Unless you’re into Ariana Grande and Sam Smith, you know that the Grammys will suck again this year. Getting upset is pointless. This is a made-for-TV awards show designed to appeal to the greatest number of people (i.e. the greatest number of mainstream music fans) possible. That’s the audience the show panders to.
Unfortunately, I have to watch because it’s my job. And people are asking me to predict who will win what. Frankly, I don’t care. The Grammys mean nothing to me. However, I do have to have some answers for these people, so here we go with some predictions. Oh–and rather than listen to any of the songs, I’m going to use technology.
Using data from 50 million listeners, Spotify has determined the most likely winners in the big categories:
Record of the Year: Sia, “Chandelier”
Album of the Year: Pharrell Williams, G I R L
Song of the Year: Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
Best New Artist: Bastille
Meanwhile, Billboard has their will win/should win list.
Record of the Year:
Will Win: “Stay with Me, Sam Smith (and Tom Petty)
Should Win: “Shake It Off, Taylor Swift
Album of the Year:
Will Win: Beyonce, Beyonce
Should Win: Beyonce, Beyonce,
Song of the Year:
Will Win: “Stay with Me,” Sam Smith
Should Win: “Chandelier,” Sia
Best New Artist:
Will Win: Sam Smith
Should Win: Sam Smith
Still, I guess I should look at some of the rock/alt/metal categories, huh? Here are my choices:
Best Rock Performance:
Will Win: “Lazaretto,” Jack White
Should Win: “Do I Wanna Know?,” Arctic Monkeys
Best Metal Performance:
Will Win: “The Negative One,”Slipknot
Should Win: “High Road,” Mastodon
Best Rock Song:
Will Win: “Ain’t It Fun,” Paramore
Should Win: “Blue Moon,” Beck
Best Rock Album:
Will Win: Hypnotic Eye, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Should Win: Morning Phase, Beck
Best Alternative Music Album:
Will Win: Lazaretto, Jack White
Should Win: St. Vincent, St. Vincent
A full list of nominees can be found
here. We’ll see how correct we are Sunday night.
After last year’s Grammys, I will never watch that again.