Florence Welch

Florence Welch

Photo: David M. Benett/Getty Images

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Florence Welch Hosts 40th Anniversary Of David Bowie's "Heroes"

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Florence + The Machine frontwoman hosts the BBC audio documentary featuring Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Tony Visconti
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Oct 10, 2017 - 1:08 pm

The late David Bowie left a lifetime of incredible music behind him when he passed in January 2016. Just one of his timeless contributions to music was 1977's Heroes album, released 40 years ago.

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In celebration of the 40th Anniversary, Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine hosted a BBC audio documentary that dives into the album's creation and influence. The piece features interviews with Bowie himself, as well as Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Tony Visconti, who produced Heroes.

The audio documentary, "David Bowie's 'Heroes' 40th Anniversary" can be streamed on BBC.

Read More: 2017 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame: David Bowie, Billie Holiday, N.W.A.

New Year's 2018
Poll

What's Your New Year's Music Resolution?

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The New Year means a new you — how will you let music deeper into your life in 2018?
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jan 1, 2018 - 12:05 am

Each new year, millions of people make resolutions to be their best selves, put their past bad habits behind them and improve their lives. But why not make your resolution a musical one?

When the holiday parties are over, the confetti is swept up, and school and work resume, it's time to get back to work and make the most of 2018. The good news? Music can help!

From mastering an instrument to learning more about the craft and history of music, to supporting musicians through live shows, we want to know: What's your New Year's music resolution for 2018?

Polls

What's your New Year's music resolution for 2018?

Adele holding GRAMMY Awards

Adele

Photo: Robyn Beck/Getty Images

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What's The Difference? GRAMMY Record Of The Year Vs. Song Of The Year

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Ever wondered what distinguishes these two GRAMMY categories? Find out once and for all here
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 26, 2017 - 10:41 am

Since the dawn of time, or at least since the 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards, casual music fans and uninitiated industry professionals alike have seemingly pondered the same GRAMMY question: What is the difference between Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year categories?

Adele wins Record Of The Year GRAMMY

If you've wondered this yourself, fear not, for you have arrived at the answer.

Simply put, Record Of The Year deals with a specific recording of a song and recognizes the artists, producers and engineers who contribute to that recording, while Song Of The Year deals with the composition of a song and recognizes the songwriters who wrote the song. That's it in a nutshell!

To dig a little deeper, let's look at the definition of each category, who it includes, and some recent examples.

Record Of The Year, Explained

The Record Of The Year GRAMMY goes to the artist(s), producer(s), and engineer(s) involved in crafting the specific recording (hence "record") of a song. For example, the winner at the 57th GRAMMY Awards for Record Of The Year was "Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" by Sam Smith. As the primary artist, Sam Smith received a GRAMMY, as did the three producers (including Rodney Jerkins a.k.a. "Darkchild) and the four engineers who worked on the recording, including those properly credited for recording, mixing, and mastering the record.

Sam Smith Wins Record Of The Year

Song Of The Year, Explained

The Song Of The Year award, on the other hand, goes to the songwriter(s) (hence "song) of new material (not including sampled or interpolated material) of a song. For example, at the 44th GRAMMY Awards, the winner of Song Of The Year was "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys, and as the sole writer of the song, Keys received the GRAMMY. For this reason, Song Of The Year is referred to as a songwriter's award, one of several across the 84 categories that recognize the songwriter.

"Fallin'" Wins Song Of The Year

Does that clear things up a bit? Hopefully, it does.

The Recording Academy strives to award excellence in many facets of the music creation process, thus necessitating the distinction between the year's best recording and its best song composition.

For bonus points, let's look at one more example from the 59th GRAMMY Awards. The GRAMMY for Record Of The Year went to "Hello" by Adele, earning GRAMMY gold for Adele as the artist as well as producer Greg Kurstin and the eight engineers who worked on the record. The GRAMMY for Song Of The Year also went to "Hello" — however, only the songwriters, Adele and Greg Kurstin, received the Song Of The Year GRAMMY.

So now, when you're watching the 60th GRAMMY Awards live on CBS Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, you'll be able to dazzle your friends with your insider knowledge. For a rundown of this year's nominees in both of these major categories, check out our Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year roundups.

Songwriting

Songwriting

Photo: Guitar Magazine/Getty Images

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Songwriting Prompts: Help Yourself Write Better And Faster

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While there's no substitute for pure inspiration, prompts can help sharpen your songwriting skills so you're ready when it strikes
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Nov 3, 2017 - 6:33 pm

The phenomenon of songwriting has been called many things: a miracle, a muscle, a mystery, a calling, a challenge, and even a science. While honing your command of the craft is a lifelong pursuit, there are some exercises that can advance you down the path toward being as ready as possible when inspirations strikes.

One tack toward improvement is the use of songwriting prompts, as Nashville, Tenn.-based songwriter Sarah Spencer points out in her recent SongFancy blog post. The process involves taking a topic, concept or phrase and building a song around it. Many songwriters rely on this approach to force themselves out of a creative rut, try something new or even (gulp) write for fun.

Contrived as it may seem to contaminate pure inspiration with a forced prompt, Spencer points out the many benefits of the process, focusing on the departure it provides from your rote habits and patterns.

"When you've been writing for a while, you'll find yourself using some of the same old words or techniques over and over again," Spencer says. "You'll have a collection of go-to metaphors, phrases you use when it's convenient, etc. … When you write from a songwriting prompt, it encourages new ways of thinking and gets you out of old habits and overused material."

Additionally, songwriting prompts can help you write quicker and be more prepared for the dynamic and often demanding situation of co-writing. By providing some distance between the writer and the material, creative decisions can — and often have to — be made using a cool combination of gut, poise and wit.

Joining a songwriting group that meets regularly with new prompts each time can springboard your creative output, build your confidence and even surprise yourself. Spencer even hosts a "5 in 5 Song Challenge," giving songwriters everywhere a chance to jump into the world of songwriting prompts head first.

In a perfect world, songwriters can allow the natural forces and instincts that visit them to shape their creative output, as this is where much of the magic truly comes from for the greatest artists of our time. But for the working songwriter focused on building their command of the craft and broadening their arsenal of techniques, the effort of writing to prompts can pay back in spades.

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Bandcamp

Bandcamp

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Bandcamp Introduces App Empowering Artists, Labels

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New app helps artists and labels manage and fulfill merch orders, allows for direct message with fans and tracks stats in real-time
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Nov 1, 2017 - 1:02 pm

Bandcamp has emerged as the distribution platform of choice for many DIY artist in recent years based on its simplicity, flexibility and transparency. Now, artists and labels using Bandcamp to promote and sell music and merch now have their own app.

The new Bandcamp App for Artists and Labels provides a real-time mobile view of stats, plus easy ways to manage and fulfill merch orders, as well as direct and targeted message functionality for more dynamic communication with fans. The app messaging capabilities allow artists and labels to message fans not only through the app, but also via traditional email.

"Now, fans can of course opt out of that and just get your messages in the app if they prefer," explains Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond. "But the default here is that if you send a message, we're going to do our best to make sure your fans actually get it."

The Bandcamp App for Artist and Labels is available now for iOS and Android.

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