Music’s Biggest Night is set to return in a big way. Mark your calendars for Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, when the 68th GRAMMY Awards will broadcast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Nominations will be revealed on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, and from there, the countdown begins.
But this isn’t just another GRAMMY season — it’s a signal that the Recording Academy is actively listening, learning, and evolving with the times. Two new categories — Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover — have officially been added to the awards roster. These updates aren’t just cosmetic; they reflect deep conversations among Academy members and a growing awareness that the musical landscape is more nuanced and diverse than ever before.
In an exclusive with GRAMMY.com, Mason underscored how essential these changes are. The goal isn’t simply more categories — it’s about more meaningful celebration. From revisiting what “Best New Artist” can mean, to broadening eligibility for packaging categories that reflect the real-life way music is sold today (yes, direct-to-fan vinyl counts now), the GRAMMYs are trying to meet the moment. And in 2026, the moment is big.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the key updates:
- General Field
- Eligibility for Best New Artist has been expanded to include artists who have been previously nominated in Album Of The Year, but whose contributions fell below the current 20 percent playing time threshold. This update allows acts who were credited as featured artists on projects that were GRAMMY nominated for Album Of The Year in a previous awards cycle to be eligible for Best New Artist consideration.
- Country Field
- The existing Best Country Album Category has been renamed Best Contemporary Country Album, and a new Category, Best Traditional Country Album, has been added.
- Classical Field
- In Classical Categories, composers and lyricists/librettists are now eligible for GRAMMY recognition alongside all other key creative personnel including artists, producers, and engineers on winning albums.
- Packaging Field
- The existing Best Recording Package and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Categories have been combined into one single Category: Best Recording Package. A new Category, Best Album Cover, has also been added.
- The physical product eligibility requirement for Best Recording Package, Best Album Notes, and Best Historical Album has also been expanded to be more representative of today’s marketplace. This change ensures that physical album packages sold directly to fans through an artist’s or label’s website are eligible for GRAMMY consideration.
- Additionally, the Craft Committee serving in this field is transitioning from a regional to a national model.
Each rule tweak, redefinition, and category addition is a step toward recognizing the evolving ways music is made, consumed, and shared.
Stay tuned to live.GRAMMY.com for full coverage and updates on this year’s show, and get ready to celebrate the artists, the innovators, the visuals, the songs — and yes, the album covers — that made 2025 unforgettable.