It’s now officially Grammy season, as the Recording Academy released the nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards today (Nov. 24). And among the Big Four categories — album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — Republic Records led the way with the most nominations among labels, though the race was more even this year than it has been in the past.
Post Malone and Taylor Swift led the way for Republic, with the former picking up three nominations in the Big Four (album, record and song of the year, his only three noms) and the latter with two (album and song, among her six total noms). Just behind Republic, Columbia, Interscope, RCA and Warner Records all racked up four nominations in the categories, with Atlantic, ATO and 300 Entertainment each receiving two and Def Jam, Arista, Warner Nashville, Dead Oceans and Woodworks/EMPIRE each receiving one.
Beyoncé’s twin nominations for record and song for “Black Parade” led Columbia’s total, with Haim’s album nom for Women In Music Pt. III and the best new artist nod for Noah Cyrus rounding out their four. For the second year in a row, Billie Eilish led Interscope’s Big Four tally with record and song noms for “Everything I Wanted,” while DaBaby’s smash hit “Rockstar” feat. Roddy Ricch and the surprise album of the year nod for Jacob Collier (Hajanga/Decca/Interscope) rounding out its four.
RCA had two breakout artists land best new artist noms, with Kaytranada and Doja Cat, who also got a record of the year nod for “Say So,” while H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” rounded out their quartet. Warner Records saw Dua Lipa build on her 2019 best new artist win with nominations for record, song and album of the year this year, and got a fourth nomination from new signee Chika as best new artist.
Ricch’s own big hit, “The Box,” as well as Coldplay’s album of the year nomination, accounted for Atlantic’s two noms, while Megan Thee Stallion picked up record of the year and best new artist noms for 300 Entertainment and ATO Records, for the second straight year, saw Black Pumas pick up Big Four nominations, this year for record and album of the year. Jhene Aiko’s album of the year nom for Chilombo gave Def Jam Big Four representation, JP Saxe and Julia Michaels’ song of the year nom for “If The World Was Ending” gave Arista a spot, while best new artist nods for Ingrid Andress (Warner Nashville), Phoebe Bridgers (Dead Oceans) and D Smoke (Woodworks/EMPIRE) rounded out the categories.
Among the label groups, Universal Music Group once again came out on top, with 10 nominations among the Big Four, while Sony came close behind with nine and Warner racked up seven. Indie labels garnered six noms among the categories. Last year, UMG accumulated 14 nominations among the Big Four, while Sony also had nine and Warner had four, with indies tallying the final five.