Per Billboard, new categories are added to the Grammys from proposals made to the Recording Academy’s Awards & Nominations Committee, with each proposal being voted on by the Academy’s board of trustees.
Explaining the change, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told the publication: “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. They said: ‘We think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.’”
He also claimed that this particular proposal had been submitted multiple times in the past, but was only approved by the board this year.
The definition for the Traditional Country category reads: “This category recognizes excellence in albums of traditional country music, both vocal and instrumental. Traditional country includes country recordings that adhere to the more traditional sound structures of the country genre, including rhythm and singing style, lyrical content, as well as traditional country instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar, and live drums. It also includes sub-genres such as Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw country.”
“People from that community are making more music, it’s more varied, there’s different styles of writing and performing,” Mason added. “I’m hopeful that that community understands that the academy is doing what it always does, which is stay in tune with what’s happening in their genre.”
