{"id":248424,"date":"2026-01-20T17:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/248424\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:41:10","slug":"jack-antonoff-morgan-wallen-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/248424\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Antonoff, Morgan Wallen & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWith Music\u2019s Biggest Night just 12 days away, details about the 68th annual Grammy Awards<\/a> are starting to trickle out. Last week, the Recording Academy announced that Trevor Noah<\/a> will host the show for the sixth consecutive (and last) year. The comedian will be the first person to host the show six years in a row since crooner Andy Williams, who hosted the first seven live Grammy telecasts from 1971-77.<\/p>\n

\n\tSabrina Carpenter was the first performer<\/a> announced for the telecast on Tuesday (Jan. 20). More announcements are due in coming days. Bruno Mars almost certain to be on the list. His long-awaited album The Romantic is due Feb. 27. Mars is also a nominee this year, with three nods for \u201cAPT.,\u201d his smash collab with Ros\u00e9. \u00a0Justin Bieber is also likely to be announced as a performer.<\/p>\n

\n\tGrammy executive producers Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins<\/a> tried something new last year that was well-received \u2013 booking performances by all eight best new artist nominees. They are likely to also spotlight many of this year\u2019s equally impressive slate of best new artist nominees: Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, The Mar\u00edas, Addison Rae, Sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show will also pay tribute to the many music legends who we lost in the last year, such as Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, Roberta Flack, Ozzy Osbourne, D\u2019Angelo and Bob Weir.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis will be Harvey Mason jr.\u2019s<\/a> fifth Grammy telecast as CEO of the Recording Academy \u2013 his seventh if you count the 2020 and 2021 shows, when he was interim CEO. He took time last week to talk to Billboard about this year\u2019s show and nominations.<\/p>\n

\n\tToday, you announced that Trevor is hosting. That didn\u2019t surprise me, but it did surprise me that you simultaneously announced that this will be his last time hosting.<\/p>\n

\n\tI tried my best to convince him for more, but this is it. He\u2019s great. He\u2019s done so well for us six years. It\u2019s been a good long run, and to me, he\u2019s just been such a perfect host for us through this period.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhy did you announce now that this is it?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think some of that had to do with Trevor wanting to have it out there. And, you know, some basketball players like to do a retirement season, and some players like to [announce] it after they finish playing.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, you got good notices for your spotlight on the eight best new artist nominees. Will you do that again?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think I\u2019ll probably leave that to be a surprise, but I know how much people enjoyed that last year, and I was really proud of how it came off, so we\u2019ll see how that happens again this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ll have to find a way to honor an unusual number of legends who died this year. I imagine several of them will get more than just a mention in the In Memoriam spot.<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t know, it seems like every year we lose so many great legends, but yes, this year does seem particularly sad in that way. We\u2019re trying to figure out how to make sure we honor all those people, the legends that we\u2019ve lost. It\u2019s always impossible, because there\u2019s so many, but yes, we will be doing something special for a lot of those people.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe haven\u2019t talked since the nominations came out. I would assume the first thing you do when you look at the nominations is hold your breath and hope there\u2019s nothing embarrassing.<\/p>\n

\n\t[Laughs.]<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd I don\u2019t think there was this year. I would think the second test would be, \u201cHow did we do in terms of having the right mix?\u201d Did we hit all the bases we need to hit? How do you think you did in those terms?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, every year is always that moment where I\u2019m hopeful that we honor music accurately and based on what\u2019s really happening in the industry and in the world. And so we have 15,000 voters that at this point I really trust, because we\u2019ve done the work to evolve our membership, and we requalified every single voting member. [The academy has announced that 73% of its voting members have joined since June 2019, when the academy introduced its new membership model.] So, the voters do the hard work, and yes, when I see the nominations, I\u2019m hopeful that they\u2019re representative and reflective of what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think this year, the voters did a really great job. There\u2019s always going to be a discrepancy. It\u2019s subjective. There\u2019s always going to be people that I wish we could have nominated, and then ultimately there\u2019s people that I wish could have won, or maybe should have won, in different people\u2019s opinions. But ultimately, this year feels like it\u2019s a great mix of young superstars, established legends, icons. We have so much diversity in genre. <\/p>\n

\n\tJust look at the General Field [album, record and song of the year, best new artist, producer of the year, non-classical and songwriter of the year, non-classical]. You have all those different types of music, even coming from different parts of the world. So, in that sense, I think the voters were very successful in choosing some great people to honor.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you see any areas where you need improvement?<\/p>\n

