Civil Wars got robbed

DO GRAMMY NOMS RING “HOLLOW”? In a commentary titled “Grammy Awards? Your granny’s awards?,” L.A. Times pop critic Randall Roberts wrote: “The spirit of the music world right now is all about discovery, all about being the person to find the amazing song that turns into a sonic meme. It's an environment that is rolling ever more quickly toward a Spotify/iCloud world in which we learn about new music more efficiently via smartphone and laptop than waiting for Ryan Seacrest to play it on KIIS-FM. The Grammy Awards, however, are only timidly wading into these waters. Instead the focus is still on the old music industry model of cash-cow hits, major label investments and commercial radio. For the Grammys to acknowledge that a small male-female duo like The Civil Wars can make such an unlikely ascent into the conversation, and to honor them with a best new artist or album of the year nod, would be to admit that the machine is no longer a vital tool for anything other than meeting quarterly profit projections.” (12/1a)