Behind the Curtain: How Grammy Voting Really Works

Ever wondered who actually chooses the Grammy winners? Behind the glitz and glamour of music’s biggest night, a complex voting process determines who takes home the coveted golden gramophone.

The Recording Academy of the United States presents the Grammy Awards, also known as the Grammys, to recognize outstanding achievements in music. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) hosted the first Grammy Awards on May 4, 1959. Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra ranked among the first winners.

Entry Process

Most music awards rely on online voting, but the Grammys take a different approach. To qualify for a Grammy, both media companies and individual members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) nominate recordings. The Recording Academy consists of music creators, executives, industry writers, and educators. Participants submit entries online, and over 150 recording industry experts review them to ensure proper category placement.

After finalizing the lists of eligible entries, the Recording Academy sends them to voting members, who play a crucial role in shaping the nominations. Each member can vote in the four general categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, plus up to nine additional categories from a selection of 30. The five recordings with the most votes in each category become the official nominees. However, for certain craft and specialized categories, review committees step in to determine the final five nominees. And in the case of a tie? There could be more than five nominees in that category. All of this work is only the beginning and it takes a year for the full process to be complete.

Final Voting

After determining the nominees, NARAS sends final voting ballots to its voting members. These members can vote in the general field and cast ten votes across various genre categories within three of the eleven fields. While members receive encouragement to vote only in their areas of expertise, they are not required to do so. The independent accounting firm Deloitte secretly tabulates the ballots. After counting the votes, the Grammy Awards announces the winners. The recording with the most votes in a category wins. If a tie occurs, it can make both (or all) nominees winners. Winners receive a Grammy Award, while nominees who do not win receive a medal.