Not all dreams are impossible, but all dreams do take time. The Grammy’s 2022 “Best New Artist” nominees do a very good job at showcasing this. There were 87 categories at the Grammys this year, ranging from Song of the Year to Best New Folk Album. Each category is allowed ten nominees and who were this year’s Best New Artists nominees? Arooj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, FINNEAS, Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, Olivia Rodrigo, The Kid Laroi, Arlo Parks, and Saweetie.
I used to think anybody could vote for the winners, but I found out it’s a whole lot more nit-picky than that. The Recording Academy decides who is nominated and eventually who wins. They’re made up of 12,000 professional voting members— singers, songwriters, recording engineers, etc.— all of whom have to pass a series of checklists to be considered a voter in the first place. There’s just a slight problem with this: their demographics.
In 2018 Slate reported that women only made up 21 percent of the Recording Academy, while people of color made up only 28 percent. This wasn’t the best thing because it wasn’t reflecting the creators that were being nominated. So that same year the academy invited 900 new members to increase diversity, specifically women, people of color, and people under the age of 39. Most recently in 2021, they’ve invited 2700 new members made up of a demographic of 48% females. This demographic also includes 32% Black, 13% Hispanic or Latino, and 4% Asian or Pacific Islander.
Ruby Marchand, chief industry officer for the Recording Academy noted in an interview with USA Today, “Come join us, because we need you…if you feel in any way that this academy doesn’t represent your point of view, come join our dialogue and become part of our community.”
The academy is now shifting to accurately reflect its peers. With that being said, this year’s new artist is a trailblazer. Olivia Rodrigo first landed an Old Navy commercial at 12 years old, and just a couple of years later, this girl is taking not one but three Grammys home with her. On top of this, she secured #1 in Billboards 200 for five weeks; the longest time a woman held that spot for 2021.
They say that popularity is what also determines Grammy nominees and this is true even here. Her competition was steep and her biggest threat was Kid Laroi who has amassed a 3.9 million following on Instagram and averages 45 million monthly streams on Spotify. However, Olivia Rodrigo holds 24.3 million followers on Instagram alone and an average of 44 million monthly Spotify listeners. Her sheer popularity was enough to put her up as a front-runner.
Out of the ten new artist slots, five were women and one took the gold home. Hopefully, we see a lot more women thriving and a lot more representation in the years to come.