Sure, the Grammy Awards seem simple. Your favorite artists win some hardware for their best bops, and everyone wears sparkly outfits on the red carpet. But if you actually pay attention to the Recording Academy's coveted categories, you’ll probably realize that it’s a little more complicated than it seems at face value.
There are three separate awards for the Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year, and TBH, it’s all kinds of confusing. Here is what those award categories actually mean.
Song of the Year
This is the most deceptively obvious award. It sounds like it just goes to the best jam of the year, but it’s slightly more complex than that. Song of the Year is actually a songwriter award for the single or track that was released during the eligibility period, which for the 68th Grammy Awards is August 31, 2024, to August 30, 2025. This year’s nominees include:
- “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga
- “APT.” by Rosé & Bruno Mars
- “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters
- “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter
- “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish
- “luther” by Kendrick Lamar with SZA
- “DtMF” by Bad Bunny
- “Anxiety” by Doechii
Record of the Year
At the Grammys, a record is not a vinyl you bought at Urban Outfitters and have yet to actually play. Here, “record” means a single track. This award honors the artist for their performance and the work of the producers, recording engineers, mastering engineers, and mixers. These are the records nominated this year:
- “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga
- “APT.” by Rosé & Bruno Mars
- “The Subway” by Chappell Roan
- “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter
- “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish
- “luther” by Kendrick Lamar with SZA
- “DtMF” by Bad Bunny
- “Anxiety” by Doechii
Album of the Year
Album of the Year is the award for a whole-ass album. To be eligible, it has to have at least five new full songs and be 15 minutes long or be 30 minutes long, with as many damn tracks as it wants. The award goes to artist as well as any featured artists, songwriters, producers, engineers, and mixers. Here are the albums in the running:
- DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS by Bad Bunny
- SWAG by Justin Bieber
- Man’s Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter
- Let God Sort Em Out by Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
- MAYHEM by Lady Gaga
- GNX by Kendrick Lamar
- MUTT by Leon Thomas
- Chromakopia by Tyler, the Creator
To sum it all up...
Song of the Year is for the writing of a single track. Record of the Year is for the performance and production of a single track. Album of the Year is for a full album. The end!
