John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp

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John Mellencamp, Jermaine Dupri Among 2018 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Inductees

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Alan Jackson, Kool & The Gang also selected for this year's class of songwriting legends
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Feb 6, 2018 - 4:29 pm

It all starts with a song. On Feb. 6, the Songwriters Hall Of Fame announced their class of 2018, led by a five-pack of GRAMMY-winners: John Mellencamp, Jermaine Dupri, Alan Jackson, Kool And The Gang, and Allee Willis. GRAMMY nominees Bill Anderson and Steve Dorff round out this year's class.

Anthony Hamilton, Jermaine Dupri talk songwriting

"The 2018 roster of Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees is a prodigious representation of creators of cross-genre hits, certain to resonate with everyone," said SHOF co-chairs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and President/CEO Linda Moran in a joint statement. "Each year, the slate of songwriters we induct is more diverse and illustrative of the history and contributions that we strive to acknowledge and honor."

Mellencamp penned such iconic hit roots rock songs as "Jack And Diane," "Small Town," and "Hurts So Good," which earned him the GRAMMY for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for 1982 at the 25th Annual GRAMMY Awards. 

As the man behind super-hits such as the GRAMMY-winning "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey and "Burn" by Usher, Dupri's songs have been recorded by everyone from Aretha Franklin to Janet Jackson to Notorious B.I.G. His songwriting style and output have left a permanent imprint on pop, R&B, and hip-hop, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

The songwriting quartet of Robert “Kool” Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown & James “JT” Taylor, better known as Kool And The Gang, enjoyed wild success in the '70s, and earned a GRAMMY for their involvement in Saturday Night Fever – Soundtrack, which won for Album Of The Year at the 21st GRAMMY Awards.

Willis is best known for co-writing the Broadway musical "The Color Purple" as well as "I'll Be There For You," the theme song from the television show "Friends."

Jackson has written and recorded more than 20 No. 1 hits, placing him in an elite club with Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and establishing himself as one of the top country songwriters of all-time.

From his first major label cut in 1958, Bill Anderson has had the magic touch, writing hits for artists from Ray Price to Brad Paisley across several decades.

With placements including Whitney Houston, Garth Brooks, and Celine Dion, Steve Dorff enters the Hall not only on the strength of his 12 No. 1 hits and countless awards, but also for his many songs written for hit TV shows, including "As Long As We Got Each Other," the theme from the sitcom "Growing Pains."

The Songwriters Hall Of Fame's 49th Annual induction ceremony, set for June 14, will honor this accomplished group of songwriters at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Tickets are available via the organization's website.

Getting The Latest Music News Just Got Easier. Introducing: GRAMMY Bot. Find it On KIK and Facebook Messenger

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Report: Global Music Sales Climb To $19 Billion In 2018, Nearly Half From Streaming

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A 9.7 percent overall increase marks the highest annual bump in recent history and is led by notable rises in Latin America, Asia and Australia
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 3, 2019 - 4:34 pm

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released the new Global Music Report 2019, showing an overall increase in sales of 9.7 percent in 2018. This jump is the highest rate since the IFPI began tracking the market in 1997.

“Last year represented the fourth consecutive year of growth, driven by great music from incredible artists in partnership with talented, passionate people in record companies around the world," said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore. “Record companies continue their investment in artists, people and innovation both in established markets and developing regions that are increasingly benefitting from being part of today’s global music landscape."

Streaming, which we know was ruled by rap and hip-hop in 2018, accounted for 47 percent of all income, according to IFPI. This reflects a 34 percent growth from 2017, illustrating there is no slowing in streaming's proliferation among consumers. The gap continues to widen between streaming and previous format titans such as physical music, which saw a 10.1 percent decline in revenue, and digital downloads, which dropped by 21.2 percent.

The fastest growing region, according to the report, is Latin America, which saw a big pickup especially in Brazil and Mexico. Asia and Australia came in as the second largest region for combined physical and digital revenue.

The K-pop explosion was also represented in the report, with an 18 percent rise in music sales in South Korea, which can be credited to breakout years from groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK. 

IFPI's full "State Of The Industry" report can be read here.

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Music Educator Award

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Incredible Educators: 10 Finalists Announced For 2019 Music Educator Award

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Meet the nation's best music teachers in the running for The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum's ultimate educator honor
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 12, 2018 - 12:30 pm

For students of all levels, the benefits of music education are clear. But it's the teachers providing the instruction who make the most lasting impression.

Today the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum announced 10 finalists for the 2019 Music Educator Award, which recognizes current educators, kindergarten through college, who have made a significant and lasting contribution in the field of music education.

Coming from 10 cities across six, these 10 names represent the nation's elite music educators, and were selected from over 2,800 initial nominations from all 50 states.

  • Jeremy Bradstreet, Dublin Coffman High School, Dublin, Ohio
  • Victor de los Santos, Santa Ana High School, Santa Ana, Calif.
  • Elizabeth Hering, Churchill High School, Canton, Mich.
  • Henry Miller, Sierra Vista Middle School, Lake Forest, Calif.
  • Amy Rangel, Glendale High School, Burbank, Calif.
  • Jeffery Redding, West Orange High School, Orlando, Fla.
  • Scott Sheehan, Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, Hollidaysburg, Pa.
  • Mickey Smith Jr., Maplewood Middle School, Sulphur, La.
  • Craig Snyder, Penncrest High School, Garnet Valley, Pa.
  • John Weatherspoon, Lake Worth Community High School, West Palm Beach, Fla.

The award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher—students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

From these finalists, one recipient will be selected as the sixth annual honoree and be flown to Los Angles to attend the 61st GRAMMY Awards and various GRAMMY Week events. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching grants as well. The matching grants are made possibly by the generous support of the GRAMMY Museum's Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund.

