Is That Really A Best New Artist? The Long And Complex Tale Of A Controversial Grammy Category

When is something old considered new? If you're talking about the Grammy Awards, that's often whoever lands in the best new artist category, easily the weirdest of the races.

Take Sabrina Carpenter, who finds herself nominated for best new artist this year - on her sixth full-length release. There's little doubt that the "Espresso" singer ruled the airwaves in 2024, but she was already making a mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as early as 2021 with the No. 48 song "Skin."

The category of new artist is constantly evolving, trying to capture the zeitgeist each year as the process of categorizing fame gets more complicated, from raw LP sales in the 1970s to TikTok videos today.

"I do think that they are constantly tweaking that category to make a bigger splash with it," said Theo Cateforis , director of undergraduate studies in music history at Syracuse University. "They are kind of gaming the system to say, 'Yes, we want artists nominated for this category who will draw eyeballs, who will have an audience, who will make for a better kind of media representation.'"

The Grammy rules currently say nominations hinge on whether "the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence" - and it delegates that determination to a screening committee. Eligible artists must have released at least five singles or one album, but there is no longer a maximum.