\n\tI always see areas where I look forward to continuing to evolve. I probably won\u2019t point anything specific out, because I wouldn\u2019t want to make light of anyone\u2019s particular nomination. But part of what our work is at the Grammy organization is to make sure the voting body is in a position to evaluate the music accurately, and when we see things that are not measuring up to that standard, then we\u2019re going to make sure we focus on that, make sure we bring in enough members to try and get the outcomes to be reflective of what\u2019s happening in music.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, there\u2019s no country music in album of the year again. That\u2019s a kind of perpetual refrain. Do you think you need to do more in terms of recruitment to make sure you have enough people who are open to country, sympathetic to country? You have three hip hop albums nominated for album of the year. You\u2019ve made great strides in getting a membership that embraces hip hop.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ll say we have a well-balanced membership right now across the genres, from what I\u2019m seeing. And I think voting does tend to go in cycles. Some people tend to like a certain genre more than others, and some voting bodies are more active than others year-over-year. But we\u2019ll always continue to look and see, where are there gaps? Where are there things that we can do better and continue to evolve the membership to be accurate?<\/p>\n

\n\tYou invited all the voting members of the Latin Recording Academy to join the Recording Academy, and nearly 1,000 of them took you up on your offer.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, they did. And if you remember, many of the members were members of [the Recording Academy] before we started LARAS [the Latin Academy of Recording Artists & Sciences] and then LARAS started and started recruiting its own members. But for us, the idea of making sure that we were becoming a global voting body, because music is becoming more and more global, made a lot of sense, and we had a built-in group of incredibly qualified and professional members in the LARAS membership, so importing them over to [the Recording Academy] made a lot of sense, because of the popularity and the prevalence of Latin music and what\u2019s happening there. It\u2019s been an explosion over the last 25 years. <\/p>\n

\n\tYou see the same thing happening in K-pop and then Afrobeats and the Middle East is growing. So, we\u2019re going to have to make sure we\u2019re figuring out how to get representative voters into our organization so we can continue to stay relevant and up on all the different genres.<\/p>\n

\n\tI realize that the Latin Recording Academy is your own organization, and the Country Music Association is not. But how would you feel about inviting all members of the CMA to join the Recording Academy and get serious about embracing one of the bedrock genres of American music?<\/p>\n

\n\tI would say we\u2019re very serious about embracing the bedrock genres. But I will say I don\u2019t have context around who those members are \u2014 but we definitely would welcome more members from a lot of genres, that one included, for sure. Whether or not they would qualify \u2013 what is the threshold? What are the qualifications? I don\u2019t have that, whereas with Latin we knew exactly who their members were, what were the standards by which they were admitted. Does that meet our standards? And we were able to do it pretty smoothly. We would want to look at that set of qualifications, but we\u2019re open to admitting more members from different genres.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mentioned K-pop a minute ago. When are you going to add a K-pop category? I can\u2019t remember the Grammys<\/a> ever being this seemingly resistant to adding a category. Usually, you\u2019re on it the minute something seems real, you add a category \u2014 and here, it\u2019s been years, and it\u2019s like there\u2019s some resistance. Why?<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s no resistance at all. Traditionally, what happens with new categories is it has a groundswell of support in the membership, and those members submit a proposal. You know the system as well as I do. We have not gotten to the point where a proposal has come through the system that made sense yet \u2014 and I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be one submitted this year \u2014 but there\u2019s no hesitance to do it, and all we want to do is honor music and all the different genres of music, so we\u2019ll have to see what comes in the system this year. <\/p>\n

\n\tAgain, you should know, and your readers should know, I don\u2019t choose the categories. No one who works at the Academy chooses the categories. The members choose the categories. So, it has to come from membership.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mentioned that you\u2019re proud of the voters and how the membership has evolved. Then, why do you still have committees picking the nominees in so many categories, like producer of the year, non-classical and songwriter of the year, non-classical? You\u2019ve said you trust your voters, so why not trust them there too?<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are a few crafts that we feel need different levels of attention. We\u2019ve eliminated all the committees around genres, which I think was really important. That was one of the first things that we did when I got in this role. But I still see the value and the need for committees to evaluate certain categories, like immersive audio, where there\u2019s a real need for committee to sit in a room and evaluate the music. So, there\u2019s not that many committees left, but I think they serve a purpose in the areas that they are in.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, I was shocked when Jack Antonoff wasn\u2019t nominated for producer of the year, non-classical and this year my head exploded when he wasn\u2019t nominated again. Grammy voters gave him two nominations as a producer for record of the year and two for album of the year. So, the voters seem to think he\u2019s doing good work with records as diverse as \u201cManchild\u201d and \u201cLuther,\u201d which respectively are the most pure-pop record you\u2019ll ever hear, and a really classy, I call it R&B, the Grammys call it melodic rap record. So, what\u2019s with the committee? Why are they resistant to Jack?<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m not privy to the conversations that go on that room. All I can tell you is that the committees are made up of producers, other producers, other writers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre they jealous?<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, because it\u2019s not just producers. It\u2019s a wide variety of people that make up that room. So, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe only thing I can think is they think that a nomination, or even another win, won\u2019t make him one iota more famous or in-demand, and somebody else can use [the nomination] more. But I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s their role or should be.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s definitely not the role, and it\u2019s not weighing into it whatsoever. I would like to think \u2014 my hope is that they\u2019re really critically listening and deciding on the merits of the music, and that\u2019s our policy, and that\u2019s, I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019re doing that to the best of their ability. It\u2019s very subjective.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you ever call people who are or aren\u2019t nominated?<\/p>\n

