As the music industry anticipates the unveiling of the 2026 Grammy Award nominees this Friday, focus inevitably shifts to the intricate process underpinning these prestigious selections. How does the Recording Academy determine its contenders, and who ultimately influences the nominations?
Here's a guide on all you need to know about the music awards:
How does Grammy voting work?
The path to a Grammy nod commences with submissions from Recording Academy members and record labels. Artists and their works are proposed across 95 distinct categories, each entry undergoing rigorous vetting for eligibility.
Once these submissions are screened, voting members take over. Typically in the fall, they utilize a dedicated membership dashboard to cast their ballots, deciding the final nominees. Crucially, only music officially submitted and thoroughly vetted is eligible for their consideration.
Once the nominees are determined and announced in November, a period of final round voting takes place. This cycle, that runs from Dec. 12 through Jan. 5.
Winners are announced live at the award show in February.
And don’t get it twisted — voting members do not vote in all 95 categories. They’re permitted to vote in up to 10 categories across three genre fields, as well as the six general field categories, which include record, album, song, producer, non-classical and songwriter, non-classical of the year, and best new artist. That allows experts to focus on their expertise.
How does someone become a voting member?
There are three types of Recording Academy memberships: Grammy U, professional and voting memberships. The latter includes performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists and beyond. Those are the members who determine Grammy winners each year.
Voting members have to provide a proof of a primary career in music, two recommendations and certain verifiable credits.
But there are a few ways around some of those requirements: If you are a current year’s Grammy winner or nominee, you do not need to provide a recommendation from someone in the industry. If you’ve been nominated for a Grammy in the last five years, you do not need to provide proof of your credits.
What determines Grammy eligibility?
Entries must adhere to the specific qualifications of the categories they are submitted into. Rules and guidelines can be found at Grammy.com.
There are also frequent changes made to categories and fields. In 2026, there have been a few: best country album has been divided into best contemporary country album and best traditional country album.
The best recording package and the best boxed or special limited edition package categories have also been combined into the best recording package category, with best album cover spun out on its own.
Most importantly: Recordings and music videos must also be submitted within the Grammy eligibility window, which for the 2026 award show means work released between Aug. 31, 2024 – Aug. 30, 2025.
How does a musician qualify for Best New Artist?
The category of new artist is constantly evolving, trying to capture the zeitgeist each year as the process of categorizing fame gets more complicated. 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. That’s why someone like, say, Sabrina Carpenter — who broke out in the summer of “Espresso” — found herself up for the best new artist trophy in 2025 despite being on her sixth full-length release.
And this year, the category has also been expanded to include acts who were featured on previous album of the year nominees, so long as they fall below 20% of the album’s music.
When are the 2026 Grammys?
The Grammys will be held Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with nominations announced on Friday. It will be broadcast live on CBS and can be streamed on demand via Paramount+.
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