With music festivals such as Coachella, Sasquatch and Outside Lands, amongst many others, rising in popularity, people are increasingly searching for new artists and more indie music. This rise in discovering previously unknown music may have coincided with the questioning of how relevant The Grammys are today, as Top 40 artists often dominate the nominations. 

While a big following remains to current Top 40 artists, seeing as that is how they got to the Top 40, some people are urging The Grammys to dig deeper when finding nominees, otherwise the significance of The Grammys to those people may be none. 

ALSO SEE: 5 Artists Who Deserve (But Have Never Won) A Grammy

Based on examining the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 from February 9, 2013, not including featured artists, 50% of the artists have been nominated for a Grammy at some point.  

Knowing that members of The Recording Academy receive benefits such as a discounted $199 one-year subscription to Billboard Magazine, it would not be a stretch to guess this is where most Grammy nominees come from. 

The Grammy Awards have often received criticisms for their nominating processes. Bon Iver notably had a confliction with the Grammys when he was nominated, and then won, because he felt talented artists went unnoticed by the Recording Academy. 

For example, this year, people have questioned the nomination of Al Walser for Best Dance Recording.

ALSO SEE: Avicii, Skrillex And...Al Walser? Confusion Over EDM Grammy Nominees

Amidst the critics and confusion, there are those from GRAMMY365 defending the process. The Huffington Post quotes Rich Bengloff, President of the American Association of Independent Music, saying:

"We believe in fairness, access and a level playing field… And those other artists [nominated in the same category] could have also worked the Grammy365 platform if they were so inclined, and I bet a lot of them did. ... We just like the fact that The Recording Academy is very inclusive and that they give independents the same access and treat them with the same respect as every other artist that's out there."

If this is the case, why are the music lovers left with so many unanswered questions?

With the relevance of The Grammys coming into question for the current generation, there continue to be new ways to discover music. To name a couple, Spotify and Pandora have proved to be easy ways to expand one’s music library.  

What do The Grammys mean to us today? Maybe they are just a source of viewing pleasure, but that is up to each person to decide.

Reach Taylor A. Johnson here.