Numerous world music artists are at a disadvantage in the competition for a Grammy Award. With the current system, there is only one Grammy award category for world music. This forces traditional and contemporary artists to compete with each other. Unfortunately, the better known contemporary artists are the ones that usually get selected because academy members are more familiar with them.
Other musical genres, such as Latin, Jazz, Country, and Blues, have multiple subcategories. Considering the broad musical spectrum of world music, it would make sense to create at least two world music subcategories. A group of world music professionals is trying to achieve this worthwhile goal. A letter campaign initiative has been started to lobby NARAS (the Recording Academy) to make such changes. Specifically, the creation of two subcategories. One for traditional world music and another for contemporary world music.
NARAS would be doing justice to the world music community by listening to its concerns. The creation of two world music subcategories would be a great first step.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
