The Who, Why Behind Grammy Voting : Criticism’s Nothing to Crow About

All apologies to Robert Hilburn, but the premise upon which he bases his assault against this year’s Grammy nominations is sadly erroneous (“Plenty to Crow (and Squawk) About,” Calendar, Jan. 6). Hilburn opens his piece with this provocative admonition: “You can summarize all that is traditionally wrong with the Grammy balloting in a single nomination this year. There’s an ‘MTV Unplugged’ collection in the running for best album. But it’s Tony Bennett’s . . . not Nirvana’s.”

Had Hilburn done even a moment’s worth of homework, he would have found that Nirvana’s recording (“MTV Unplugged in New York”) was not even released during the Grammy eligibility year, and therefore will not be eligible until next year’s Grammy Awards. Conveniently overlooking this fact, he instead goes on to use this misinformation as the premise for his entire diatribe, insisting that Grammy voters are ignoring “the most important currents in pop music.”

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We are particularly excited about this year, when the top grammy nominees include several rapid currents in pop music, including Green Day, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and Me’Shell NdegeOcello, all with four nominations each. The monochromatic views of genre-specific consumers have given way to eclecticism and diversity, and we should celebrate this opening of the cultural mind rather than dwell on the supposed omissions that self-anointed expert Mr. Hilburn continues to cram down our throats.

With 87 different categories of music and 10,000 entries in the Grammy process, you can rest assured that second-guessing and Grammy bashing will always be a national pastime, but one must look beyond personal preferences toward the bigger picture. This year’s nominations showcase the wonderful fact that the lines between musical genres are giving way to a much more common artistic thread that is weaving its way through America today.

Your pop music critic’s dismissal of all but the record, album and song of the year categories as “consolation prizes” insults the diverse and talented artists who’ve been nominated in Grammy categories, none of which can be considered any less important than the others.

Perhaps if Hilburn spent more time listening to these more than 400 nominees instead of merely championing his few pet acts, he would find more of interest in this year’s nominations, and we would perhaps find a new point of view or something unrecycled in his article.