
It’s official: we’re in the era of top-tier American artists that many pop listeners worldwide have never heard of. We’re in the era where the same artists win the Grammy every time they put on new music and where not enough people care enough to complain anymore.
While the Grammy Awards are watched by fewer and fewer, this year being something of an exception, the ceremony doesn’t celebrate musical achievement so much as promote a few industry-backed artists. D’you want to see Jay-Z and Jimmy Iovine sponsored singers party together? Fine! That’s all you’ll get.
Can we really trust a panel that thinks Khruangbin belongs to the “New Artist” category? Can we trust a panel that thinks The Rolling Stones and The Beatles desperately need new Grammy awards in 2025?
At least, most of us are too bored to care anymore.
Typical Winners and No Sense of Jeopardy
At this stage in the game, the Grammy Awards are hanging by a thread. They’re The Office in its last season, a sitcom that few watch anymore but that TV execs can’t bear to axe.
Nearly every single noteworthy industry-propelled artist who released an album this year got an award. None released their best work this year. Fine, maybe the ceremony doesn’t have much time for new artists. But do the winners really need these awards?
Beyonce has won 32 Grammy awards. Kendrick Lamar has 21 times. Even Charli XCX has won three times.
Does Beyonce really need or deserve a Grammy for Best Country Album? Here’s a genre so competitive that just getting to play an instrument on a noteworthy country record certifies fantastic abilities.
Jay-Z, a 23-time winner, may be in hiding. But the power of these industry moguls still determines who wins.
New artists, you say? Chappell Roan won it. Sure, Roan’s debut was a strong pop record. But the ceremony glances over this category quickly. Either way includes a band like Khruangbin, a psych-rock band formed in the 2010s.

Decreasing Viewership Numbers
Are the Grammy Awards still on? And in the era of specialized playlists, genre-fitted festivals and Patreon-supported fandoms, how relevant is the ceremony anymore?
The marketing department of the Grammys will be happy to tell you that more people watched the show last night than in recent years. They won’t tell you, however, that random videos of dogs shown at the same hour got more people watching than the 2022 Grammys, for example.
They also won’t tell you that 16 million who watched last night are nearly half of how many people would watch in the 2000s. It’s nearly a third of those who watched in 1984.
Coincidentally, the big winners in 1984 were Michael Jackson, The Police and Cyndi Lauper. These are great artists with global notoriety. Try replicating my experiment and ask people outside the U.S. how many songs they know by some of the 2025 winners and modern stars. You’ll be surprised to learn that the big stars like Drake or Kanye West are known in Europe, for example, for their antics, not their songs.
I’ll just drop here:
And how relevant is American pop anymore? The biggest single in the world right now is by Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican artist with only one Grammy nod. He is also number one in Mexico and most LATAM countries.
Bad Bunny is number one in France as well. But number two and three are French artists. South Korea’s Rosé leads in Germany. And South London’s Lola Young dominates the charts in the United Kingdom, along with other British artists.
American artists may get billions of streams. But outside the U.S. shopping malls, few care or know them.

Rock and Alternative Music at the Grammys?
They hand out awards for costumes at the Oscars, too. They just do it on the commercial breaks.
The tremendously talented St. Vincent (Annie Clarke) won both Alternative Music awards. But you got the sneaking feeling that Ms Clarke is the only alternative performer the show knew and who bothered to attend.
And since the Grammys love to support artists in need, the best rock song and album went to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, respectively. Now, this will really make their careers!
Yes, Nick Cave, Fontaines D.C. or Kim Gordon received nominations. But, with the exception of Khruangbin, none of them performed. And the show seemed determined to show them as little attention as possible.
One moment when actual musicians got a chance to perform was on a tribute to Quincy Jones. Greats like Stevie Wonder, Jacob Collier or Herbie Hancock took to the stage. What does it take for talented musicians to be shown at the Grammys? Apparently, for the producer of “Thriller” to die, or someone of equal fame.
Award Shows Used to be Fun, Now They’re Glorified Industry Parties
Nobody expected you to take the award shows seriously. To win, one must campaign, after all, and the money to do it. But these shows sure used to be fun.
There were plenty of them, too, created because of public demand. MTV alone rivalled the Grammys with at least two award shows each year. They were filled with cartoonish, baffoonish characters. Even a few musicians would occasionally sneak in.
Does anyone know if the MTV Video Music Awards still airs? I had to check. And while it does, officially, less than half of the people watch it than in the 2010s. And the ones who watch it, generally, are victims of the evil television addiction.

Does This Mean Anything for the Music Industry?
It’s not about the music. That much is clear. What instrument does Beyonce play? Kendrick? Chappell Roan?
How many songwriters and producers are required to write one hit song that wins a Grammy? Check the credits. Ten? Twelve? Maybe more.
It’s just irrelevant to music-making. The Grammy Awards are increasingly becoming nonessential to the tens of thousands of musicians trying to make a living at it or just trying to improve.
Will they ever get a shot at the big one? Not unless they marry Jay-Z or Diddy. Coincidentally, Diddy is a multi-Grammy laureate too. So is R. Kelly. Even Bill Cosby’s got a few of them. Is sexual assault a criterion?

The Grammy Awards have become a party for the super-rich of the music industry. But there are fewer who even irk a living from music. That just means that the party gets smaller, and so does the list of winners.
Smart money is on Beyonce to win another Grammy when as soon she puts out a new album. Will I be watching? Not unless I fail to keep my gambling addiction in check.