The Economics of the Grammys, Explained
The Grammy Awards — billed as "Music's Biggest Night" — gets underway Sunday afternoon, when dozens of excited winners will step up to the podium to collect their prizes. Later, lots of big names are scheduled to appear on a glitzy live telecast. But what do the Grammys actuall mean to nominees and winners, moneywise?
The frontrunner in the Grammy race this year is Beyoncé. She's up for nine awards, including three of the night's most vaunted honors: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. If she wins four Grammys this year, she would walk away with more awards than anyone since this honor was founded 65 years ago. (The current record holder is the late classical conductor Georg Solti, who won 31 trophies.)
Having said that: Beyoncé is in a realm of her own — it doesn't seem likely that any more or fewer Grammys are going to move the needle for her, in terms of income. (Bragging rights, sure.) As it stands, she's already the female artist with the most Grammys in history. She just announced an upcoming tour that is already selling out instantaneously as tickets are released. Last month, she did a one-hour private show in Dubai for which she was reportedly paid $24 million.
For artists and industry workers who are not quite in that stratosphere, however, winning a Grammy can still matter both in terms of enhancing reputations and lining bank accounts.
The number of Grammy Awards fluctuates pretty regularly. New categories are introduced; less popular categories get streamlined and sometimes phased out. This year, the Recording Academy, which is the non-profit organization behind the Grammys, is giving out awards in 91 categories. Many of the nominees work in niche genres and areas of the business, from blues to reggae to writing the best liner notes.
For those folks, having that Grammy seal of approval continues to be a door opener. It can attract new audiences and generate future gigs; streaming and sales go up. Artists sign new recording deals or partnerships with more influential managers. The "Grammy bump" is real.
Take, as one example, Megan Thee Stallion. In 2019, her career was still percolating. She had her first major hit that year with "Hot Girl Summer;" later in the year, when she stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk concert, it was the very first time she had ever worked with a live band in public.
There's a case to be made that her career, which was already on the rise, really took off after she won Best New Artist at the 2021 Grammy Awards. She was the first female hip-hop artist to win that prize in more than two decades; no one had managed it since Lauryn Hill did in 1999.
Hip-hop fans knew Megan already, but her Grammy wins, which also included
Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song that year, meant that she was suddenly on a wider radar. By the end of the night of the Grammys telecast, her digital album sales were up 178% over the day before, per Billboard. By the end of that year, she had signed a first-look production deal with Netflix.
Last year, lots of folks were shocked when bandleader and composer Jon Batiste took home Album of the Year, the biggest prize of the night, along with four other awards. Many longtime Grammy watchers have said that his win was unsurprising because his album We Are hit a lot of sweet spots for the traditional Grammy voters. Even so, his work was new to many music fans. According to Billboard, his album sales skyrocketed more than 2,700% immediately following his Grammy wins.
Historically, there have been cases where a Grammy win did not help an artist at all. There's an old joke that the Best New Artist award is actually a curse — and that trop dates back way before Milli Vanilli won in 1990 and then were exposed as fakes. With the long-term successes of more recent winners like Adele, Chance the Rapper and Billie Eilish as well as Megan Thee Stallion, maybe that era is behind us.
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Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Let's talk about music's biggest night, the Grammy Awards. The 2023 awards have actually already started in Los Angeles. Dozens of winners have already collected their prizes. And, of course, lots of big names are scheduled to appear on the glitzy live telecast tonight. Now, if you follow these things, you know that in recent years, some critics and some performers have been giving side eye to the Grammys, saying their awards don't really reflect the best and freshest work. Some argue that the idea of judging art in this way is just wrong on its face. But we're asking a different question. We're asking if the Grammys still mean something to the nominees and winners, especially moneywise. Joining us to talk about this is NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas. Anastasia, welcome. Thanks for joining us.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Thanks for letting me be here.
