Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Dec. 26, 2017, and was updated on Oct. 28, 2025 to add updated information about the GRAMMY Awards process.

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?

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 each Category, who it includes, and some examples.

Record Of The Year, Explained

Recordings entered for consideration in this Category should represent the best overall achievement. The elements to be considered are the performance, production and engineering; secondary elements for consideration are songwriting/composition, arranging and performance of the backup vocalists and musicians, as applicable.

The Record Of The Year GRAMMY goes to the Artist(s), Producer(s), Engineer(s), Mixer(s), and Mastering Engineer(s) involved in crafting the specific recording (hence "record") of a song.

For example, the Record Of The Year winner at the 2015 GRAMMYS 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.

Song Of The Year, Explained

Songs entered for consideration in this Category should represent the best achievement in songwriting. For that reason, Song Of The Year is referred to as a Songwriter's award (hence "song"), one of several across the 95 GRAMMY Categories that recognize the Songwriter.

For example, at the 2002 GRAMMYS, the winner of Song Of The Year was "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys. As the sole writer of the song, Keys received the GRAMMY.

A song must comprise music and lyrics to be eligible in a songwriting Category (per Recording Academy guidelines, melody qualifies as "music" in "music and lyrics") and must have been released on a recording for the first time, or achieved prominence for the first time, during the current eligibility period.

Songs that contain samples or interpolations are eligible. However, the Song Of The Year award goes to the Songwriter(s) of new material (not including sampled or interpolated material) of a song.

For example, at the 2024 GRAMMYS, Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" was nominated for Song Of The Year, with its Songwriters, Shaboozey (Collins Chibueze), Sean Cook and Nevin Sastry, receiving nominations. While the song interpolates J-Kwon's "Tipsy" — which was co-written by J-Kwon (Jerrell Jones), Joe Kent and Mark Williams — those Songwriters did not receive a nomination.

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.

Songs have often been nominated in both Categories, like in the case of the 2017 GRAMMYS, where Adele's "Hello" won both Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. The Record Of The Year GRAMMY went to Adele as the Artist as well as Producer Greg Kurstin and the eight Engineers who worked on the record, whereas the GRAMMY for Song Of The Year only went to the Songwriters, Adele and Kurstin.

The nominations for the 2026 GRAMMYS will be announced on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, via a livestream event starting at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET. Be sure to tune in on live.GRAMMY.com or YouTube to see who will be nominated for Record Of The Year and/or Song Of The Year!

For more information about the 2026 GRAMMYS season, learn more about the annual GRAMMY Awards process; read our First Round Voting guide for the 2026 GRAMMYS; read our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section; view the official GRAMMY Awards Rules and Guidelines; and visit the GRAMMY Award Update Center for a list of real-time changes to the GRAMMY Awards process.