63rd GRAMMY Awards Rules & Guidelines

THESE ARE THE OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE GRAMMY AWARDS.

All GRAMMY Awards ballots are cast by Recording Academy Voting Members and are subject to classification and qualifications under rules or regulations approved by the Board of Trustees. From time to time, the Board may vote to amend the qualification criteria for consideration for a GRAMMY Award or other award.

GRAMMY AWARDS YEAR CALENDAR

GRAMMY AWARDS YEAR CALENDAR
2019 — 2020
Sept.1, 2019 – Aug. 31, 2020	Release Eligibility Period
March 1, 2020, 11:59 PM (PT)	Deadline to apply for membership for 63rd GRAMMY Awards. Fees must be paid in order to qualify for voting.
June 1, 2020, 9:00 AM (PT)	Media Company Registration begins
July 24, 2020, 6:00 PM (PT)	Media Company Registration ends
June 22, 2020, 9:00 AM (PT)	First-round Online Entry Process (OEP) Access Period begins
July 6, 2020, 6:00 PM (PT)	First-round Online Entry Process (OEP) Access Period ends
July 15, 2020, 9:00 AM (PT)	Final-round Online Entry Process (OEP) Access Period begins
Aug. 3, 2020, 6:00 PM (PT)	Final-round Online Entry Process (OEP) Access Period ends
TBD	Nominations announced
14 days after the announcement of nominations	Deadline for errors and omissions to the nominations

2021
Jan. 26, 2021	Deadline for 62nd GRAMMY credit correction
Jan. 31, 2021	63rd Premiere Ceremony
Jan. 31, 2021	63rd GRAMMY Awards

RULE UPDATES FOR 63RD GRAMMY AWARDS

The Board of Trustees ratifies all changes to the GRAMMY process each spring. The following chart shows the rule changes for the current year.

GENERAL & GENRE FIELD
Field	Category	62nd GRAMMY Rule	63rd GRAMMY Rule
R&B Field	Best Urban Contemporary Album	Best Urban Contemporary Album	New Category Name: Best Progressive R&B Album
Rap Field	Best Rap/Sung Performance	Best Rap/Sung Performance	New Category Name: Best Melodic Rap Performance
Latin Field	Latin Pop Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative	Latin Pop Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative	Latin Urban music will now compete with Latin Pop, rather than Latin Rock Two New Category Names: Best Latin Pop Or Urban Album Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album
Musical Theater Field	Musical Theater Album	Album Producer(s) and Principal Vocalist(s) with significant contributing performance. The Lyricist(s) and Composer(s) of at least 51% of the new score are eligible for an award if they have written and/or composed a new score that comprises 51% or more playing time of the album.	Added: Award to as many as four (4) Principal Vocalist(s) -OR- Winners Certificates to all vocalists on the recording of an “ensemble-driven” piece
General Field	Best New Artist	- Minimum releases to meet eligibility: five singles/tracks or one album - Maximum releases prior to the current eligibility year: 30 singles/tracks or three albums	Changed: - No specified maximum number of releases. Screening committees will determine whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year.

NOMINATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE
	62nd GRAMMY Rule	63rd GRAMMY Rule
Term Limits	- Five years on/one year off for committee members - Five years on/two years off for Chairpersons - Maximum combined eight consecutive years	- Three years on/one year off for committee members - Three years on/two years off for Chairpersons - Maximum combined five consecutive years
Nominations Review Committee Conflict of Interest	Committee members must disclose conflicts and leave the room and not vote in respective categories.	People with actual or perceived conflicts of interest regarding recordings under consideration may not participate on the committees.
National NRC Co-chairs	The President/CEO and the Chair of the Board are mandated to Co- chair the committee.	The mandate is removed.

MISCELLANEOUS
	62nd GRAMMY Rule	63rd GRAMMY Rule
A&N Proposals	Rejected Awards & Nominations Committee Proposals will not be considered again in the next consecutive year.	Added: Exception: Proposals viewed in a different light due to changes in industry or technology may be considered in consecutive years.
Best Engineered Album Categories	The original digital file and the product sent to the Academy must have quality comparable to at least 16 bit 44.1 kHz.	Higher Resolution Audio is accepted in submissions.