GRAMMYS RETURNING TO NEW YORK IN '18?

The Grammy Awards are looking to return to New York in 2018, according to a report in The New York Times. It would be the first time the awards show has been held in the city since 2003.

Talks between Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and the Recording Academy have been ongoing for months.

Sources within the Academy have told HITS that the initial roadblock keeping the ceremony at Staples Center was cost. By one insider’s calculation, the cost to stage the Grammys, the pre-telecast event, the MusiCares gala and the Clive party would be 30%-40% higher than in Los Angeles.

The Academy was therefore looking for the city to absorb some of the costs by getting union concessions and bringing in event sponsors.

In addition, there is only one Manhattan venue large enough—Madison Square Garden—which is where the event would be held. They have second issue: The other events held during Grammy Week have grown substantially since the 2003 ceremony and where those would be held is something of a question mark.

Similar to the situation with the L.A. sports teams, the event would have to be locked in long before the NBA and NHL set their seasons so the Academy would have a couple of weeks of access to the venue.

Glassnote CEO Daniel Glass, a member of the Grammys host committee assembled by city officials, told the Times, “I didn’t know it was official until a few days ago; I found out from the mayor’s office.”

The academy and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment are hosting a dinner in New York Wednesday to “discuss the return of the Grammys” to the city in 2018, according to an invitation sent to the host committee members, the Times reported.