The Grammy Awards’ “Best New Artist” category has long puzzled music fans and industry insiders alike. Despite its name, the category has a history of stretching the definition of “new” to accommodate artists with well-established careers. Sabrina Carpenter’s 2025 nomination exemplifies this perplexity.
Carpenter, whose career spans six full-length albums, dominated the charts in 2024 with hits like “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” and “Taste.” Her album Short n’ Sweet spent four weeks at No. 1. However, her Billboard debut came years earlier, with “Skin” ranking at No. 48 in 2021.
The Grammy rules state that eligibility depends on whether “the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence,” leaving that determination to a screening committee. Under these guidelines, Carpenter’s recent surge in visibility qualifies her as “new.” However, some musicologists argue that this term is more about breakout moments than actual debut status.
“I wasn’t talking about Sabrina Carpenter’s fifth album, but I was talking about her sixth album,” remarked Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College of Music.
The Grammys’ Flexible Definitions
The ambiguity surrounding “Best New Artist” is not new. Over the decades, the category has included nominees with years of experience. Cyndi Lauper won in 1984 despite releasing an album with her band Blue Angel four years earlier. Green Day received a nod after their third album, Dookie.
The inconsistency is evident in cases like Amy Winehouse, who won in 2008 after her second album, Back to Black, while her debut Frank had been released five years prior. Similarly, Chance the Rapper accepted his award in 2017 with three albums already under his belt.
Jasmine Henry, a musicologist at the University of Pennsylvania, attributes the confusion to the category’s name. “I think the way the public conceives of this category is as best debut artist award. And the reality is that it’s really a breakout award in its function,” she explained.
Evolving Rules to Fit the Zeitgeist
The Recording Academy has revised the rules multiple times to address criticisms. In 2009, Lady Gaga’s exclusion from the category for “Just Dance” prompted a rule change the following year, allowing artists to qualify unless they had won a Grammy or released an album.
Further updates followed in 2016, removing the album requirement, and in 2021, eliminating the maximum output cap of 30 singles or three albums. These changes aimed to align the category with modern music consumption trends, where TikTok virality and streaming numbers often outweigh traditional album sales.
Theo Cateforis, director of undergraduate studies in music history at Syracuse University, believes these adjustments reflect a strategic shift by the Academy. “They are kind of gaming the system to say, ‘Yes, we want artists nominated for this category who will draw eyeballs, who will have an audience, who will make for a better kind of media representation,’” he said.
Momentum as the New Metric
In the current music scene, nominees typically share a trajectory of viral hits and increased visibility. “We usually see the breakout song and then we’ll see them do a Tiny Desk Concert, and then they may open up for Taylor Swift and have a viral moment,” said Henry.
This momentum is evident in the 2025 nominations. Besides Carpenter, artists like Benson Boone, Doechii, and Khruangbin made the list. Khruangbin, a Texas-based trio, active since 2010, earned their nomination after their fourth studio album, A La Sala, gained widespread acclaim.
The band was stunned by the nomination, with bassist Laura Lee recalling, “We were all flabbergasted.” Drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson later noted the nomination process seems to hinge on the same principle that justified Carpenter’s inclusion: “To most people who didn’t know who she was, at a certain point, she’s new.”
The Grammy Dichotomy
The “Best New Artist” category continues to balance tradition with modern trends. While some winners like Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X align with the public’s expectation of fresh talent, others embody the Academy’s evolving interpretation of “new.”
