GRAMMY NOMS BY
THE NUMBERS: RECORD OF THE YEAR

Since the Recording Academy expanded the major categories from five to eight nominees two years ago, a pattern has emerged in Record of the Year, as the nominees have typically been split between so-called Grammy “favorites” and commercial hits. Looking at the last two Grammys, Bon Iver, H.E.R., Black Pumas and Beyoncé earned nominations in ROTY with tracks that were all well under 500k in activity at the time. In 2018, the first year of the expansion, Brandi Carlile was the only commercial outlier in the category—the rest were bona fide hits.

Among the smashes bizarrely missing in Record are The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and Harry Styles’ “Adore You,” which topped radio, streaming and sales charts.