Does all this make an incredible music educator come to mind? Nominations for the 2020 Music Educator Award are now open at grammymusicteacher.com

Education Champions: 2019 Music Educator Award Semifinalists Announced

Turntable playing a vinyl record
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What's The Difference? GRAMMY For Album vs. Record Of The Year Explained

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If you don't know, now you know—here's the lowdown on two of music's most well-known yet often-confused terms, especially as they pertain to the GRAMMY Awards
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 9, 2018 - 9:01 am

How many albums are in your record collection? You see, confusion between the terms "album" and "record" are nothing new, as vinyl albums and vinyl records are often called “records”—but this terminology has roots in the history of both.

In the early days of vinyl, a 45-rpm (meaning "revolutions per minute") disc would hold one recording on each side, with an "A-side” —usually the hit single—and a "B-side," meaning a second single, outtake or sleeper hit.

Later, when long-playing records came around at 33 1/3-rpm, more music could be stored on each side because the rotation speed was slower, and "tracks" were born. A series of recorded songs, or tracks, could now fit on a single vinyl and make it an album.

Makes sense? Good! Now let's see how this applies to two GRAMMY Award categories in the General Field: Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year…

Album Of The Year, Explained

Fast-forward to today, when music is enjoyed in a multitude of formats: So, what makes an album eligible for the Album Of The Year category of the GRAMMY Awards? According the Recording Academy official Awards Department guidelines, recordings must contain at least five different tracks and a total playing time of 15 minutes or a total playing time of at least 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement.

Watch: Bruno Mars Wins Album Of The Year

Voters in this category are expected to consider the quality and artistry of the collection of tracks as a whole, and this GRAMMY is awarded to any artist, featured artist, songwriter of new material, producer, recording engineer, mixer, and mastering engineer with at least 33 percent playing time of the album. For example, last year at the 60th GRAMMY Awards, Bruno Mars' 24K Magic won Album Of The Year.

Record Of The Year, Explained

On the other hand, the Record Of The Year category awards a single track and recognizes the artist’s performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s), and/or mixer(s), and mastering engineer(s). Bonus points if you read up on how this category is distinguished from Song Of The Year (hint: Song Of The Year is a Songwriter(s) Award…).

Whitney Houston Wins Record Of The Year

For example, at the 59th GRAMMY Awards, Adele's mega-hit "Hello" won Record Of The Year. Her album 25 also won Album Of The Year, but "Hello," being an individual track on that album, was eligible and victorious for Record Of The Year.

In both cases, with Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year, recordings must be released in the proper eligibility period and available to the public as stand-alone purchases or audio-only streams, although exceptions are made for opera and music video/film.

For further information on the contrast between these formats, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame is filled with both, clearly labeled. For more helpful information on the GRAMMY Awards process, including key dates, a process overview and FAQs, head over to GRAMMY101.com.

See The Full List Of Nominees For The 61st GRAMMY Awards

CDs on the shelf

Photo: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star/Getty Images

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Are CDs Really Dying? Not So Fast According To Some Reports

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With streaming and vinyl both surging, the falloff of compact discs is inevitable—but it might not be as rapid as some have predicted
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Nov 26, 2018 - 6:09 pm

Coming off a successful Black Friday edition of Record Store Day, and in the midst of a streaming explosion, music aficionados and casual fans alike might think compact discs have disappeared completely. Au contraire. While sales of the format have fallen off considerably, demand for CDs in some markets is actually exceeding supply as the industry scrambles to adjust to the changing needs of consumers.

According to a recent piece by Forbes, much of the manufacturing of CDs has moved to Mexico as major labels have divested in the format, and the output has decreased in the transition leading to longer lead times and some unanticipated shortages. Demand for CDs might surprise you. As Billboard reports, recent impressive CD Album units such as the soundtrack for A Star Is Born (111,000), Eminem's Kamikaze (68,000) and Greta Van Fleet's Anthem Of the Peaceful Army (47,000) have all sold well—or at least better than some industry experts might have guessed.

In fact, CD versions of some recent albums are selling out quickly, according to Forbes. And while the circumstances around CD manufacturing are partially responsible for this, there is still—and perhaps will always be—a niche market for the format.

But CDs still face a challenge and the numbers don't lie. The RIAA's mid-year outlook reported a 46.9 percent drop in units compared to the first six months of 2017. One glaring cause of the format's inability to compete is tied to genre. As hip-hop and R&B have recently eclipsed rock to become the most popular types of music with consumers, the major titles and artists in those genres have ignored the CD, with over half of the 25 hip-hop/R&B albums debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 still without CD versions months after their release, according to Billboard. Of course, music retailers can't sell what they can't buy.

“If we had CDs on those albums, the [format’s] sales numbers would tell a different story,” Newbury Comics head of purchasing Carl Mello tells Billboard. “When 90 percent of the most popular music [hip-hop] in America doesn't show up on CD, of course sales will be down. Duh.”

Pop artists such as Adele and Taylor Swift continue to sell CDs, with the latter's latest album Reputation moving a total of 1.16 million copies as of two months ago, and Neilson Music sales numbers actually paints a more favorable picture for the format's decline. But with major retailers like Best Buy throwing in the towel on CDs this past July, it is unclear how much longer any artist will be able to break one million in CD sales.

The good news for CD lovers? Billboard also reports about 1,800 independent record stores carrying CDs, catering to the niche market for the format, with rock as the strongest genre. While compact discs may never enjoy the resurgence of vinyl, or even that of the cassette, the latest word from the shelves is they are not dead yet.

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