Making history since 1959, the annual Grammy Awards will be aired on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. With nominated artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé and Billie Eilish, students and professors have formed their own opinions and perspectives on the 2025 nominations.
The Grammy Awards are a celebration of achievements in the industry and music can be a significant part of people’s lives, whether as a fan or a professional.
“Music is my passion, it’s my livelihood, it’s my way of showing emotion. It impacts everything in my life because it’s my career and it’s my love,” said Music Professor Susan Mazer.
But when it comes to this year’s nominations and categories, Mazer said, “I would like to see Beyonce win for her ‘Cowboy Carter’ album. I think that it was a really creative and out-of-bounds album.”
Although Mazer has her favorites aside from the popular nominees, she appreciates the less recognized categories like the blues.
“I love the blues, but as much as that is my favorite, I don’t always look at that category in the Grammys, and you don’t really hear about those categories on the television,” Mazer said.
The Grammy Awards provide a way to appreciate a favorite artist or discover new music.
“I like that Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish were nominated; they are both amazing artists, and I think they will definitely win some of their categories,” said junior Sabrina Ingisano.
“I agree with a lot of the nominations, some of the people I haven’t heard of before, so I am excited to hear some new music and learn about them,” said senior Erin Edgar.
The Grammy Awards involve performances as well. Mazer said, “I always like to see them live because people don’t always sound the same in a live context as they do in a recording, so you really get to hear their talents when they’re performing live.”
Despite Mazer’s passion for music, she thinks there are ways the Grammys can improve.
“I think the world is a little sexist, so I think the Grammys can be sexist too. Women make up less than 8% of inductions in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” she said.
Similarly, Edgar found issues with the award show’s fairness.
“I’m sure there is some bias towards who gets the awards and it is hard to make things 100% fair,” said Edgar.
While the nominations may not always seem fair, Ingrisano said, “I think in some ways they are fair because certain artists definitely deserve it, but in other ways, some artists who weren’t nominated should also be recognized for what they do.”
As the years go on and society changes, people have begun to watch the popular award show in different ways aside from the just television broadcast.
“I don’t really watch it, I get updates from TikTok or Instagram about who won. I think the majority of people have lost interest in live shows on TV because less people have cable and if you don’t have the streaming service that it’s on, most people won’t buy it to watch just one show,” said Ingirsano.
“I mostly watch it on social media through shorter clips or highlights or seeing photos of people’s outfits and awards,” Edgar said.
Despite the critical opinions on the Grammys, Ingrisano finds the award show important for artists.
“I think having artists’ music and performances recognized is the most important part,” Ingrisano said. “They work so hard so it’s nice to see them get recognition for it.”
