Thursday, February 25, 1999
Grammys honor sales, not talent,
of musicians
COLUMN: Awards should recognize artists’ merits instead of
marketability
Yippee and whoop dee-doo! Why such unbridled joy and
rapture?
Well, fellow Bruins, the cream of the crop has shown up at the
premiere event of the music industry. There were glamourous
entrances, shimmering gowns and backstage dealings – and that was
just the pre-show gathering. But on a personal note, the
telecasting of the 1999 Grammys on Feb. 24 meant as much to music
as navel lint.
Outside of being just another annual awards program, the Grammys
really represent a congratulatory ‘pat-on-the-back’ to the biggest
sellers of the past years. (If you happened to be on VH-1 in 1998,
welcome to the show.) Not to disappoint the public, the Recording
Academy has released their fifth Grammy nominees CD. As a
journalist, it is my job to be a major pain-in-the-ass to the
Recording Academy, and this is just too good of an opportunity to
pass up.
The news release for the CD emphatically exclaims that since
this past year has been spectacular for rap and hip hop, they will
present their first collection of rap nominees. In theory, it is
supposed to help the Recording Academy expose more music to a
broader audience.
Translation: more music, more people, mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’
money.
How many people actually understand the nominating process (or
rather, how many of you even care)? In the Grammy nominees
compilation disc, you receive an outline of the process and
description of the various categories. I suppose that it is
impressive if you have spare money, but otherwise, on the surface,
the process appears to favor certain platinum-selling artists in
the major categories.
The strange way of categorizing is a trip in itself. For
example, the "Best New Artist" category described the nominees as
those who have come into true prominence the past year. The problem
with this is that Andrea Bocelli’s "Amor Ti Vieta" came out three
years ago and Lauryn Hill was well-known as a member of the Fugees
(or "Sister Act II," but that is understandably forgettable).
What is the trend with quasi-artists like Shania Twain (is she
country or pop?) and Hill (pop, R&B and rap)? Hill was up for
10 nominations, but she covers basically every important category
in the show. At risk of sounding like a broken record, the
coincidence here is that the quasi-artists happen to be mostly gold
or platinum selling individuals. As a personal feud, what the hell
were Will Smith and Mase doing in the rap category? Forget about
Outkast or A Tribe Called Quest, the Academy’s attitude is either
"Get Jiggy Wit It" or "If it ain’t Mase, don’t fix it."
Well, the 41st annual Grammy Awards was telecast on CBS, so all
of about 10 people were probably watching it. For those of you with
nothing better to do, go out and buy the CD after having watched
the Grammys; it’s what they want you to do.
Hide is a fourth year political science student.
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