By Mackenzie Eyles
The 2025 Grammys were supposed to be a celebration of the incredible music released in 2024 but instead, they cemented their reputation as an industry-controlled scam. From shocking outfits to suspicious wins, this year’s awards proved that talent and impact mean little when you hold the strings leading to the people in power.
Many posts using the “Scammys” hashtag have been popping up after Beyonce won Best Album of the Year, which was her first win in this category despite 35 other wins. While the album did make it to the charts, most viewers agree that Billie Eilish's “Hit Me Hard and Soft” or Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” were more deserving of the award.
Kendrick Lamar’s diss track targeting Drake, currently embroiled in a defamation lawsuit, won both Best Record, Best Rap Song and Song of the Year, aggravating music fans worldwide who agreed that this was a scam. The most common prediction was for Sabrina Carpenter’s "Espresso", a global chart-topper, making Lamar’s sweep appear politically or financially motivated.
There have been many allegations of the Grammy Awards being entirely pre-determined and motivated. These allegations argue that the Grammy voting process, involving members of the Recording Academy, lacks transparency further fueling beliefs that the system favours established artists and major record labels over actual talent.
There have also been claims that certain artists are overlooked in favour of more commercially successful or mainstream options. This led to accusations of favouritism and the lack of diversity in the nominations. Additionally, it is argued that the Grammys seek attention online, planning surprising or highly desired wins to draw more attention to the awards and their social media platforms.
The true scam of the Grammys can be traced back to 2021 when The Weeknd accused the Grammys of being corrupt after failing to secure any nominations even after his album "After Hours" and single "Blinding Lights" remained at the top of charts all year. This is the reason that his performance of his new songs, “Cry For Me” and “Timeless” was such a large surprise to all his fans.
Even Grammy Award chief Deborah Dugan accused the nominating process of being rigged in an interview with NBC News. She portrayed the awards as a “fixed process” where the “people with power” in the music business determine which artists end up on the ballot. If any of the people on the team for nominations hinted towards a specific artist performing or being nominated they would be. She was also aware of occasions where “musicians would be sitting in the room during the meetings of the nominating committee”. Although she highlighted a high amount of corruption within these awards, she also stated that a “great majority of the [nominees] are so well deserving”.
Along with the evidence of the Grammys being a scam, I have come up with the theory that the Grammys are entirely motivated. The Grammys one job is to make money which can be done through social media as well as views of videos on YouTube and streaming services. Personally, I believe that if “Cowboy Carter” didn’t win there would be less attention on the Grammys and therefore less views leading to less money. The loss of the "Hit Me Hard and Soft" album made Billie’s fanbase (which is huge) post on TikTok with the hashtag “Grammys” drawing more attention and therefore money to the Grammy’s social media platform. If HMHAS had won the Grammys it deserved, the excitement would die down and so would the attention on the Grammys. But you, as a student, saw this article and clicked on it, wanting to hear more about the Grammys, which is why my theory stands as to why these specific artists and songs won.
She is right in that sense. In 2025 we saw both scams as previously mentioned as well as the deserved wins, such as;
Sabrina Carpenter for Best Vocal Album "Short and Sweet" and Best Pop Solo Performance "Espresso" filling fans all over the world with a strong sense of pride, and excitement to see her first McDonald’s trip (only real ones know).
Charli XCX for Best Dance Pop Recording "Von Dutch" and Best Dance/Electronic Album "BRAT" - which by some people could be seen as a motivated win due to the social media trend “Brat Summer” allowing more traffic to the Grammy platform from the fans of BRAT. However, most believe Charli highly deserved this win due to her talent with these incredible songs.
The Grammys can be seen from many angles, either negatively or positively skewed. But it is only your opinion that truly matters.
Until next year,
Grammys or Scammys?
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