The Weeknd To Continue GRAMMYs Boycott Despite Rule Changes

The Weeknd says that he will continue to boycott the GRAMMYs despite rule changes that were announced late last week.

On April 30th, The Recording Academy announced that they are doing away with anonymous voting committee that has been in place since 1989, to make the process “transparent and equitable.” The trustees of the Recording Academy decided to disband nominations review committees and let the GRAMMY voters have the final say in all “non-craft” categories.

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“It’s been a year of unprecedented, transformational change for the Recording Academy, and I’m immensely proud to be able to continue our journey of growth with these latest updates to our Awards process,” said Harvey Mason Jr., chair & interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy. “This is a new Academy, one that is driven to action and that has doubled down on the commitment to meeting the needs of the music community.”

Under the new rule change, the nominations review committees in general (album, record and song of the year, best new artist) and genre fields have been eliminated. Nominations in these categories will now be determined by a majority, peer-to-peer vote of the Academy’s voting members. The changes go into effect immediately for the 64th annual GRAMMY Awards taking place Jan. 31, 2022.

But The Weeknd, who revolted against the secret committees and announced a boycott of the GRAMMYs in March after being snubbed completely at this year’s awards, says that he will continue to boycott despite the new rules. “Even though I won’t be submitting my music, the Grammys’ recent admission of corruption will hopefully be a positive move for the future of this plagued award and give the artist community the respect it deserves with a transparent voting process,” the Weeknd said in a statement to The New York Times (spotted by Pitchfork).

The Canadian superstar had said back then that he will no longer allow his label Republic Records to submit his music for the nominations.

The @RecordingAcad has announced that 64th GRAMMY Awards will have a 13 month eligibility period: Recordings released September 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 are eligible for entries. pic.twitter.com/vIQJS5V4is
— Navjosh (@Navjosh) May 1, 2021

Another decision that was taken by The Recording Academy is that the 64th GRAMMY Awards will have a 13 month eligibility period: Recordings released September 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 are eligible for entries.