Less Is More? Grammys Drop Over 30 Categories In Huge Awards Overhaul

If you've ever sat down to watch The Grammys and thought to yourself, "This thing is just too darned long," then today is your lucky day.

The Grammys are eliminating more than 30 categories in the biggest overhaul of the music awards ceremony in over 50 years! Why?

According to Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, "It ups the game in terms of what it takes to receive a Grammy."

In other words, things are about to get a lot more competitive.

No longer will there be gender-specific awards: male and female musicians will now compete head-to-head in categories like "Best Pop Vocal Performance" instead of separating the award into "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance." The same goes for R&B, country, and others that have previously been gender-specific.

Additionally, many of the "fringe" categories will be cut, such as many of the instrumental-only categories, children's spoken-word albums, and hyper-specific genres like Zydeco or Cajun music. All of these types and genres will still be eligible to win in other categories, but it will be more difficult with the extra competition.

What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? On the one hand, it makes winning a Grammy more special, but on the other it all but eliminates the possibility of winning for those who produce niche music.