Grammy Awards or Gramophone Awards

The Grammy Award (stylized as GRAMMY, previously called Gramophone Award) is an award given by the Recording Academy to commemorate “Outstanding Achievement in the United States Music Industry.” A gilded gramophone is depicted on the trophy for this reason.

The Grammy Awards are the first of the yearly major music awards presented by the Big Three networks. Along with the Academy Honors (for cinema achievements), the Emmy Awards (for television achievements), as well as the Tony Awards (for theater achievements), the Grammy is regarded as one of the four major annual American entertainment awards (for theater and Broadway achievements).

Candidates preparing for government and other competitive exams must also review the List of Awards in India and the winners in different categories at the linked article.

About Grammy Awards

The annual award program involves performances by well-known performers as well as the presentation of trophies honoring industry recording artists’ achievements. Recording Academy Elected Members cast ballots for the GRAMMY Awards, which are classified and qualified according to rules and regulations authorized by the Board of Trustees.

The voting membership of the Recording Academy is made up entirely of music makers, such as artists, engineers, producers, and songwriters. During each of the two balloting periods, voting members are immediately qualified to vote online.

On May 4, 1959, the first Grammy Awards ceremony took place to celebrate musicians’ musical achievements in the year 1958. Many Grammy Award categories were revamped for 2012 after the 2011 event. The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

History of Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards were founded in the 1950s as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame initiative. As members of the Walk of Fame committee developed a list of notable music industry figures who might be eligible for a star, they recognized that many of their sector’s leaders would not receive a star on Hollywood Boulevard. They resolved to change this by establishing industry-wide honors akin to the Oscars as well as Emmys. After resolving to proceed with such awards, the question of what to label them remained.

The ‘Eddie,’ named after Thomas Edison, the phonograph’s inventor, was one of the early working titles. After just a mail-in contest in which roughly 300 candidates proposed the name ‘Grammy,’ the name was eventually picked.

In 1958, the Grammy Awards were given out for the first time. On May 4, 1959, 28 Grammy Awards were presented simultaneously at two locations: the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, as well as the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City, New York. The number of awards presented increased over time, reaching over 100 at one point, and fluctuated over time as categories were added and withdrawn. The second Grammy Awards, held in 1959, was the first to be televised, and it wasn’t until the 13th Annual Grammy Awards of 1971 that the ceremony was broadcast live.

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Impact of COVID-19

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards took place on March 14, 2021, after being postponed from its planned date of January 31, 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music business and the Los Angeles Convention Center. “The 63rd GRAMMY Awards produced its finest telecast in contemporary memory,” according to the LA Times, and “This year’s GRAMMY presentation was so spectacular, there’s no historical parallel for it,” according to Rolling Stone.

The 64th Annual Grammy Awards have also been postponed due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant’s influence.

The Trophy

Billings Artworks of Ridgway, Colorado, makes and assembles the gold-plated awards by hand, each representing a gilded gramophone. The original Grammy design was updated in 1990, replacing the usual soft lead with a stronger alloy that was less prone to damage, resulting in a larger and grander prize. Grammium, a zinc alloy that Billings trademarked, was developed by Billings. Because engraved trophies with each recipient’s name really aren’t accessible till after award announcements, “stunt” trophies are re-used for the ceremony broadcast each year. Criteria for awards:

The “General Field” consists of four awards that are not limited to any particular musical genre.

1. If not the artist, the Album of the Year award is given to the whole album’s performer, songwriter(s), and/or production staff.
2. If other than the performer, the Record of the Year award is given to the musician and/or production staff of a single song.
3. The Track of the Year award is given to a single song’s songwriter(s).
4. The Best New Artist award is given to prospective emerging performers (or performers) who release their first record that creates their public identity within the eligibility year.

Aspirants can visit the linked article and get details about the upcoming government exams that comprise current affairs and general awareness as an important topic in the syllabus.