Free Music Should Be Eligible for the GRAMMYs, Says Petition
“Not all artists should be forced to release their music for free. But the ones who do should not be punished for doing so.”
The way music is consumed has changed drastically over the last few years, with more free music available than there ever has been. In this day and age, it’s not only the amateur artists who are releasing their material for free; many popular, chart-topping musicians do the same. However, since their material is free, they’re excluded from a GRAMMY consideration regardless of how well their music does — such artists include Chance the Rapper, Future and Young Thug. According to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences bylaws, a release can be qualified for the award show if it is a “commercially released in general distribution in the United States” and “must be available for sale from any date within the eligibility period through at least the date of the current year’s voting deadline.”
A petition, created by Max Krasowitz, was recently filed on Change.org, and it requests the Academy to update their rules to make it more applicable to the modern music landscape. Max writes: “Not all artists should be forced to release their music for free, but the ones who do should not be punished for doing so.” At the time this was written, 13,552 out of 15,000 required supporters have signed it. Check the petition out here and let us know if you’re down to support the idea.
