Kanye West and Taylor Swift were some of the artists that reportedly benefited from the Grammys expanding its main categories from 8 to 10 nominees.
It meant Donda by Kanye West and evermore by Taylor Swift were added to the Grammys Album of the Year nominees list at the very last minute.
According to a newly published report from the New York Times, the Grammys made the decision to expand the number of nominees in the main categories a mere 24 hours before the nominations lists for the 2022 ceremony were set to be announced.
That decision meant Album of the Year was increased from 8 to 10, allowing Ye’s Donda and Swift’s evermore to be included.
Other artists also benefited from the expansion, including Lil Nas X and ABBA as ‘Montero (Call Me by Your Name)’ and ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ were able to make the cut in the Record of the Year category when it also increased from 8 to 10 nominees.
For Song of the Year, Doja Cat’s ‘Kiss Me More’ and Brandi Carlile’s ‘Right on Time’ were included after the expansion, as were Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab in the Best New Artist category.
The additions weren’t done at random: as NYT reveals, the two artists added to each main category were those that placed 9th and 10th on the list.
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The 10-strong list in the top categories is a massive increase from just a few years ago, when there were only five nominees in the aforementioned categories in 2018.
“For us this is all positive movement,” Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive of the Recording Academy, said when explaining the expansion. “This is us honoring more great artists, more great music, giving artists an opportunity to shine and showcase.” He also added that the change will “make room for more music, more artists and more genres.”
The 64 annual Grammys are scheduled to take place on January 31st, 2022 at Los Angeles’ recently renamed Crypto.com Arena. The full list of nominees can be viewed here.
