Grammy Nominations Reveal a Year Dominated by TikTok Trends—But Not Necessarily Quality

On November 8th, 2025, the Recording Academy revealed the nominees for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. Kendrick Lamar leads this year’s nominations with 9, largely for his album GNX. Close behind is Lady Gaga with 7, and Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and Leon Thomas with 6 each. 

In the Song of the Year category, nominees include APT by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars, Abracadabra by Lady Gaga, Golden by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, and Anxiety by Doechii. Another major category, Best New Artist, features KATSEYE, Sombr, Addison Rae, and Lola Young. The ceremony itself is to be held in Los Angeles on February 1st, 2026, and honors albums released from August 2024 to August 2025—meaning Big Thief’s album Double Infinity, released on September 5th, narrowly missed eligibility. 

Historically, the Grammys have been regarded as an authority on artistic excellence. This year, however, the nominees have been met with disappointment as the Grammys appear to reward streaming numbers over actual quality. “I’m really disappointed in the choices,” said Penny Ventura (‘29). “I think they picked a lot of the songs because they went viral on social media. You can consider me an upset girl.” 

Specifically, many students cited the app TikTok as a reason behind many of the choices. For instance, Anxiety by Doechii was nominated due to a viral dance trend—ignoring the fact that the song was released in 2019. The Recording Academy insists that artists are rewarded based on merit, however it is apparent how much of an impact the algorithm can have.

Another concern raised frequently during interviews was the prevalence of industry plants in this year’s nominations. An industry plant is an artist who rapidly rose to fame due to songs and an online persona that are made up purely for the numbers. A prominent example is Sombr. “Those fan pages that just say ‘Sombr is 6-7,’ those aren’t made by 10 year old girls, they’re made by him,” Ventura explained. Sombr’s TikTok presence definitely contributed to his rise to fame. 

“There are a lot of better artists out there that weren’t nominated and could have taken that place,” said Saara Lee (‘29). Some of the snubs this year that could’ve taken these places included Lorde’s new album Virgin, Dopamine by Lil Tecca, and Hurry Up Tomorrow by the Weeknd. These albums are alternative, hip-hop, and R&B respectively, while the majority of nominated albums were pop or K-pop. “Really, the Grammys put pop over other genres all the time,” said Yeselyn Iraheta (‘27), “We see that clearly in the Song of the Year category.” 

This year’s nominations seem to represent a shift in what is valued in the music industry. Instead of emphasizing artistry, originality, and creativity, the Recording Academy seems to now be more guided by TikTok trends and streaming numbers.