Grammy nominations are being announced today, and Taylor Swift’s latest album Midnights won’t be on the list. But the musical work, which has broken several streaming and sales records, isn’t being excluded because it wasn’t worthy of a Grammy nod. It just doesn’t qualify for this year’s nominations because of its release date. It’s eligible for the 2024 Grammys instead.
Why isn’t Midnights eligible this year?
While it may seem a little mind-boggling that a 2022-released album isn’t Grammy eligible for the 2023 show, the Recording Academy’s submission guidelines specify works considered for next year’s award show must have been released between Friday, October 1, 2021 and Friday, September 30, 2022. Midnights was released on October 21, 2022, about a month beyond the eligibility period.
Is any work by Taylor Swift eligible for the 2023 Grammys?
Yes, Pitchfork reported that Swift’s team actually submitted Red (Taylor’s Version) for the Album of the Year and Best Country Album categories. Additionally, they took advantage of the album’s newly-released “Vault” tracks that Swift had written at the time of Red but didn’t include on the original album.
They submitted “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” for the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories, and one of the track’s other newly-released songs, “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” for the Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
What Grammy 2023 nominations did Swift get?
Swift herself was nominated for this upcoming show in four categories: Song of the Year (“All Too Well (1o Minute Version) (The Short Film)”), Best Country Song (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”), Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Carolina,” from Where the Crawdads Sing), and Best Music Video (All Too Well: The Short Film).
Time will tell whether Swift’s re-recorded work gets any wins this year. But this Grammys is truly about Red. The next one will be Midnights‘ moment…and perhaps any other album she re-releases, be it Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) or 1989 (Taylor’s Version) or both.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.