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Did Justin Bieber deserve a Grammy? Steve Stoute thinks so, blasts Academy with open letter
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Don't know who Steve Stoute is? Well, he's a Belieber, for one. Stoute is a record exec and Nas' manager with a twenty-year history in the music industry, and he's taking the The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences head honcho Neil Portnow to task in defense of Justin Bieber, Eminem, and Kanye West (to name a few).Stoute is unhappy with the results of the 2011 Grammy Awards -- so unhappy that he took out a full page ad in the Sunday, Feb. 20 New York Times to publicly chide Grammy voters for overlooking more mainstream artists when it comes to the awards -- instead, he says, they're simply using the artists for TV ratings.
"The Grammy Awards have clearly lost touch with contemporary pop culture," he writes. Essentially, Stoute believes that the actual ceremony and performance part of the Grammy Awards contradicts its voting system, and that Grammy voters refuse to allow for changing trends and popular artists.
In short, artists like Bieber deserve to be recognized over artists like Esperanza Spalding, who beat out Bieber for Best New Artist this year, much to the chagrin of every angry 13-year-old on Twitter.
"How is it that Justin Bieber, an artist that defines what it means to be a modern artist, did not win Best New Artist?" writes Stoute. "Again, his cultural impact and success are even more quantifiable if you factor in his YouTube and Vevo viewership--the fact that he was a talent born entirely of the digital age whose story was crafted in the most humble method of being "discovered" purely for his singing ability (and it should be noted that Justin Bieber plays piano and guitar, as evidenced on his early viral videos)."
Stoute even opens old wounds, referencing the time Eminem lost out to Steely Dan and the year that Kanye West was bested by Herbie Hancock. "While there is no doubt in my mind of the artistic talents of Steely Dan or Herbie Hancock, we must acknowledge the massive cultural impact of Eminem and Kanye West and how their music is shaping, influencing and defining the voice of a generation. It is this same cultural impact that acknowledged the commercial and critical success of Michael Jackson's Thriller in 1984."
Yes, he did just invoke the musically sacred MJ. He means business.
What do you think, Zap2it readers? Are the Grammy Awards behind the times? Should an artist's cultural impact (and sales figures) impact the vote? Weigh in below in our comments section.
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I guess the Grammy's lost touch with contemporary pop culture when contemporary pop culture lost touch with what actual music is...
What, is the Grammy winner the one who sells the most copies? Then you might as well say in the Record of the Year category "the winner of the most hyped record by the cutest, most sexy and appealing so-called artist, with the best marketing campaign aimed at the broadest, lowest common denominator in the selected demographic goes to . . . OMG it's a tie between Eminem, Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus!" Is that what you want? Really? Probably, since artistry is now purely about what appeases the corporate structure of the music business as viewed from their perch, which atop a pile of money, earned by giving the kids a pile of human excrement, devoid of any substance beyond the candy rush of the moment.
Does he want the Grammys to be a popularity contest. A grown up is actually upset that Justin Bieber didn't win? He is a medicore talent. Put the same talent in a chubby pimply teenage boy and no one would give him the time of day. His fame will die when the 13 year olds move on to the next big thing in a few months. Remember Nick Jonas???
Dude, the voters of the Grammy is people in the music industry. They vote by TALENT and not by records sold. Bieber have no talent. Sales, yes because of 12 year olds who listen to his trash, but for musicians who been in the industry for X amount of years know talent when they hear it and knows trash when they hear it.
Stoute: Waaaaaa...who are you shilling for? Get a rattle and a crib. The Grammy Awards are just that;awards, granted for excellence as determined by the voters. Join the academy, place your vote and then live with the results of your peers. Kanye West and his "influence" can't go away soon enough for some of us...Eminem joins The Beatles as the most overlooked in history but like The Beatles he will outlive culturally almost every other winner with or without your concern. Chill...and thanks for supporting print media.
Do these people think that 12 year old's that listen to music don't count. They buy and enjoy music just like older people. Just because you don't like what they do does not mean it shouldn't count. And the boy is talented.. Watch the movie.. He loves music and took up the drums and guitar at early ages. I don't understand why every kind of music doesn't count.
Uhmmm...WHY are people still talking about this. HE LOST! It's done, get the hell over it. No amount of whining and b*tching or taking out full page ad's will change that. No offense but he didnt deserve to win. He was not the best. Being a pop sensation does not automatically guarantee a Grammy. When Britney Spears first came out she was HUGE, bigger then Beiber and guess what? She didnt win a Grammy. Why? Because a more talented singer got it. How many times does this have to be said...the Grammy's are NOT a popularity contest. All this complaining is just making you look like sore losers. Suck it up and shut the hell up.
"He loves music and took up the drums and guitar at early ages. I don't understand why every kind of music doesn't count".
Maybe if he had stuck with the drums and guitar and left the singing to those who can sing, he just may have qualified for a grammy.