WHA NEX

With the recent drop of 31 categories in the annual Grammy Awards, the campaign to improve the Reggae Grammy award is on in earnest.

Yesterday the National Academy of the Recording Arts announced that it would be reducing the number of gramophones won from 109 to 78 and making changes. The changes which will take place for next year’s ceremony, according to Neil Portnow, the organisation’s president, are done to ensure “that the Grammy remains a rare and distinct honour and continues to be music’s most prestigious and only peer-recognised award.”

Changes concern the processes for voting and music submissions. If fewer than 25 submissions are received for a category, that award will be suspended for a year; after three consecutive suspensions a category would be eliminated, with future submissions being redirected to the next relevant category. The Reggae Grammy category, introduced in 1985, many speculate, could be at risk under the new changes.

According to an article on the New York Times website, at the first Grammy ceremony in 1959, there were only 28 categories. Over the years that number swelled with new genre fields and with multiple subcategorises within a single genre. Categories, including best rock or rap gospel album and best Hawaiian music album, have been eliminated. Separate awards for male and female vocal performances in the pop, rock, R&B and country genres have also been eliminated.

blame ourselves

Speaking with The STAR yesterday Cristy Barber, vice- president of marketing and promotions at VP Records, said the Jamaican music industry had no one to blame but themselves if the Reggae Grammy category gets suspended or eventually eliminated. Barber launched a campaign last year to educate the reggae industry about the awards and to get more voters in an effort to see the nominations and final result “reflect what is going on”.

She said: “The categories that fall in the same realm as the Reggae Grammy have been taken away, so we have to work to save what we have. We can do this by voters, registration and submission. We don’t have voters, we’re hanging on by a thread.”

According to Barber, despite her campaign to get voters, no one has signed up as she said: “If the Jamaican music industry doesn’t fight for it, it’s their fault for not doing their part. They have no one else to blame cause there is an island full of eligible voters.” Persons eligible to vote are those with six creative credentials which, according to Barber, apply to artistes, engineers, video directors, musicians, back- ground singers and more.

“We needed a 100 voters and just got 25. Everything is down to use, the next time it comes around, we got to start voting, or we’re gone and they aren’t gonna give us another category,” Barber added.

According to Barber, a Grammy is one of the biggest achievements in music and losing the reggae grammy category could prove to be a disaster. “There would be nothing to aspire for, no matter who you are – you could be a Rihanna, you want to win a Grammy, every artiste does. It brings up your brand as an artiste to have one under your belt,” she said. Registration to vote can be done at: www.grammy.com