Grammy awards prove ineffective, fail to reward true success

Rachel Olefson ’25, Web News Editor|February 17, 2023

The Grammy awards continue to reward performers who audiences agree shouldn’t have won their respective trophies. Additionally, the voting system for this award show is elusive and many people are starting to question if the unknown judges are qualified to make these decisions on music’s biggest night.

After turning on the Grammy awards this year, you probably heard the same, tired victory speech repeated several times, ironically sounding like a broken record: “I’d like to thank my parents, my kids and of course, The Academy!”

But who even is “The Academy?” Why are people thanking them? And why do they get to pick the winner of a coveted award, a winner that a majority of fans often disagree with?

According to The Boot,“In short, voting members [of the Recording Academy] are artists, producers, musicians — those involved firsthand with the creation of music.”

Some viewers think that the results of Academy Award shows aren’t accurate because the elusive judges don’t seem to have any sort of rubric or criteria to judge against.

“We should use [judges] who people know,” Alexis Robinson ’26 said. “I don’t think that they’re judging fairly; if no one knows who they are then how can we trust their votes.”

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Some viewers think that the results of Academy Award shows aren’t accurate because the elusive judges don’t seem to have any sort of rubric or criteria to judge against.

— Rachel Olefson ’25

Additionally, the Grammy awards often fail to look past chart-topping hits to see the hidden gems of the music industry. Instead of highlighting more underground artists, such as Reneé Rapp, the Grammys focus on giving out yet another trophy to performers like Beyoncé, who already has a total of 32.

“Those climbing the stairs to hold those golden gramophones are more likely to be Top 40 superstars than the top musicians and artists working,” one Vox article said. “Some of the best musicians ever — Bob Marley, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix — never won an award, even with the 83… competitive categories the Grammys hand out awards in.”

Some think that the Song of the Year award, which was given to country-blues singer Bonnie Raitt, should have gone to a different recipient in the category.

“Taylor Swift is an icon, and she deserves the world,” Kate Rodriguez ’25 said. “I’ve never even heard of Bonnie Raitt before this year’s Grammys.”