Bruno Mars at the 2018 Grammy Awards in New York.
Michael Loccisano/Getty
The number of nominees for four major Grammy Awards categories will increase from 5 to 8 as of next year, Billboard reports. The categories included in the major change are Top Album, Song, Record, and New Artist.
Five nominees per category has been the rule at the Grammys since their inception in 1959. The other 80 categories at the 2019 ceremony remain capped at five nominations each.
“Throughout the year, we team up with music people across all genres and disciplines to consider revisions and subsequently make amendments to our rules and entry guidelines to ensure we’re keeping up with our ever-changing industry and meeting the needs of music creators,” said Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow in a statement. “This creates more opportunities for a wider-range of recognition in these important categories and gives more flexibility to our voters when having to make the often challenging decisions about representing excellence and the best in music for the year. We look forward to celebrating all of our nominees when they are announced later this year.”
Portnow will step down from his position after his current contract expires in July 2019. He faced major criticism after the 2018 ceremony in January when he suggested women artists needed to "step up" in order to win more Grammys.
The Grammy Awards return to Los Angeles’ Staples Center in 2019 after switching to New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2018.