GRAMMY DATES AND CHANGES STREAM IN

Having wrapped up its annual review, the Recording Academy has made some amendments to rules regarding streaming, new artist qualification, the number of categories in which members may vote and more, and set key dates for the 59th Grammy Awards process. First, the dates.

• The eligibility period is now 10/1/15-9/30/16.
• Nominations will be announced on 12/6/16.
• The Awards will go down on 2/17/17.

Now to the amendments. Streaming-only recordings are now eligible—previously a work had to be commercially available for purchase—which is particularly great news if your name is Chance. The music must have been available via a streaming service that has been operating for at least a year prior to submission deadline. All digital recordings must be of high quality (at least 16-bit 44.1 kHz).

New Artist eligibility is now no longer contingent on releasing an album in the qualification year. To be eligible for nomination, an artist must have released at least five singes or tracks or an album but no more than 30 tracks or three albums, and cannot have been nominated previously as a group member more than three times. And he/she/they must have rocked the culture. Fair's fair.

What’s more, members may now vote in only 15 categories outside the big four (Album, Song and Record of the Year and Best New Artist), rather than 20 as before. These will be the categories “in which they are most knowledgeable, passionate, and qualified, while keeping in mind that certain genre fields contain several distinct award categories.”

Other changes:

• Best Rap/Sung Collaboration has morphed into Best Rap/Sung Performance.
• Best Blues Album has bifurcated to Best Traditional Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Album.

Check out Grammy101.com for more painstaking explanation.

"The Grammys aren't just peer-awarded; they're peer-driven,” declared Academy SVP of Awards Bill Freimuth. “Throughout the year, members of the music community come to us asking to make changes to the Awards process, and we work with them to figure out how those changes might work. I'm proud of this year's changes because they're a testament to the artists, producers, and writers – the people who rolled up their sleeves to shape the proposals and, in turn, the future of the GRAMMYs. It's exactly what they should be doing. It's their award."