Timing’s everything for Streisand Grammy bid

Barbra Streisand’s Grammy nomination for her latest album does not appear to be in jeopardy, despite a Drudge Report story over the weekend saying the Recording Academy was investigating the nomination because the album might be ineligible for this year’s awards.

Streisand’s “The Movie Album,” nominated in the traditional pop vocal album category, was released Oct. 14, two weeks after the eligibility period closed for the 46th Grammy Awards, which will be handed out Feb. 8 at Staples Center. Recordings released between Oct. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2003, are eligible for Grammy consideration.

Columbia Records, Streisand’s label, issued a statement Monday saying that even though the CD did not reach stores until after the eligibility window had closed, “[it] was available as a commercial full album download on buymusic.com as of Sept. 30. This meets the Grammy eligibility requirement.”

Academy officials did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation that the album qualifies under its rules of eligibility. The academy’s website states, “Recordings must be in general distribution in the U.S., i.e. sales by label to a branch or recognized independent distributor, via Internet, or mail order/retail sales for a nationally marketed product.”

Streisand’s album is up against works by Tony Bennett & k.d. lang, Rosemary Clooney, Bette Midler and Rod Stewart. Stewart’s album “As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook, Volume II,” arrived in stores a week after Streisand’s album, on Oct. 21, but a spokeswoman for his label, J Records, said Monday that a vinyl version of the album had been shipped to stores by the Sept. 30 deadline, qualifying it for Grammy consideration. The remaining three albums were released during the correct period.

The early-release issue worked against Johnny Cash’s “American IV: The Man Comes Around” album. It is ineligible for Grammy nominations this year because it was released on vinyl before Oct. 1 last year. Only the video for the song “Hurt” was eligible, and it received a nomination for best music video.