On June 12, 2025, the Recording Academy announced several changes
for different categories and updates on eligibility rules for the 2026 ceremony.
Category changes • Two new categories –
Best Traditional Country Album and
Best Album Cover, for 95 categories total. •
Best Country Album was renamed Best Contemporary Country Album. •
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package was merged back into the
Best Recording Package category.
Criteria amendments • Artists who were previously featured on a record nominated for
Album of the Year were eligible to be nominated for
Best New Artist if their contributions to the album were 20 percent or less. • Composers and lyricists/librettists were eligible for Grammy recognition in selected categories in the Classical Field (
Best Orchestral Performance,
Best Choral Performance,
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance,
Best Classical Instrumental Solo, and
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album). Previously, only the album's artist/s, producers, and engineers would receive recognition. • The maximum number of principal vocalist(s) who may be awarded in the
Best Musical Theater Album category was increased from four to six. • The physical product eligibility requirement for
Best Recording Package,
Best Album Notes, and
Best Historical Album was expanded to be more representative of the current marketplace to ensure that physical album packages sold directly to fans through an artist's or label's website were eligible for Grammy consideration. • The Craft Committee serving the Package, Notes & Historical field switched from a regional to a national model. • Minor description updates to the
Best Regional Roots Music Album,
Best Progressive R&B Album,
Best Dance Pop Recording,
Best American Roots Performance, and
Best American Roots Song categories.
Membership amendments • 3,800 new music creators and professionals were invited to join the Recording Academy. Of these, 50% were age 39 or younger, 58% were people of color, and 35% identified as women. • On November 4, 2025, it was announced that, for the first time in Grammy history, members who vote for the
Latin Grammy Awards were invited to join the Recording Academy. As a result, 28% of all new members in 2025 identified as Hispanic or Latino.
Process amendments • The 2026 Grammy ballots will be presented in a randomized order for the first time, rather than in alphabetical order. Of the change, chief awards and global industry officer for the Recording Academy, Ruby Marchand, stated, "This ballot update brings our process in line with standard voting best practices ... and further ensures the process is fair and equitable for all entries." It was speculated that the change was implemented to encourage voters to familiarize themselves with the entire ballot rather than defaulting to favorite artists/work, and to prevent artists who are listed first alphabetically from having an unfair advantage. ==Performers==