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What are Grammys' secret committees? The Weeknd snub forces show to end anonymous voting: 'It changes nothing'

Intending to rectify their mistake, the official website of the Grammys announced that they are making a few substantial changes for the 2022 show

The Weeknd might have scored 16 unreal nominations for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards but his loyal fans have not forgotten how the R&B crooner got snubbed at the 2021 Grammys after the coveted award show did not nominate him in a single category despite delivering the biggest album of 2020 with ‘After Hours’.

Now, in what is being presumed to be a rectification of their mistake, the official website of the Grammys announced that they are making a few substantial changes for the 2022 show which also includes dropping the secret committee. The big move comes after the ‘Blinding Lights’ hitmaker had slammed the renowned award show earlier for not nominating him at all, adding that Grammys remain corrupt via a tweet.
 
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What are Grammys' secret committees?

After slamming the Grammys, The Weeknd in an interview with New York Times said, “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.” The 31-year-old singer’s rebuke came after several musicians over the years have complained about not getting nods in Grammys’ “Big Four” categories i.e. Best Album, Song, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Speaking of the Grammys' secret committees, they were introduced in the year 1989 to focus on the top four categories. They mainly comprised of industry executives and experts whose names were always kept anonymous. The secret committees, according to New York Times, also shed light on 61 of the Grammys’ 84 categories.  Their main goal was to protect the integrity of the awards process but they have also come under the spotlight over the years for being biased. 

What are the new changes?

Speaking about the new changes in an official statement, Harvey Mason Jr, Chair & Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy, said, “It's been a year of unprecedented, transformational change for the Recording Academy, and I'm immensely proud to be able to continue our journey of growth with these latest updates to our Awards process.”  He continued, “This is a new Academy, one that is driven to action and that has doubled down on the commitment to meeting the needs of the music community. While change and progress are key drivers of our actions, one thing will always remain- the GRAMMY Award is the only peer-driven and peer-voted recognition in music.”  Harvey then concluded, “We are honored to work alongside the music community year-round to further refine and protect the integrity of the Awards process."

According to the official website of the Grammys, “Nominations in all of the GRAMMY Award general and genre fields will now be determined by a majority, peer-to-peer vote of voting members of the Recording Academy.” It also revealed, “Many of the categories within these fields utilized 15-30 highly skilled music peers who represented and voted within their genre communities for the final selection of nominees. With this change, the results of GRAMMY nominations and winners are placed back in the hands of the entire voting membership body, giving further validation to the peer-recognized process.”  It further stated, “To further support this amendment, the Academy has confirmed that more than 90 percent of its members will have gone through the requalification process by the end of this year, ensuring that the voting body is actively engaged in music creation.”

 
Grammys move too late?

Social media users were quick to jump on the latest decision made by the Recording Academy where a majority of them slammed the award show for being corrupt. Speaking on the same lines, one user stated, “Who cares the Grammys are frauds.” Another said, “This means your fav boys have a much bigger chance of getting grammy nominations!! everyone should care!! this is a win for artists ESPECIALLY artists that are POC!”

The next one shared, “Should have done that a decade ago.  Anyways I am still gonna say grammys is scammys. They are corrupted as heck!” Another tweeted, “Idk why it took them so long , so many ppl like bts, the weekend , nicki, chloe x halle, beyoncé etc. deserve it all.” One individual asserted, “When i was a kid, i thought a grammy is the most prestigious awards for musicians but after years past.......i realized is just like an awards for their faves.” One concluded, “Finally acknowledging main grammy categories are voted on by a committee of only 15-30 people thru shady deals with powerful people in the industry as if it wasn’t obvious..still won’t change a thing for poc artists who deserve because they always find a way to work around rules.”

Another explained: "Nothing changed for the Grammys, they still have the categories where they nominate the same 5 Artists every single year. They just added a global and Latin category to make poc feel somehow included. Let me tell they didn't change nothing."