The Narrow Geography of the Grammy Awards

Two years ago, media mogul Steve Stoute bought a full-page ad in The New York Times to criticize the Grammy Awards for its failure to recognize artists then thought to be at the top of the music business, including Eminem, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber. When the 2014 Grammy nominations were announced this past December, Kanye’s Yeezus snub prompted similar outrage about the awards show's jurors being out of touch.

There’s another way that the Grammys don’t reflect the reality of popular music today. When the winners are announced this Sunday, they are likely to represent far less geographical diversity than the places where those who make music actually call home. Of course this year saw the rise of Lorde, who hails from Auckland, New Zealand, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, from Seattle – both of whom received multiple nods. In addition, the “big four” awards of Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist include artists from Paris (Daft Punk) and Las Vegas (Imagine Dragons). Clearly, Hollywood isn't the only place good music is being made. Even so, Grammy nominees are much more likely to live in the big three music industry clusters of Los Angeles, New York and, increasingly, Nashville, the capital of country and a rising center for pop music as well.