How Grammy voting works: Everything you need to know

NEW YORK -- The Recording Academy volition denote the 2026 Grammy Award nominees connected Friday. It’s arsenic bully a crushed arsenic immoderate to instrumentality a bushed and analyse however the instauration makes it decisions. Who selects the nominees? Who votes? Can anyone nominate immoderate recorded merchandise for a Grammy?

We’ve got you covered. Read connected to get a clang people connected however Grammy voting works.

Members of the Recording Academy and grounds labels taxable artists successful definite categories, which are past vetted for eligibility. Currently, determination are 95 Grammy Award categories.

After submissions person been screened, voting members assistance find who the last nominations volition beryllium — typically successful the autumn — utilizing a rank dashboard. They tin lone ballot for euphony that has been submitted and vetted.

Once the nominees are determined and announced successful November, a play of last circular voting takes place. This cycle, that runs from Dec. 12 done Jan. 5.

Winners are announced unrecorded astatine the grant amusement successful February.

And don’t get it twisted — voting members bash not ballot successful each 95 categories. They’re permitted to ballot successful up to 10 categories crossed 3 genre fields, arsenic good arsenic the six wide tract categories, which see record, album, song, producer, non-classical and songwriter, non-classical of the year, and champion caller artist. That allows experts to absorption connected their expertise.

There are 3 types of Recording Academy memberships: Grammy U, nonrecreational and voting memberships. The second includes performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists and beyond. Those are the members who find Grammy winners each year.

Voting members person to supply a proof of a superior career successful music, 2 recommendations and definite verifiable credits.

But determination are a fewer ways astir immoderate of those requirements: If you are a existent year’s Grammy victor oregon nominee, you bash not request to supply a proposal from idiosyncratic successful the industry. If you’ve been nominated for a Grammy successful the past 5 years, you bash not request to supply impervious of your credits.

Entries indispensable adhere to the circumstantial qualifications of the categories they are submitted into. Rules and guidelines tin beryllium recovered astatine Grammy.com.

There are besides predominant changes made to categories and fields. In 2026, there person been a few: champion state medium has been divided into champion modern state medium and champion accepted state album. The champion signaling bundle and the champion boxed oregon peculiar constricted variation bundle categories person besides been combined into the champion signaling bundle category, with champion medium screen spun retired connected its own.

Most importantly: Recordings and euphony videos indispensable besides beryllium submitted wrong the Grammy eligibility window, which for the 2026 grant amusement means enactment released betwixt Aug. 31, 2024 – Aug. 30, 2025.

The class of new creator is perpetually evolving, trying to seizure the zeitgeist each twelvemonth arsenic the process of categorizing fame gets much complicated. The Grammy rules presently accidental nominations hinge connected whether “the creator had attained a breakthrough oregon prominence” — and it delegates that determination to a screening committee. Eligible artists indispensable person released astatine slightest 5 singles oregon 1 album, but determination is nary longer a maximum. That’s wherefore idiosyncratic like, say, Sabrina Carpenter — who broke retired successful the summertime of “Espresso” — recovered herself up for the champion caller creator trophy successful 2025 contempt being connected her sixth full-length release.

And this year, the class has besides been expanded to see acts who were featured connected erstwhile medium of the twelvemonth nominees, truthful agelong arsenic they autumn beneath 20% of the album’s music.

The Grammys volition beryllium held Feb. 1 astatine Crypto.com Arena successful Los Angeles, with nominations announced connected Friday. It volition beryllium broadcast unrecorded connected CBS and tin beryllium streamed connected request via Paramount+.