Grammy Submissions

The lists of what albums and tracks were submitted for contention for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards leaked late Friday night. Due to my expectation this would happen (and careful monitoring), I have reviewed the lists! (Last year I didn't get to).

If you're going to make a credible prediction of what's going to be nominated, you really need to review these lists, since nomination is predicated on submission and there are lots of particulars about how it works. Artists can have multiple submissions in a particular category, but can only receive 1 nomination, so generally submitting more than 1 thing is a bad idea, since it can split votes. Consequently, it's good to know things like how last year Taylor Swift submitted "You Belong to Me" for Record of the Year over "Love Story," so no point predicting "Love Story" would be nominated, or how in 2007 Kanye West's "Stronger" wasn't submitted (a major oversight).

Also, it's up to the record companies to decide what categories to submit music to, and they can only submit something twice--once in a genre category and once in a general category (Record or Album of the Year). In today's pop landscape, knowing what genre a particular song has been submitted to is critical, since so many songs could go pop, dance, or R&B.

This year's eligibility window was a long one--13 months from September 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010.

Later in the year I'll make my nomination predictions, but for now, I want to go through the submission lists and highlight frontrunners, interesting submissions, and even some omissions.