As Harvey told Variety amid the uproar, “Y’know, it really just comes down to the voting body that decides. We have eight nomination slots to fill in [the Big Four categories: Best Album, Song, Record and New Artist], five in others, and the voters vote for their favorites.” He explained that a committee of about 20 music professionals makes the call for the Big Four, whittling down a shortlist of the “20 top vote-getters in the general field” to even shorter lists.
“The people in that room care: there’s no agendas in there, there’s no ‘let’s snub this person’ or that person. It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence,'” he explained. “Also, you have to remember that committee can’t vote on something that’s not there.” Though he wouldn’t comment on whether The Weeknd made the initial shortlist, Harvey did admit that the omission didn’t seem, to him, to be reason enough to question their process.
“We look at it every year and make tweaks and revisions to the process; we did it this year, last year, we’ll do it next year. And I don’t think this calls it into question, honestly. The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence. I was in the ‘core room’ this year [which decides the Big Four] and I observed,” he continued. “They were critically listening to every song that came across their desks—or virtual desks—so I don’t think it shows a flaw in the process.”
