Grammy Awards, Songwriting, and Samples

The Grammy Awards always takes its time when coming out with new rules for their awards, so this latest announcement is even more significant.

Effective for the 2015 Grammy Awards, in all songwriting categories including Best New Song, songs that use samples will be allowed.

Let me break this down - when a song, in its recorded state, utilizes the previous recording of ANOTHER song to make up its own essence, the person who sampled that previous song can now be recognized with an award for "songwriting" that new composition.

Now some may argue that many songs simply use samples in small ways to spice up a track, or salute a previous influence, or give a cultural "shout-out". But this is certainly the beginning of the slippery artistic slope.

There is no distinction in what percentage of a song now needs to be "original" or "sampled ". A track entirely made up of samples COULD now win one of these coveted awards. Will it? Doubtful, but at least now, that door has been opened.

If the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (of which my father was a proud member, and to which, throughout my childhood, I was able to vote on all the Rock N Roll categories due to his lack of knowledge and interest in those genres...) wanted to acknowlege the artistic contribution of the producer/songwriter and their clever insertion of samples, they could create a new award for it.

There is something unseemly about rewarding a group of "songwriters" who has not entirely written the whole song themselves. This is our Shake Rattle & Roll editorial for the week...You may now return to your requests for ICE ICE BABY.

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