The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), which presents the Grammy Awards for music, has made changes to its nominating rules. It will now allow nominations for releases released through streaming services, according to a statement on the academy’s Web site.
“Members of the music community have been coming to us throughout the year asking for changes to the awards process, and we are working with them to figure out how these changes can work,” Bill Freimuth, the academy’s senior vice president, said in a statement.
Until now, only downloadable digital and physical releases have been nominated for the award.
As The New York Times notes, this decision confirms the fact that streaming has become the most important format in the music industry. However, the publication emphasizes that so far only one album released exclusively on streaming services made it to the top 10 of the Billboard-200 chart – it is the album “Coloring Book” by rapper Chance the Rapper.
In 2014, streaming music services surpassed CD sales in terms of revenue and came very close to digital downloads. Subscription revenue from streaming services such as Spotify and Rhapsody and commercial radio stations with streaming services reached $1.87 billion, representing 27% for the entire music market.
The 59th Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2017. The awards will go to artists who released new releases between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016.