Opinion: Grammy's 'global music' categories ignore musicians from much of the globe
In theory, international music makers should be thrilled about the Grammys being handed out this Sunday.
Instead of one category for global music, there are two, doubling the number of nominations from 5 to 10.
(The new category is called "best global music performance." The Grammy rules says it is "reserved for international performers exhibiting non-European, indigenous traditions.")
But if you look at the list of nominees for the 64th annual awards ceremony, it's not that diverse.
Seven of the nominees are from two nations: Nigeria and Benin.
There are no newcomer countries – places that have never been had a local artist nominated.
What's more, the number of artists is limited: four of the five artists nominated in the brand new global performance category are also nominated in the global album category.
There's not a lot of linguistic variety either.
I would argue that the Grammys inadvertently perpetuate the legacy of colonialism by focusing on countries that were former British colonies and have inherited English as an official language, like India, Nigeria and South Africa. In
