NEW
YORK (MonsterTones) Trends in music come and go, but the crown jewel of
musical accomplishment has been a mainstay since its creation. The
Grammy Awards (
www.grammy.com)
are the music industry's biggest night. Winning a grammy carries the
same weight for musicians as the Oscars do for actors - there is no
greater achievement.
Over the past decade, the Grammy's have
become a greater reflection of music that is not only critically
acclaimed, but popular as well. According to AllMusic.com (
www.allmusic.com),
seven of the previous 10 winners of the grammy for Album of the Year
have reached number one on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. 2003's
Album of the Year winner, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast, has
sold over 10 million copies since its release in
September of that
year. Norah Jones' 2002 Grammy winner, Come Away with Me, has sold over
18 million copies worldwide, also according to AllMusic.
One of
the best ways to gauge what music is popular today is what music
listeners are downloading. The internet has become a virtual candy land
for music lovers, and the acronym "MP3" can be heard as often in
conversations about music as "CD."
MP3's have become more
mobile as technology advances and are now making its way from the
desktop to the cell phone. MP3 ringtones are the latest advancement in
the ringtone industry. As one of the fastest growing industries
worldwide, ringtones are worth about $3.5 billion dollars, according to
Deloitte Accountancy.
"Record labels and artists are beginning
to rely on the significant revenue ringtones can generate," said Bob
Bentz, Sales and Marketing
Director for MonsterTones--a leading
ringtone site. "It's a new found source of income for them in an era of
overall declines."
Ringtones have become such a strong gauge of
song popularity that Billboard gave its first Ringtone of the Year
Award in 2003. The inaugural winner of the award was
50 Cent for his
single, "In Da Club." 50 received five grammy nominations in 2003.
Although he didn't win any, three of those were for "In Da Club."
Can
ringtone popularity predict Grammy victory? Or is the crossover
popularity that a hit ringtone signifies a death wish on Grammy night?
Kanye
West has been described over the past year as "cocky." He believes he
is the best. His Grammy nominations prove him right. West leads the
field with ten nominations for songs from his debut album, The College
Dropout, and his work as a producer for artists like Alicia Keys. West
is nominated for Song of the Year and Best New Artist and The College
Dropout is nominated for Album of the Year thanks to hit singles and
ringtones like "All Falls Down."
Usher earned eight nominations, and
will look to continue his award season success in some of the biggest
categories on Grammy night. He is nominated for Record of the Year and
Song of the Year and his seven times platinum album, Confessions, is
nominated for Album of the Year. According to a source to the Times UK,
Usher's single "Burn" (nominated for Best Male R&B Performance) was
one of the top ten ringtones of 2004.
Alicia Keys avoided the
sophomore slump with The Diary of Alicia Keys, and also garnered eight
grammy nominations. In 2002, Keys won five grammys for her debut album,
Songs In A Minor and Keys should have mantle space cleared for more
grammophones this year. She is nominated for Album of the Year and Song
of the Year for her single "If I Ain't Got You."
Green Day
re-introduced themselves to fans in 2004 with the release of their
seventh album, American Idiot. They will try to win their first grammy
since 1994 with six nominations, including Record of the Year for their
politically-themed single "American Idiot." American Idiot is also
nominated for Album of the Year and features the hit single "Boulevard
of Broken Dreams," that is currently the seventh top selling ringtone
on MonsterTones.
The Grammy Awards are becoming a more accurate
reflection of music that is both popular and creative each year. As the
awards show makes that shift, the popularity of ringtones could begin
to play a role in which artists and songs receive nominations. There
could even be a possible grammy created for Ringtone of the Year.
"Rap
music is the best music since the '60s and the Grammy's took a few
years until it was recognized as a musical category," said Bentz. "If
ringtones continue to help shape what music becomes popular, who knows
what could happen?"
The 47th Annual Grammy Awards are on
Sunday, February 13. Bentz added that all of the songs mentioned plus
ringtones from other nominated artists like Hoobastank, NERD, and the
Killers are currently available at MonsterTones for 47% off.
