The Recording Academy has revealed the key dates, deadlines and rule amendments for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, taking place on Sun, February 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with nominations set to be announced on Fri, November 7, 2025.
Following its annual board meeting, it has also announced several new awards and changes to the awards process, effective immediately.
The Grammys also announced a few updates to its rules and categories for this year’s awards, with the full list of updates available in the Recording Academy’s rulebook.
In the country category, there will be a new award for best traditional country album, and the current best country album category will be renamed to best contemporary country album.
In the general field, the Academy has changed a rule for the best new artist category so that artists who were previously featured on a record nominated for album of the year can still be nominated for best new artist if their contributions on the album were 20 percent or less.
In the packaging field, the Academy is introducing a new category for best album cover, while best recording package and best boxed or special limited edition package are being consolidated into one category. And in the classical category, the Academy said “composers and lyricists/librettists are now eligible for GRAMMY recognition alongside all other key creative personnel including artists, producers, and engineers on winning albums.”
Music released between August 31, 2024 and August 30, 2025 will be eligible for Grammy consideration for the 68th Grammy Awards.
The online entry period will run from July 16 to August 29, The Academy said. The first round of voting will run from October 3 through October 15, with nominations announced November 7, and the final round of Grammy voting runs from December 12 to January 5, 2026.
“The Academy’s top priority is to represent the music people that we serve each year,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. “That entails listening carefully to our members to make sure our rules and guidelines reflect today’s music and allow us to accurately recognize as many deserving creators as possible. As we kick off another exciting Grammy Season, we look forward to celebrating the amazing power of music and its ability to bring so many people together.”
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