Grammys give what country artists wanted for long time

Country music has a major fanbase in the US and it’s reflected in the decision of the Grammy Awards.

According to Billboard, the Recording Academy has included a new category Best Traditional Country album. It will be separate from the already existing best contemporary album.

This decision come in the wake of scores of country artists argued that they needed a new category after their traditional-sounding country music had been lumped with folk, Americana, or root music.

It was a longtime demand of them which was approved in 2024 and from 2026 will be implemented.

On this, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told the outlet, “The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,” 

He continued, “They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored. It makes the country parallel with what’s happening in other genres. But it is also creating space for where this genre is going.”

Harvey concluded, "I’m quite certain now you’re going to see the right people going into Americana versus folk versus traditional country. [The change] gives us an opportunity to put things in more specific categories."