It’s no secret that there’s an air of wariness surrounding the Grammy Awards’ best new artist award. The list of nominees for the 67th ceremony’s best new artist initially seemed to be a reasonable reflection of the year’s major breakout hits. However, a majority of the award’s 2025 nominees started releasing music years ago, some as far back as the 2010s. Nominees like Khruangbin and Sabrina Carpenter each began releasing music in the mid-2010s and, as of their recent nominations, have released four and six albums respectively. Labeling many of these nominees the year’s best new feels misleading at best and dismissive of their previous work at worst — an issue that could be remedied by revising the category or introducing a new category entirely, such as a best breakout artist.
This trend of labeling longtime artists as new isn’t exclusive to this year’s ceremony. For instance, Måneskin rode the wave of its 2021 Eurovision victory to a best new artist nomination in 2023, despite the band forming in 2016. This isn’t to say that the best new artist category doesn’t take novelty into account at all, as shown by its eligibility requirements: Nominees must have released a minimum of five singles or one album, but can be nominated for the award a maximum of three times. These requirements filter out one-hit wonders and seasoned artists to some extent. However, the category’s requirement that a nominated artist had a “breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the music landscape” during the eligibility period is the biggest reason why it’s high time for the category to be reevaluated.
Given the nature of the internet and TikTok’s influence on music streaming, it’s easier than ever for artists to be rediscovered and “breakthrough into the public consciousness,” often years after they first started releasing music. As release dates have become a less rigid factor in deciding the next big hit or musical trend, it arguably muddles the eligibility-period requirement, especially as it concerns the definition of “new artists” for the award category. This criteria pits nominees like Teddy Swims and last year’s nominee Gracie Abrams, who both released their debut albums within the last two years, against other more seasoned nominees like Raye and Chappell Roan. This distinction feels especially pronounced when considering the latter two artists’ conflicts with their labels that delayed their debuts — Polydor Records allegedly denied the release of Raye’s debut album before its independent release in 2023, and Roan was dropped from Atlantic Records prior to her resurgence in the last two years.
One possible solution could be for the Grammys to divide current qualifying artists for the best new artist category into two pools. Keeping the best new artist category for musicians who have made their debut in the past two or three years would be a means to highlight rising talent without disadvantaging new, up-and-coming musicians. At the same time, a best breakout artist category could provide an alternative category that would encompass many of this year’s Grammy nominees. It would be a title and category to commemorate artists who only receive renown for their work years after starting their musical career. For instance, 2024 nominee Noah Kahan could have been eligible for a breakout artist category for his 2022 release, “Stick Season,” which skyrocketed him to fame in a way that his previously released 2019 debut album and gold-status 2017 single, “Hurt Somebody,” had not.
Splitting the best new artist award in this way would reduce the controversy and criticism that often surrounds the category. Instead, it would be an opportunity to expand the number of nominated artists, showcasing a wider variety of emerging and resurgent talent. Despite the increasingly fast-paced media cycle that pervades much of the music industry, it can’t be stressed enough that popularity and artistic recognition are achievements that take time. Such a change would be a long overdue way for the Grammys to add a degree of clarity to their awards and to give both fresh and longtime artists the recognition they deserve.
Contact Kaleo Zhu at [email protected].
