Arts & Culture
JONES | The Grammys at a Crossroads
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The Grammys have become, in some ways, less and less meaningful with each passing year. As the music industry has moved from records to C.D.s to digital ownership to streaming, it has become easier and easier for listeners to sample large swathes of music without committing to, for instance, a certain album as the year’s best. Online music platforms like Bandcamp and DatPiff have also undermined the monopoly of popular music by record companies, but it is difficult to qualify for a nomination if an artist is not signed to a record label, which disqualifies many indie artists and rappers who self-release albums or mixtapes. At the same time, the Grammys have become more discussed and anticipated than ever in the past few years, because — just like the Academy Awards — they have become a measure of seismic changes in cultural conversations. As racial and gender inequity have become more publicly debated, nights like the Grammys offer a chance for aging societies run by white men to show that they “get it” — with some necessary prodding, like the #OscarsSoWhite online movement.