The Recording Academy, which presents the very prestigious Grammy Award, announced an end to the anonymous voting committees following rigging allegations.
Nominations for the Grammy Awards in January 2022 will be selected by its more than 11,000 voting members and not by committees of 15-30 industry experts, the Academy said on Friday.
It also said that the selection of nominees and winners was being "placed back in the hands of the entire voting membership body," adding that most of its members would go through a "requalification process" to ensure that the voting body "is actively engaged in music creation".
The changes were significant and were made “to ensure that the Grammy Awards rules and guidelines are transparent and equitable”, the Academy stated.
The news comes amid accusations of vote-rigging, with then-Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan claiming to have evidence of "serious" irregularities in the voting and calling it an "outrageous conflict of interest" in 2020.
At the time, the Academy dismissed Dugan's claims that its members pushed artists they have relationships with, saying that those allegations were "categorically false, misleading and wrong".
Dugan was placed on administrative leave following reported allegations of misconduct, but according to her, it was in retaliation for her speaking up internally. She was later fired.
