As usual the announcement of the nominees for the Reggae category of the GRAMMYS has caused the now familiar flurry of comments from members of the local Reggae community and entertainment media. The nominees for the 2007 Best Reggae Album category of the GRAMMYS are: "Too Bad" by Buju Banton, "Love Is My Religion" by Ziggy Marley, "Youth" by Matisyahu, "Rhythm Doubles" by Sly and Robbie and "Who You Fighting For" by UB 40. Already we have seen media reports making mention of certain projects being omitted as well as comments from local artists and producers expressing their views on the GRAMMYS. One thing is for certain, the GRAMMYS attract more attention and comments than any other music award, and therefore, despite the comments it is clear that it does mean something to our artists.

Music awards are a very important aspect of the international music industry. It is therefore necessary for steps to be taken by performers, composers and producers of music as well as the media and management representatives who support their recordings to inform themselves and get involved in the process. A better understanding of the process by which entries are submitted, nominations decided and winners selected is required. Without knowledge and active participation we will continue to be on the fringe, either shouting from the galleries or making disgruntled comments.

And how does the GRAMMYS work? I would strongly recommend that readers of this article take a look at the web site for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS), which is the entity established for determining how entries are submitted and nominees and winners chosen. The NARAS website is located at www.grammy.com. What is clear with the GRAMMYS is that performers, producers, songwriters, managers and label executives need to become members of the Academy to be able to have a say and influence the process of selecting winners. You are not required to be a citizen of the USA to become a member of the Academy.

As far as the Jamaican and Reggae music industry is concerned, I think we need to come together to establish our own internationally recognized music awards that cater specifically to the Reggae music genre in much the same way as Hip Hop, Country, Latin and other genres have done.

There are many models out there for music awards. Some awards are developed by media entities such as MTV, Billboard, BET and Source Magazine, and winners are determined by popularity through public voting participation. The GRAMMYS are based on voting by persons from within the recording industry and is not in any way based on chart success or record sales.

There have been a number of awards that have sought to cater in varying degrees to the Jamaican and Reggae music community. At present, with the exception of the awards presented annually by the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, no such award exists inside of Jamaica. On the international level there are two recognized music awards that feature Reggae and Jamaican music, the Reggae Soca Music Awards held annually in South Florida and the Martins International Reggae and World Music Awards originating out of Chicago. As the names of these indicate they are dedicated to Reggae, Soca and World Beat music. They are not specific to Reggae.