Behind the Scenes of the 65th Annual Grammys

The Grammy Awards are a series of awards presented to artists in the music industry by the Nation Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) or the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS).

Award winners are chosen from 25 different fields of music which include genres like Pop, Rock, Country, R&B, Reggae, Classical, Gospel, and  Jazz.

The awards also include production and post-production work, like packaging and album notes. 

A grand total of seventy-five awards are presented during the show, and the winners receive a golden statuette of a gramophone. 

Rickey Payton, a member of the Grammy’s voting committee, shared what his role entails. 

“As a voting member, we do everything electronically. They’ll send out all of the Grammy nominees, then once they send out the permission, we put in our codes,” Payton said.

In order to be eligible for a Grammy from NARAS, the recording or music video must be released to the public in the U.S. between October 31 of the previous year, and midnight on September 30th. 

Entries are submitted by record companies and academy members to then be reviewed for category placement. 

“They will tell you which categories you have, and then you will vote in those areas depending on the style of the music,” Payton said. “You choose what your expert field is and they will put you in that field. So whatever you choose, that is what you’ll get.” 

The first Grammy Awards were presented in Los Angeles in 1959, where twenty-eight awards were given. 

Winners included Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Kingston Trio.

As the number of genres have increased, so have the number of awards given. Rock was first recognized as a genre by the academy in 1980 and rap was recognized in 1989. An award for the best music video was first given in 1982 when the influence of the medium was quickly growing. 

With The rise in Latin music, LASAS was created in 1997. To be eligible for a Latin Grammy, a recording can be released anywhere in the world, but it must be recorded in the Spanish or Portuguese language. The recording must be released between July 1 of the previous year and midnight on June 30th. 

The first Latin American Grammy Awards Ceremony was held in Los Angeles in 2000, with Carlos Santana and Shakira