{"id":925981,"date":"2026-10-12T23:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T23:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925981\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T23:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T23:42:10","slug":"categories-with-most-fewest-entries-for-2027-grammys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925981\/","title":{"rendered":"Categories With Most & Fewest Entries for\u00a02027\u00a0Grammys"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAll\u00a0Grammys<\/a>\u00a0count the same toward someone\u2019s career Grammy total, but we all know they\u2019re not really on an equal footing. Every media outlet on Earth will report the winners of album of the year and record of the year next Feb. 7, but good luck trying to find out who won best regional roots music album (we\u2019ll have it, of course).<\/p>\n

\n\tSome categories are far more competitive than others. There are more than 20 times as many entries in this year\u2019s most populated category, song of the year (923), as in this year\u2019s least populated category, best opera recording (43).<\/p>\n

\n\tSince final-round voting for the 69th Grammy\u00a0Awards<\/a>\u00a0opened on Monday (Oct. 12), Grammy voters have been conscientiously poring over the entry lists for 95 of the 100 Grammy categories (or so Recording Academy leaders fervently hope). The nominees in the other five categories are determined by committees.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe number of entries in four of the six categories in the General Field dropped compared to last year. There are 779 entries for record of the year (down from 894 last year); 683 for album of the year (down from 686 last year); 923 for song of the year (down from 1,015); and 331 for best new artist (down from 337).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe number of entries in the other two General Field categories increased compared to last year. There were 216 entries for producer of the year, non-classical (up from 195) and 74 for songwriter of the year, non-classical (up from 63).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Grammys introduced four new categories this year. Best Latin song has a whopping 519 entries in its inaugural year, more than any other songwriting category except song of the year. Best traditional pop performance has 211 entries in its first year. Best R&B collaboration or duo\/group performance has 168 entries. Best Asian pop performance, which had a surprisingly bumpy rollout, has 116.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, the Recording Academy divided best folk album into two categories \u2013 best contemporary folk album (173 entries) and best traditional folk album (87 entries). (By way of comparison, best folk album had 146 entries last year.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth country album categories dropped in number of entries this year. Best contemporary country album has 60 entries (down from 68). Best traditional country album has 46 (down from 62).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Recording Academy keeps an eye on the number of entries in each category. Here\u2019s the relevant rule, from the 69th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines booklet: \u201cEach category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries. If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year. Should there be fewer than 25 entries in a category, that category will immediately go on hiatus for the current year \u2013 no award given \u2013 and entries will be screened into the next-most-appropriate category. If a category receives fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years, the category will be discontinued, and submissions will be entered in the next-most-appropriate category.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNo category fell below the academy\u2019s 40-entry minimum to sustain five nominees in the category, though with just 43 entries this year, best opera recording is a little too close for comfort.<\/p>\n

\n\tMy main takeaway from this annual exercise \u2013 these categories are highly competitive. As noted,\u00a0923 songs are vying for just eight slots in song of the year. When somebody says \u201cIt\u2019s an honor just to be nominated,\u201d they\u2019re not just being polite. Okay, maybe they are, but it really is an honor. 915 eligible and entered songs this year will\u00a0not\u00a0be nominated for song of the year.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you\u2019re curious, the five categories where the nominations are determined by committees, rather than by voters at large, are best album cover, best recording package, best album notes, best historical album and best immersive audio album.<\/p>\n

\n\tFirst-round voting for the 69th annual\u00a0Grammy Awards<\/a>\u00a0opened on Monday (Oct. 12). Voters have until Oct. 22 to make their choices. Nominations will be announced on Nov. 16. Final-round voting runs from Dec. 10 through Jan. 7. The winners will be revealed on Feb. 7 at\u00a0Crypto.com<\/a>\u00a0Arena in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere are the 15 categories with most entries this year, and the 15 categories with the fewest.<\/p>\n

\t\tCategories with the most entries\t<\/p>\n

\n\t(in descending order)<\/p>\n

\n\tSong of the year, 923<\/p>\n

\n\tRecord of the year, 779<\/p>\n

\n\tAlbum of the year, 683<\/p>\n

\n\tBest music video, 645<\/p>\n

\n\tBest engineered album, non-classical, 531<\/p>\n

\n\tBest global music performance, 526<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Latin song, 519<\/p>\n

\n\tBest arrangement, instruments and vocals, 471<\/p>\n

\n\tBest jazz performance, 449<\/p>\n

\n\tBest American roots song, 411<\/p>\n

\n\tBest instrumental composition, 405<\/p>\n

\n\tBest rock performance, 385<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Americana performance, 340<\/p>\n

\n\tBest American roots performance, 339<\/p>\n

\n\tBest new artist, 331<\/p>\n

\t\tCategories with the fewest entries\t<\/p>\n

\n\t(in descending order)<\/p>\n

\n\tBest score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media, 67<\/p>\n

\n\tBest musical theater album, 66<\/p>\n

\n\tBest contemporary blues album, 64<\/p>\n

\n\tBest large jazz ensemble album, 64<\/p>\n

\n\tBest choral performance, 60<\/p>\n

\n\tBest contemporary country album, 60<\/p>\n

\n\tBest classical solo vocal album, 58<\/p>\n

\n\tBest traditional blues album, 58<\/p>\n

\n\tBest bluegrass album, 55<\/p>\n

\n\tBest regional roots music album, 52<\/p>\n

\n\tBest compilation soundtrack for visual media, 50<\/p>\n

\n\tBest roots gospel album, 47<\/p>\n

\n\tBest traditional country album, 46<\/p>\n

\n\tBest gospel album, 44<\/p>\n

\n\tBest opera recording, 43<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All\u00a0Grammys\u00a0count the same toward someone\u2019s career Grammy total, but we all know they\u2019re not really on an equal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,1703,134,62695,136],"class_list":["post-925981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-awards","tag-entertainment","tag-grammys","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}