June 10 (UPI) -- The Recording Academy announced on Wednesday new rules and guidelines for the Grammy Awards including the renaming of the Best Urban Contemporary Album category and new eligibility for Best New Artist.
The Best Urban Contemporary Album category will be called Best Progressive R&B album. The use of the word urban has been criticized for being inappropriate and a synonym for black music.
The term urban will remain in the Grammys, however, with the Latin Pop album category being changed to Latin Pop or Urban Album.
The Latin, Rock Urban or Alternative category has been renamed to Latin Rock or Alternative and the Best Rap/Sung Performance category has been renamed to Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Best New Artist will no longer prevent musicians from entering the category due to having released more than 30 singles or tracks.
The Recording Academy will also release publicly the Grammy Awards rules and guidelines book and is introducing changes to the Nominations Review Committee, shortening the amount of time members can be a part of the committee.
The Academy will additionally examine more closely conflicts of interest within its committees.
"We're constantly evaluating our Awards process and evolving it to ensure the Grammy Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry," Interim President and CEO of The Recording Academy Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement.
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards is set to take place on Jan. 31, 2021.
