Grammys add Songwriter of the Year, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album and more to 2023 awards

This afternoon (9 June) the Recording Academy has announced some changes that will be included in the 65th annual Grammy Awards in 2023, including multiple new awards and some rule changes.

As Variety reports, the new awards include Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical), Best Spoken Word Poetry Album, Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media and Best Americana Performance, as well as a Special Merit Award Addition of Best Song for Social Change, which requires submissions to contain lyrical content that "addresses a timely social issue and promotes understanding, peacebuilding and empathy."

One of the rule changes is an adjustment to the album eligibility, which will now require submissions to have more than 75% playing time of new, previously unreleased music recorded within five years of the album release date. This does not apply to the Best Compilation Soundtrack, Best Historical Album, Best Immersive Audio Album, Best Recording Package, Best Special Package, and Best Album Notes categories.

Best New Age Album has been renamed as Best New Age, Ambient Or Chant Album, and the Spoken Word Album category has an updated name of Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. There's also been an adjustment to entry submission fees.

The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said, "We're so excited to honor these diverse communities of music creators through the newly established awards and amendments, and to continue cultivating an environment that inspires change, progress and collaboration. The Academy's top priority is to effectively represent the music people that we serve, and each year, that entails listening to our members and ensuring our rules and guidelines reflect our ever-evolving industry."

Introducing this year's GRAMMY Rules & Guidelines! Effective immediately, these updates will apply to the entire submission, nominations & voting process for the 65th #GRAMMYs & include new Categories, a new Special Merit Award, Category amendments & more.https://t.co/hYKasZLRJT

— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 9, 2022