Introduction
It’s that time of year again—the Grammy and Academy Awards are coming up. A lot of people might be confused about the differences between these awards shows, and it’s easy to see why! After all, they’re both huge awards ceremonies honoring some of the best in music and movies, respectively. And they both have the word Grammy in their name—so what’s up with that? This article will explain the differences between these two famous awards shows so you can tell them apart next time you see a news headline about one or both of them!
With all these awards shows, how do you know which one to watch? It’s easy to mix up a few of them. So, for clarification, let’s talk about some similarities and differences. The Grammys are a music award show that celebrates musical achievement in various categories; there are three main ones: Song of Year, Record of Year, and Album of Year. These categories might sound similar to those presented at other music award shows but they have unique criteria that make them stand out from others. The most notable difference between Grammy and Academy Awards is that while both honor achievements in film, only one is awarded by the academy members (Academy Award) while another is voted on by members of NARAS (Grammy). Another difference is that while films are eligible for either award, albums can only be nominated for a Grammy. In terms of viewership, around 19 million people watched last year’s ceremony compared to 32 million who tuned into last year’s Oscars ceremony. When it comes to who gets nominated and wins an award at each event, it depends on what category we're talking about.
Grammy Awards vs Academy Awards
Of course, there are several similarities between these two awards shows. Both give out music awards; however, there are notable differences in how each show operates. For starters, it’s worth noting that their names are spelled differently. While Grammy is pluralized as one word with no s at the end, Academy is technically written as two words—hence why it’s Academy Awards. This difference in spelling underscores another major difference between them: The Grammys honor performers of popular music genres such as hip-hop and country, while the Academy Award winners tend to be actors or actresses who perform roles in films. So if you’re wondering what’s so different about a Grammy vs an Academy Award, just keep in mind that they're not always given to people who do similar things. Also, keep in mind that both shows have categories of winners. In other words, if your favorite artist wins Best New Artist at a Grammy ceremony (or Best New Artist at an Academy Awards ceremony), then he or she will have won against other nominees within his or her category.
Difference Between Grammy Awards and Academy Awards in Tabular Form
| Basic | Grammy | Academy |
| Award to | It is an award show for professionals that are musical artists | It is awarded for artistic and technical merit in the American and international film industry |
| Organization | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. |
| First awarded | 1959 | 1929 |
| Popular | Less popular | More popular |
| Held on | It occurs on average in January. | It occurs in February-march. |
What is Grammy Awards?
The Grammy Awards are bestowed annually by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievements in the mainly English-language music industry. The winners are typically selected by committees of recording professionals who gather before each ceremony. Over 800 awards have been presented since they were first awarded in 1959. Each April, members of The Recording Academy make up approximately one-third of all voting members for a specific ceremony; those members vote on their choice for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, etc. The Grammys are considered more prestigious than other honors such as the Emmys or Golden Globes because Grammy winners tend to be more established artists with larger fanbases. For example, Adele has won six Grammys but only three Emmys (as opposed to 22 Grammys and zero Emmys). While there is no limit on how many people can be nominated for an award at any given time, only five nominations per category are allowed per year.
Nomination Process for Grammy
Each year, members of The Recording Academy vote on potential candidates for induction into their ranks. Once a year, eligible recording artists are invited to join based on a vote by current members. New membership is divided into three categories: performer, engineer/mixer/producer, and historical (for legacy artists). Nominees are determined by secret ballot; only members may vote for nominees in all categories. Special exceptions are made if an artist receives enough non-member votes to place in a top category. The final round of voting is open to all active members of The Recording Academy at large; winners are selected by a simple majority of votes cast. To be eligible for nomination, recordings must be released during the Eligibility Year (from October 1 through September 30) and must feature at least 51% playing time of newly recorded music. Performers must have appeared on a minimum number of tracks or albums released during either or both of any two calendar years before December 31st of that same eligibility year. Albums must have been issued within 24 months before December 31st of that same eligibility year. No album can qualify more than three years after its original release date. There is no limit on how many times an individual can be nominated as long as he or she meets these eligibility requirements.
Award Categories for Grammy
Best new artist, Record of the Year, Song of year, Album of year. Best Pop solo performance. Best Pop duo/group performance. Best Pop vocal album. Best Traditional pop vocal album. Best R&B performance. Best R&B song, Solo performance (Award for a songwriter). Record of Year (Award to producer).Best Dance Recording: award to producer). Best Rock Performance: award to producer). Best Country Solo Performance: award to singer-songwriter). Best Country Duo/Group Performance: award to group members). Best Country Song: Award to songwriter). Best Music Video Award: Best Short Form Music Video Award. Best Long Form Music Video Award. Lifetime Achievement Award. Humanitarian Award.
What are the Academy Awards?