\n\tAll the time. Sometimes it\u2019s \u201cCongratulations.\u201d Sometimes it\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m really sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI was surprised The Weekend didn\u2019t get any nominations after that platform he got on the Grammys [where Mason personally introduced him with a near-apology for past snubs, before the artist performed two new songs, \u201cCry for Me\u201d and \u201cTimeless.\u201d]<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s really down to the voters listening to the music. None of the other things should matter. All that should wash away. It should be about the music you released in the 12 months of the eligibility period. As a voter, did I think it was the best in the category that it\u2019s entered in? And hopefully that\u2019s how they\u2019re evaluating the music. Beyond that, I can\u2019t predict what the voters will do.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve got to ask about Morgan Wallen, who is, what, the second-best selling artist of the last five years? He\u2019s never won a Grammy. He\u2019s only been nominated as a featured artist on a Post Malone record. This year, he didn\u2019t enter his album or any of its singles. I wrote something, and I want to know if you agree with me or not: \u201cI get why he has hard feelings about award shows, especially the Grammys. But not submitting doesn\u2019t solve the problem. Morgan, submit. Grammy voters, judge the record, not an artist\u2019s past mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t[Signals two thumbs up]<\/p>\n

\n\tYou agree with that?<\/p>\n

\n\t1,000%.<\/p>\n

\n\tGood. I was thinking maybe you would say people can evaluate artists however they choose. But you\u2019re saying: Focus on the record. Yeah, he\u2019s done dumb things, but focus on the record \u2013 the songs, the performances, the work.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think if you asked our awards team and the people that are all the way in-the-weeds around the nominations and awards, they would tell you that the rule for voting is really to evaluate the music on the merits of music. As a music fan and consumer myself, that\u2019s how I choose to enjoy music. I listen to music that I love and that moves me. I\u2019m not tying it to every single backstory or behavior, I listen to the things that I like, and our voters vote for the things they think are excellent in the field in which they are evaluating it. That\u2019s how it\u2019s supposed to go down.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre you satisfied that eight is the best number of nominees for the Big Four categories [album, record and song the year plus best new artist] \u2014 better than five, better than 10?<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m happy with eight for now, and yes, I\u2019m satisfied with it for this year. We\u2019ll see how that goes. And it\u2019s a huge calculus of, are we honoring enough music? Is there diversity in that music? Is it set up for the right number for a TV show and for the purposes of creating that? Those variables all will change year-to-year, and we\u2019ll just keep looking at it. But for now, I think yes, eight is a great number. What do you think of it? Do you like it or do you think it should be higher or lower?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, definitely not higher. I\u2019m a traditionalist. I like five. And you apparently like eight. Then why don\u2019t you have eight nominees in producer of the year, non-classical and songwriter of the year, non-classical?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not something that I decide. It\u2019s something that ultimately comes in from the membership, and if the membership feels like we have the need to honor more people, then we\u2019ll do it. But we\u2019ve just traditionally only had eight [nominees] in the General Field. Now that those two [categories] are in the General Field, I\u2019m sure that will be something that gets discussed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year, all five of the nominees for songwriter of the year, non-classical have been nominated in that category before, so expanding it to eight nominees might help bring in some new names.<\/p>\n

\n\tGood point.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you think the split between best traditional country album and best contemporary country album played out this year?<\/p>\n

\n\tI thought it made sense. And for me, celebrating more music is always better than trying to pit really disparate music against each other in the category. So, I really like the way that it\u2019s working so far.<\/p>\n

\n\tEverybody assumed that splitting the country album category in two was a reaction to Beyonc\u00e9 winning best country album last year. Was it?<\/p>\n

\n\tAbsolutely not. And obviously, again, you know our system. That has to be in the form of a proposal and that takes time. We\u2019ve been working on that for a number of years, actually, before that last category even happened. We\u2019re never going to make policy change based on one person. It comes from the membership in a proposal, and [having a contemporary\/traditional split] is also in line with what we\u2019ve done in so many other genres. You know, R&B has it. Blues has it. So, no, that is not the case.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnything we didn\u2019t touch on, or we kind of glossed over?<\/p>\n

\n\t[good-naturedly] As always, Paul, you\u2019ve done a magnificent job of hitting all the pressure points and making me squirm.<\/p>\n

\n\tThank you for taking the time.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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