accolades.
Until the 2000s, music was a medium that was sold via albums that users bought physical, not digital, copies of. As the industry has changed and has become more and more digital, many artists dropped the traditional album format for singles that can be purchased at the click of a button on iTunes and Amazon. This method of releasing music has become increasingly prominent.
Apps like Apple Music, Spotify and SoundCloud have progressively become the dominant way to listen to music along with MP3 online stores like iTunes and Amazon. Many popular artists such as Bryson Tiller and D.R.A.M have started on SoundCloud and then reached mainstream success and released full projects like Tiller’s “T R A P S O U L”. These artists have not been able to receive nominations for their work from the Grammys until now.
The Grammys have updated their requirements in numerous ways this year to adapt to the modern era of releasing music over digital platforms. For example, instead of the artists having to release a full album in order to be eligible for “Best New Artists,” they are now required to have five songs released. These awards help the digital artists who have dropped the album format to garner recognition.
The biggest change is that streaming-only songs now qualify for nomination. This allowed Chance the Rapper to be nominated for over nine awards including “Best Rap Album.” The new category, “Best Rap/Sung Performance,” which replaced “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration,” allows rap artists that both sing and rap on their songs, like Drake, to win more awards.
We will have to see if these new changes help these up and coming artists win any nominations or if Chance will make history again by having the first streaming-only album to win “Best Rap Album” ever. For these answers and more, tune into the 59th Grammy Awards on Feb. 12 to see whether or not the Grammys will continue to adapt to the changing music industry. Only time will tell.
