Latin Grammys to add three new categories, shifting to online submissions

The Latin Recording Academy is set to add three new categories ahead of its 21st Grammy Awards later this year, according to a news article on the Grammy Awards website, April 2.

Through official letters, the Latin Academy has already informed its member artists and record label about the now-online entry process starting in April. Two of the new categories, "Best Reggaeton Performance" and "Best Rap/ Hip Hop Song" are under the Academy's Urban field, under the definition and decision of the Urban committee. Awards for the "Best Rap/ Hip Hop Song" includes hip-hop, rap, and trap will be given to the songwriter. According to a Billboard report, instrumental recordings, cover songs, and sampling other songs will not be eligible.

This move by the Latin Academy is a response to rising concerns from urban artists last year regarding the supposed lack of representation for reggaeton and urban music in the prestigious award.

Under the Rock field, artists and record companies can now submit nominations for the Best Pop/ Rock Song Category. According to the same Billboard column, the third award is for "songs that fit in the pop mainstream but have a rock twist." As with the urban field restrictions, instrumental recordings are also not eligible although the Academy has yet to release an official statement.

Starting with the 21st Latin Grammy Awards, the Academy will be moving towards nomination submissions through streaming links instead of submitting physical copies. Streaming services included are Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, Tidal, and Spotify.

They also explained that the Latin Recording Academy has sent the information directly to artists and record labels because of the "current sensitive atmosphere" created by the coronavirus outbreak.

Prior to the addition of these new categories, reggaeton and trap artists are nominated under any of the Urban fields: "Best Urban Fusion/ Performance", "Best Urban Song", and "Best Urban Music Album."

Latin Grammy awardee J Balvin is among those who have recognized and championed for reggaeton as a distinct genre. In his acceptance speech for his "Best Urban Music Album" in 2018, the Colombian rapper said, "Let's not kill the dreams of the new producers that are coming up, the new songwriters that are coming up." He also called for the recognition of young artists because he believes they are the future of music.

The Latin Grammy Awards are awarded to eligible entries, the first criteria being that the entries are recorded in either Spanish or Portuguese. However, it is not limited only to the two languages as entries recorded from certain regional languages are still considered, including music from hispanophonic or lusophonic territories like Catalan, Basque, Nahuatl, Quechua, and Mayan.

This music event is also noted as the first primetime program in the US which was primarily Spanish in language. The first Latin Grammys was held in September 2000 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles. Most of the awards and categories are similar to the American music awards, including the general field recognitions "Record of the Year," "Best New Artist," "Song of the Year," and "Album of the Year."