MARTIN: So, first of all, the frontrunner in the Grammy race this year is Beyonce. She's up for nine awards, including record, song and album of the year.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALIEN SUPERSTAR")
BEYONCE: (Singing) I'm No. 1. I'm the only one. Don't even waste your time trying to compete with me.
MARTIN: Tonight, if she wins just four of those, she could potentially walk away with more Grammy Awards than anyone in history, right? But even if she pulls that off, Beyonce is already - Anastasia, how can we put this? - in the stratosphere...
TSIOULCAS: She is, definitely. That's fair.
MARTIN: ...Of fame and wealth. So if she wins, do those Grammys make any difference to her bottom line?
TSIOULCAS: I would say, Michel, this is really about bragging rights. She's already the female artist with the most Grammys in history. She just announced this upcoming tour that's already selling out instantaneously. Last month, she did a one-hour private show in Dubai, for which she was reportedly paid $24 million. So I'm really not convinced that a few more or fewer awards are really going to do anything for her bottom line.
MARTIN: There's Beyonce and then there's not Beyonce (laughter). OK? So let's...
TSIOULCAS: (Laughter) That's a fair distinction.
MARTIN: Exactly. So let's go to the not-Beyonce side of the ledger. Do the Grammys still mean something to artists who have not already gotten to that level?
TSIOULCAS: First of all, the number of Grammys that are given out every year fluctuates pretty tremendously and regularly. New categories get introduced; old ones get phased out or streamlined. The Recording Academy, which is this nonprofit that gives out the awards, they're giving out awards this year in 91 categories. And that means there are a lot of people who really see this still as a standard-bearer. And a lot of those people work in niche genres, everything from blues to reggae to writing the best liner notes. And for those folks, having that Grammy seal of approval is truly still a door-opener. It means they can attract new audiences. They can generate future gigs. Their streaming and sales go up. And so for those folks, the Grammy bump is real.
MARTIN: Can you just tell me a little bit more about what that is? What's the Grammy bump?
TSIOULCAS: Let's look at Megan Thee Stallion, for instance.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAVAGE")
MEGAN THEE STALLION: (Rapping) I'm a savage - classy, bougie, ratchet.
TSIOULCAS: In 2019, her career was percolating for sure. She had her first big hit that year with "Hot Girl Summer." Towards the very end of the year, she came and did a Tiny Desk concert. And I would say there's a case to be made that her career really took off, both in terms of mainstream attention and in terms of financial possibilities, after she won best new artist at the Grammy Awards in 2021. And by the night of the Grammy telecast that year, her digital sales had zoomed up over 178%. And by the end of that year, she had signed a first-look production deal with Netflix.
MARTIN: Now, OK, I'm thinking about last year. Lots of folks were surprised when the bandleader and composer Jon Batiste took home album of the year.
TSIOULCAS: That's right. He won five Grammys last year, including album of the year, which is the biggest prize of the night for his album "We Are."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREEDOM")
JON BATISTE: (Singing) Freedom. I hear a song that takes me back, and I let go with so much freedom.
TSIOULCAS: And many longtime Grammy-watchers would say that his win, though it was surprising in several ways for the so-called traditional Grammy voters who skew older and love old-sounding music, maybe not so surprising. And it hit a lot of sweet spots for that voting group. But his music, more importantly, was brand new to many music fans who were watching the telecast. According to Billboard, his album sales skyrocketed more than 2,700% immediately following those Grammy wins.
MARTIN: Is there a case, though - can you think of an example where a Grammy win did not help an artist at all?
TSIOULCAS: There is an old joke that best new artist is actually a curse and that (inaudible) way back before Milli Vanilli, you may recall, won in 1990. But honestly, with more recent winners in that category, like Adele, Chance the Rapper, Billie Eilish, maybe that era's behind us. Maybe we can talk about a real Grammy bump for all kinds of winners.
MARTIN: All right. You've convinced me. That was NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas. Anastasia, thanks so much.
TSIOULCAS: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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