Are the Grammys Overrated?
Yet again, its a slow week for new albums, so no new releases post this week, but the Grammys are around the corner! The nominees came out a little while ago and included a lot of Amy Winehouse and Kanye West, some Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, Rhianna, and even Paramore and Plain White T’s (see the entire list here), but that isn’t what has been intriguing. The interesting part is the rumblings from other musicians about the importance of the Grammys, or lack there of.
In the Nine Inch Nails blog, Trent Reznor, who is obviously on the outs with the record industry and loving it, wrote: “While the music industry is doing everything they possibly can to go out of business, can we all make sure to rid ourselves of the Grammys, too? Out of touch old men jacking each other off.” Is this just the rantings of an unfortunate snubbed artist, or the truth? I’ve read things from other artists who feel the same, and personally I have always felt the Grammys rarely hit the nail on the head (no pun intended) when it comes to popular music.
Its as if whoever chooses the nominees are afraid to take risks, so they stick to the safe bets, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, not that there’s anything wrong with any of these artists. They may be the best, but why not shake things up with a little NIN or even The Hives?
Do you think the people who chose the Grammy nominees hit the know their stuff, or are they “out of touch old men jacking each other off”?
