The Grammy Awards have been around for 63 years, awarding the best music artists in the industry. Every so often the recording academy will recognize new media by adding categories that feature the best of that industry. In an announcement for the 2023 Grammy awards, the Academy revealed that it would be adding the Best Video Game Soundtrack to the catalog.
The announcement was made in an official blog post. This category will immediately go into effect and the Academy will have a winner selected by the time the 2023 event comes around.
The official name for the award is the “Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games And Other Interactive Media” and it’s meant to “recognize excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominately of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current video game or other interactive media.”
This likely means that games like Guardians of the Galaxy, which is mostly comprised of popular artists from the ’80s, likely wouldn’t be eligible for the new category. This category is meant for games that put the extra effort into scoring. In the rules, it’s stated that to be eligible for Grammy consideration, “an album must contain greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded” music.
The other new categories for next year’s Grammys are Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical), Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Americana Performance, and Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. In addition to these, special merit will be given in the Best Song for Social Change category.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr said “we’re so excited to honor these diverse communities of music creators through the newly established awards.”
