Grammy Awards Just about everyone has something that comes to mind when they hear the words ‘the Grammy’s’- whether that something is a star-studded audience, their favourite songs and artists, or a critique of the elitism found within the music industry.
Here are some of the statistics and facts that came to our mind when reflecting on the Grammys over the past two years.
- 8.9 million people watched the Grammys in 2022.
- Jon Batiste received the most nominations in 2022, landing 11 nominations.
- 12,4 million people watched the Grammys in 2023.
- 14,2% of artists nominated in 2022 were women, compared to 85,5% of men.
- The Grammys received 1.8 million Twitter mentions during its broadcast in 2023.
- Beyonce broke the record for most Grammys in 2023, totalling 32 awards.
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2022 Grammy Viewership and Highlights
The 64th Grammy Awards was broadcast live on TV in the U.S. on the 3rd of April, 2022, after its original date in January had been moved due to concerns over the spread of Covid-19.
This was the first proper year back for the Grammys after it went a little smaller than usual in 2021 due to Covid-19. One would think that the anticipation for this revered event would lead to more viewers than ever before- but such was not the case.
8.9 million people watched the show in 2022, compared to 18, 7 million people in 2020. This number is on trend for the event, which has seen viewership more than halving in recent years.
For those that were watching the event in 2022, they would have seen some of these notable moments:
- Jon Batiste received the prestigious Album of the Year award for ‘We Are’, along with five other awards. This was the first time that a black artist received the Album of the Year award since 2008.
- Batiste received the most nominations, reaching 11 in total. Only two other artists have exceeded this number- Michael Jackson in 1984 and Babyface in 1997.
- Olivia Rodrigo received a Grammy for Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the audience and was proceeded by performances from Ukrainian artists.
- Silk Sonic won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for ‘Leave the Door Open’.
- 2022 was the first time that the event was not held in New York or Los Angeles since 1973, and was rather held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
- ABBA received their first-ever Grammy nomination, five decades after they had released their first album.
Although a celebration of music, the event was criticised for paying some musicians more mind by underrepresenting both the hip-hop genre and women.
There were only three rap acts to perform during the three-and-a-half-hour show, which stands at odds with the prevalence of hip-hop within the music landscape. 14,2% of artists nominated were women, compared to 85,5% of men. This percentage is the lowest that it has been for women since 2019 but is on trend with the pattern of unequal representation for the genders at the event.
Advertising At The Grammy’s
While representation and viewership of the Grammy’s may be low, advertising revenue around the event has actually been increasing and reached a record of $110 million in 2020.
The leading categories of advertising during the Grammy awards in 2022 included the following:
- Media entertainment advertising went up from 10% in 2021 to 17% in 2022.
- Pharmaceutical advertising went up from 9% in 2021 to 12% in 2022
- Finance advertising went down from 11% in 2021 to 10% in 2022.
- Technology advertising went down from 10% in 2021 to 8% in 2022.
- Retail advertising went up from 3% in 2021 to 8% in 2022.
Changes In The Academy
The academy made several changes to different Grammy categories and rules in 2022. Some of these changes included the following:
- The number of nominees for each category increased from eight to 10 in the General Field.
- Two new categories were added, bringing the total categories to 86. These were the Best Global Music Performance and Best Musica Urbana Album.
- For Album of the Year, everyone featured on the album (songwriters, recording engineers, mixers, and artists) had to be nominated as recipients of the award.
- One more Technical Grammy Award was added.
- The Recording Company eliminated nomination review committees in 2022, which had previously been responsible for determining the nominees. Following the change, nominees were decided based on votes from the Recording Academy.
2023 Grammy Viewership And Mentions
2023 saw a drastic increase (33%) in Grammy viewership from 2022- with numbers at 12, 4 million when it was broadcast on the 5th of February- making it the largest audience since 2020.
But this number still fails to meet pre-Covid levels.
One reason that is suspected to be behind this trend is that people can find almost anything out online these days. Instead of having to sit through the gruelling three-and-a-half-hour event that is the Grammys, they can quickly browse Twitter for the winners.
In 2023, this was seen to be true. The Grammy’s came in as the top social entertainment event for 2023 so far and received 1.8 million mentions on Twitter during its broadcast.
The most mentioned award categories on Twitter included:
- Song of the Year: 88, 390 mentions.
- Album of the Year: 81, 250 mentions.
- Best Music Video: 69, 290 mentions.
- Record of the Year: 65, 801 mentions.
Artists who received the most mentions included:
- Lizzo: 82, 310 (She accounted for 29% of the celebrity-focused conversation on Twitter).
- Bad Bunny: 66, 670
- Sam Smith & Kim Petras: 53, 160
- DJ Khaled: 19, 040
- Quavo & Maverick City Music: 15, 630
- Mick Fleetwood, Sheryl Crow & Bonnie Rait: 13, 510
2023 Grammy Winners And Highlights
A lot was taking place on Twitter during the 2023 Grammys, but even more was taking place on screen:
The Grammy’s celebrated 50 years of hip-hop. Artists from across hip-hop subgenres and generations joined in on a medley. The medley was curated by Questlove (also a Grammy winner).
Viola Davis earned EGOT status (receiving an Oscar, Emmy, two Tonys, and a Grammy) for the audiobook version of her memoir “Finding Me”.
Beyonce took home the most Grammy Awards ever- with 32 awards in total.
Kim Petras was the first transgender woman who won the Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance category for “Unholy”.
Harry Styles won album of the year for ‘Harry’s House’.
The Show Must Go On
Although some of the statistics for the 2022 and 2023 Grammy’s paint a dismal picture when it comes to trends in viewership and representation, the event remains one that millions of people all over the world are interested in.
The show will go on for the Grammy’s in 2024, and the Recording Academy will show appreciation for the world’s finest artists and performers once more.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/topics/1565/grammy-awards/
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60864628
https://www.statista.com/statistics/801372/gender-grammy-nominees/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/466534/grammy-awards-number-viewers/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/grammys-rebound-covid-years-reach-124-million-viewers-96933793
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1301233/grammy-awards-tv-ad-categories-spend-share/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64th_Annual_Grammy_Awards
https://www.gq.com/story/grammys-2022-review-jon-batiste-silk-sonic-lil-nas-x-louis-ck
https://nypost.com/2023/02/06/grammys-2023-ratings-are-in-and-they-broke-a-3-year-record/
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/live-blog/grammys-2023-live-updates-rcna68251
Nathan has always been captivated by numbers and patterns. With a Master’s degree in Statistics, he’s honed his skills to decipher complex data sets and discern market trends.
Over the past decade, Nathan has worked with various firms compiling and analyzing industry spending figures to forecast market movements.