More Grammys: Awards to Increase Nominees From Five to Eight

Album of the year, song of the year, record of the year and best new artist are all about to get more nominees at the Grammy Awards.

The Recording Academy, which hosts and oversees the annual awards, announced in a letter today that the increase “will better reflect the large number of entries in these categories and allow voters greater flexibility when selecting this year’s best recordings.”

(Personally, we’ve never understood the difference between song of the year and record of the year, but that’s why you’re reading this story.)

The Recording Academy has been criticized for a lack of diversity in both the nominees and winners in recent years and the organization’s CEO Neil Portnow — who will step down from the post in 2019 — infamously put his foot deeply into his mouth last year when he said more women would win Grammys when they “step up.”

Voting for next year’s Grammy Awards will take place later this year and songs and albums released between Oct. 1, 2017 and Sept. 30, 2018 will be eligible.