An Online Petition Went Viral And Says Free Songs Should Be Eligible For Grammys

Winning a Grammy is the music industry’s highest honor, yet many artists who choose to release their music for free are left out of the running for this prestigious award entirely. However, a online petition on change.org aims to change that.

The petition, created by change.org user, Max Krasowitz, states:

“Ridiculously talented artists who are releasing free mixtapes and projects are not getting the recognition they truly deserve because the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences insists that to be eligible for a prestigious Grammy Award that the music must be ‘commercially released in general distribution in the United States, i.e. sales by label to a branch or recognized independent distributor, via the Internet, or mail order/retail sales for a nationally marketed product.’”

The petition claims that it is unfair that artists who release their music for free are being “punished.”

The petition also states that artists who release their music at no charge are allowing everyone access to their music as well as decreasing illegal downloading and pirating.

As of May 23rd, there were over 32,000 on the petition. 35,000 signatures are needed.

There are currently hundreds of comments on the petition.

Jon Galdamez wrote “Music is music no matter what the price tag.”

Connor Covan said, “Tons of amazing music is going unnoticed simply because some artists actually care about releasing music for the fans, instead of just releasing music for the money.”

If you agree with the goals of the petition sign it.

The International Business Times recently published an article where they stated that the Grammy’s may soon be in for the change the petition hopes for.

“The Grammy Awards process is fluid and, like music, continues to evolve,” an academy spokesperson told International Business Times in an email.

The spokesperson told the International Business Times that the Grammy Awards process is “peer-determined,” meaning music creators work with members of the Recording Academy staff to submit proposals for changes in the awards process.

A Grammy award category for free music may be coming in the near future.

Sources: Change.org, International Business Times