After expanding the Big Four categories to include 10 nominees apiece in 2022, The Recording Academy has reversed the change for the 2024 Grammys. That brings it back to eight nominees in each of Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Recording of the Year, and Best New Artist. (Until 2018, there were just five nominees apiece in those categories.) The number of nominees under the Album of the Year banner will further dwindle thanks to a new eligibility rule: A featured musician, producer, songwriter, or engineer on an album will need credits on at least 20 percent of a nominated album to get the nod. For 2022, that percentage had fallen from the usual 33 percent to zero, meaning any contributor would get in on the nomination. 

Earlier this week, the Academy added three new categories: Best Alternative Jazz Album, Best Pop Dance Recording, and Best African Music Performance. Two categories—producer of the year, nonclassical; and the recently added songwriter of the year, nonclassical—have also been moved into the general field, meaning all voting members can vote on them. Those are the first additions to the general field since 1959.