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored excellence in film for 2017. As is tradition, AMPAS invited members of various branches to nominate films in their categories, which generated a list of eligible contenders with multiple nominations. Filmmakers still had to submit their films for consideration via an online portal, designed to streamline a process that was becoming increasingly cumbersome. The ceremony itself was held on March 4 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre—the first time it’s been held away from traditional venues like New York City or Los Angeles since 2002. Jimmy Kimmel hosted for his second consecutive year. This year’s Oscars were decidedly less political than last year’s, but there were still some memorable moments: Jordan Peele became only the fifth black filmmaker to win Best Director; Frances McDormand became only the fifth woman ever nominated for Best Director; Sam Rockwell won Best Supporting Actor; Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress, and Coco won Best Animated Feature Film. It also marks just one of three times in Oscar history where all four acting awards went to African-American actors: Octavia Spencer (The Help) won Supporting Actress, Viola Davis (Fences) won Lead Actress, Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) won Supporting Actor, and Denzel Washington (Fences) won Lead Actor.
Nomination Process for Academy Awards
Unlike most of its counterparts, who select their nominees based solely on critical feedback, members of The Academy must vote on each nominee. Voters can be members of various branches, including actors, directors, producers, and writers. Anyone who has won an Oscar in a certain category is ineligible to vote in that same category for 10 years after they win. More than 6,000 members help make up The Academy with each person voting for approximately 10 nominees per year. Once nominated in all 24 categories (and two shorts categories), there are final votes to determine which film will win Best Picture and which actor will win Best Actor/Actress. It’s worth noting that films do not have to be released in theaters during awards season to qualify for nominations. Many smaller independent films are often submitted for consideration because it gives them additional exposure. For example, Beasts of No Nation was released online before it hit Netflix and only made $90,000 at the box office but received several Oscar nominations. In contrast, movies like The Revenant were released well into 2015 but still managed to receive a nod at The Oscars because they were screened at festivals like Cannes or Telluride before their theatrical release. This rule also applies to documentaries as well as foreign-language films.
Award Categories for Academy Awards
The Academy Award-winning films must be screened to a public audience within one year of winning. A ceremony must be held to honor outstanding films and people in the film industry. One academy member, who is not an employee of that branch’s academy, presents it with a gold statuette at an annual ceremony (where voting members are free to vote for any film they choose). In contrast, the winner(s) of a Grammy can only win one award per category. Additionally, both awards show is held annually but only in February whereas The Grammys are always held in January every year. The Recording Academy’s Music Producers Hall Of Fame does not have the eligibility requirements or voting procedures as those for nominees for other Grammy categories. Its sole purpose is to recognize producers who have made significant contributions to recording. This special hall of fame was established in 2012 by NARAS President/CEO Neil Portnow and Producer/Mixer/Engineer Paul Verna. Each year three individuals are inducted into the hall of fame which is determined by a special NARAS committee comprising past GRAMMY winners and nominees from all genres, current GRAMMY producers & engineers, plus additional music professionals selected by NARAS CEO Neil Portnow. Unlike other Grammy categories where there is just one winner per category; there may be more than three inductees each year to recognize additional individuals whose contributions have been deemed worthy enough for induction into the hall of fame.
The Main Difference Between Grammy and Academy Awards in Points
- The difference between these two awards lies in their respective winners.
- The Grammy’s focuses on music, while The Academy Awards focus on film. Thus, you have to win a Grammy award for Best Music or Song Written for Film to be considered an Oscar nominee.
- A similar example is that of a student council president nomination versus a student council officer election candidate.
- One must qualify and achieve presidential status to become an officer.
- Conversely, one can run for student council elections as simply an officer candidate without any need of being nominated as president beforehand.
- To put it more simply, if someone wins a Grammy award they are automatically also eligible for consideration in an Oscar category.
- If someone wins an Oscar, they are not automatically eligible for consideration in a Grammy category. This is because there are different categories within each awards show.
- In addition to that, each year only five nominees are selected from each category by both shows: Best New Artist and Best Original Score.
- There are many more nominees than just those five per category; there may be up to twenty-five additional nominees who were not selected as finalists but were still considered by judges during voting rounds.
- For instance, in 2012 John Williams was nominated for an Oscar award for his original score in Lincoln. He was not a finalist nor did he win, however, he was still considered by judges alongside other composers such as Alexandre Desplat and Thomas Newman.
- Furthermore, all candidates are required to present themselves in either Los Angeles or New York City depending on which show they're presenting at.
- They must also be able to provide proof of citizenship or legal residency before they can even begin campaigning.
Conclusion
In some ways, there are more similarities than differences between these awards. At their core, they're both about celebrating outstanding work in a given field (recording arts in one case, film arts in another). And both provide an opportunity for industry professionals to strut their stuff on a high-profile stage with plenty of bigwigs looking on. But what sets them apart is how they go about determining who'll take home each year's statuette. The Grammys' emphasis on popularity makes it possible for relatively unknown artists to be nominated or even win; if they generate enough buzz throughout their community or industry, you could see a major underdog pull off an upset!
