Last week, the Recording Academy unveiled a series of rule changes that will apply to the 2025 awards. Among those 10 changes, three are directly related to the dance/electronic categories, and a fourth also affects the dance/electronic categories.
One of the changes includes an award introduced at the Grammys just this year, with the “best pop dance recording” category now called “best pop dance recording.” This adjustment is not only a matter of aesthetics, but is intended to make the category more accurately reflect the established style of dance pop music it was created to showcase.
The proposal for this name change was considered by Advertising sign, stated that “last year we agreed with the Recording Academy staff to change the name of the award to 'Pop Dance' instead of 'Dance Pop' for purposes of classification and definition: 'what kind of dance.' However, the result of this decision was regular confusion and clarification. Numerous articles in the mainstream media either “corrected” or “confused” or “misspelled” the Grammy Award.
“Confusion,” the proposal continues, “has also led some to wonder whether this is a Pop category award or a Dance category award. It is of great importance to the Dance/Electronic community and the driving intent behind the invention of the award, to be recognized in the Dance category, albeit for the more popular sounds of Dance music.”
With this new category operating as envisioned when it debuted this year, this new change is likely to help establish the category as a home for pop electronic music, leaving room in the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category for more traditional electronic tracks. and generally making more room for dance/electronic music at the Grammys.
The next rule change concerns the Best Remixed Recordings category, which has long focused on dance/electronic artists but has never been an official dance/electronic category.
This changes in 2025, with this category moving from the production, engineering, composition and arrangement sector to the pop and dance/electronic sector, a change that makes sense given how deeply remixing is embedded and largely synonymous with dance/electronic field .
2024 nominees in this category included tech house titan Dom Dolla and long-time producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, with winners since the award's inception in 1998 including genre legends Frankie Knuckles, Deep Dish, Roger Sanchez, Louie Justice. , David Guetta, Skrillex and Tiësto.
The next tweak changes the name of “Best Dance/Electronic Music album” to “Best Dance/Electronic album“. The title change was made as the word “music” was deemed more or less redundant.
More crucially, this change also amends the category definition, which now states that “albums must consist of at least 50% dance/electronic recordings to qualify.” This change is most likely a result of Beyoncè's nomination and subsequent win Renaissance in 2023. Since the album does not consist exclusively of dance/electronic music, RenaissanceIts inclusion in the dance/electronic album category has been the cause of much debate in the electronic music community.
Many felt that it was not a purely dance/electronic album, while others embraced it not only for its music but also for how it shed light on the Black and LGBTQ origins of the genre's music itself. Given this definition change, however, it is possible that a similar album will be included in the dance/electronic album category in the future.
And while the final change is one that affects many categories, it's especially important for dance music. The tweak states that all eligible artists have been selected under 50% playtime will now receive a winner's certificate for all genre album categories. These certificates previously only went to producers and engineers with less than 50% playtime. mastering engineers (if not also the artist) and immersive producers and immersive engineers/mixers.
“Most of the time,” said the proposal for this change, “a featured artist would be a singer who performed on one or more songs on the record, but did not achieve 50% playtime as a whole (otherwise they would be a Grammy winner).”
Although featured artists could previously receive a certificate, this certificate was not issued automatically, and many featured artists were unaware that they could apply for a certificate, which also previously cost $150. This was different from the process for contributors such as engineers and producers, who received certificates automatically and did not have to pay the fee.
The Rules and Guidelines booklet for the upcoming 67th annual Grammy Awards sheds some light on the certificates: “Persons in a Grammy-winning recording whose roles are listed on the Certificate receive a winner's certificate from the Academy following the telecast, but are not nominated or Grammy winners. These people can say they “worked on a Grammy-winning project,” but they aren't “Grammy winners.”
“Additionally, those who worked in specific roles on Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated projects but are not nominated, won or received Winners' Certificates may order a Certificate of Participation. You can order them for a fee from the Academy website.”
The motion, introduced by members of the electronic music community, argued that in dance, this disparity “disproportionately affects female creators or people of color,” stating that “singers in the Dance/Electronic community are predominantly people of color and women.” The last four winning albums in the dance/electronic category (by Fred again Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022)by Beyonce RenaissanceBlack Coffee's Subconsciously and Kaitranada Babi) featured 27 featured artists, of which 14 are women and 21 are of color.
Given that the dance/electronic categories have had a history of lackluster representation of women and people of color, this change opens up the category to recognize a more diverse group of artists. The change was co-sponsored by Aluna, who last year expressed disappointment on the number of white men nominated to the charges.
“You can say awards are bullshit, but they ARE career builders,” the producer/writer/singer and company founder He wrote after the announcement of the new amendments to the rule. “I was informed today that a change I fought for has been implemented at the Grammys and I want to explain why it is MASSIVE! As a Black woman in dance music you get the message loud and clear. Your value is as a Featured Artist and not the main act. Labels, managers, top (white male) artists in the space, festival bookers, and the media tell us that our voices are incredibly valuable, but investing in us as artists is rarely on the table.
“Now, while I can't change that culture overnight with my label Noir Fever,” the statement continues, “I've seen that while being artists is our bread and butter, it's somebody's Grammy another, so there is a simple change that could be made. He made; Featured artists need the credit they deserve when they contribute to the Albums. In the past, if you poured your heart into a song on another artist's winning album, you went home with nothing. Now I am proud to share that each featured artist who has sung on a Grammy-winning album will receive a certificate.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/grammys-rule-changes-electronic-categories-2025-awards-1235716735/
