5 Key Takeaways from the 67th Grammy Nominations

The Grammy Awards released their nominations on Friday. With 2024 being a massive year for music, the always-controversial awards had their work cut out to determine which projects to nominate.

Arts & Entertainment Director Sophia D’Ovidio has five major takeaways from the nominations, snubs and the award show as a whole.

The Grammy Awards are on Sunday, Feb. 2, and will air on CBS starting at 8.

This was a packed year for music.

Maybe it is a result of the pandemic finally being over and artists being ready to release big albums and tour them, but it feels like every major artist released an album this year.

Album of the Year is between Andre 3000, Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Jacob Collier, Billie Eilish, Chappel Roan and Taylor Swift.

That means artists like Ariana Grande and Post Malone didn’t get their albums nominated in the “Big 4.” In fact, Grande was entirely out of the genreless categories, and Post Malone only snuck in with his feature on Swift’s “Fortnight.”

Dua Lipa, Tinashe, Tyla and Megan Thee Stallion got no nominations despite songs like “Houdini,” “Nasty,” “Jump” and “Hiss” being commercial successes.

The Recording Academy had a lot to choose from, and while they never seem to get it quite right, it’s not like anyone else could do a better job without leaving some big names out of this year's awards.

They should rename the “Best New Artist” category.

It feels like the Best New Artist category was invented for people to fight about it on the internet.

For Gen Z, Carpenter isn’t new. They grew up with her on Disney Channel, where she made music. “Short ‘n Sweet” is her sixth studio album.

However, the Grammys define Best New Artist as an artist who, within the eligibility year, “achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.”

The Recording Academy reserves the right to call any artist, no matter how much music they have released, a new artist if they have at least five singles or an album out and have not received a nomination for their music before.

It’s confusing and sets artists like Carpenter up for ridicule for those who don’t want to skim through the rule book.

Changing the name to “Breakthrough Artist” or being stricter about what qualifies someone as a new artist would help make this category easier to digest.

It seems like Album, Record and Song of the Year don’t have any frontrunners.

As previously mentioned, this was a busy year for music. There isn’t a clear “album” of the year because there were so many massive releases.

Betting odds from Bovada have Swift as the favorite for Album of the Year, but it doesn’t feel like “The Tourtured Poets Department” has the same momentum “Midnights” had that won Swift this award last year.

Eilish and Chappel Roan are tied next for Album of the Year favorites. Other sources, such as Gold Derby, have Beyonce as a clear favorite for both Album and Song of the Year.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was such a hit that it may have ended Drake’s career. The summer was dedicated to Charli XCX’s “brat.” Carpenter has multiple chart-topping hits from “Short ‘n Sweet.”

It feels like the Recording Academy could go in any direction for a winner, and with so much from the mainstream, don’t be shocked if Andre 3000 or Collier sneak away with Album of the Year with the pop girls splitting each other's vote.

CommRadio doesn’t endorse gambling, especially when things are so uncertain, like this year's Grammys.

Where is Jack Antonoff?

Jack Antonoff is a polarizing producer despite his endless success, partnerships with some of the biggest artists in the game and new artists seeking out his work.

Antonoff won Producer of the Year at the past three Grammy’s but didn’t even receive a nomination this year.

It would have been one thing had Antonoff had a slow year or nothing super mainstream. But Antonoff was a producer on two Album of the Year nominations that were both commercial and critical success.

“Short ‘n Sweet” and “The Tortured Poets Department” also received Record of the Year nominations for “Please Please Please” and “Fortnight,” respectively. Antonoff produced both songs, and Record of the Year is the award for best production.

This isn’t an argument that Antonoff deserves to win Producer of the Year for a fourth straight year in a row, but it’s weird not to nominate him but still nominate his work in multiple other categories.

Beyonce gets country music nominations; will she only win there?

Despite being one of the biggest figures in the music industry and having the most wins in Grammy history, Beyonce has only ever won one in the “Big 4” category.

Beyonce leads the nominations this year with 11 for “Cowboy Carter,” a critically celebrated album in which Beyonce pushed the idea of genre and how it is defined.

The album was inspired by Beyonce's mistreatment at the 2016 Country Music Awards when audience members left when she took the stage with The Chicks (previously known as The Dixie Chicks).

But Beyonce seems to get all her wins in genre categories, mostly R&B, Contemporary Urban, Rap and Dance/Electronic.

Between Beyonce taking on the country genre and historically only ever winning one “Big 4” award, will “Cowboy Carter” be able to get her wins in a new genre and even the genreless categories, or will it be another year of Beyonce leading the nominations but getting the short end of the stick at the ceremony.

Sophia D’Ovidio is a fourth-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact her email, sgd5184@psu.edu.