Friends, humor me for a moment, please. I have a few quick questions that I feel I should know the answers to but clearly do not.

First, Warner Brothers never marketed Prince as a "Rock" artist, correct?

Second, did Warner Brothers market Purple Rain as a "Rock" album?

Third, did Warner Brothers submit the Purple Rain album to the Grammy committee as a "Rock" album or did the committee place artists and songs in categories without the input of record companies? The album won for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal."

If you are not absolutely certain, please refrain from answering unless you want to point me in the right direction for answers.

Thanks!

Groovy1 said:

Friends, humor me for a moment, please. I have a few quick questions that I feel I should know the answers to but clearly do not.

First, Warner Brothers never marketed Prince as a "Rock" artist, correct?

Second, did Warner Brothers market Purple Rain as a "Rock" album?

Third, did Warner Brothers submit the Purple Rain album to the Grammy committee as a "Rock" album or did the committee place artists and songs in categories without the input of record companies? The album won for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal."

If you are not absolutely certain, please refrain from answering unless you want to point me in the right direction for answers.

Thanks!

No, WBR never marketed Prince as "Rock" artist. Up until and through Purple Rain, he was marked exclusively as a "black" or "R&B" artist.

WBR did not market Purple Rain as a "Rock" album. It was marketed as a pop album, as 1999 had been.

Grammy nominations are submitted by the record companies, but nominations to the various Grammy categories are screened and verified by an expert committee.

I'm sure some of this has changed since 1984, but probably only insofar as the definition of categories themselves. They would have been much more rigid in 1984, particularly with regard to race.

GRAMMY Awards Voting Process

EnDoRpHn said:

Groovy1 said:

Friends, humor me for a moment, please. I have a few quick questions that I feel I should know the answers to but clearly do not.

First, Warner Brothers never marketed Prince as a "Rock" artist, correct?

Second, did Warner Brothers market Purple Rain as a "Rock" album?

Third, did Warner Brothers submit the Purple Rain album to the Grammy committee as a "Rock" album or did the committee place artists and songs in categories without the input of record companies? The album won for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal."

If you are not absolutely certain, please refrain from answering unless you want to point me in the right direction for answers.

Thanks!

No, WBR never marketed Prince as "Rock" artist. Up until and through Purple Rain, he was marked exclusively as a "black" or "R&B" artist.

WBR did not market Purple Rain as a "Rock" album. It was marketed as a pop album, as 1999 had been.

Grammy nominations are submitted by the record companies, but nominations to the various Grammy categories are screened and verified by an expert committee.

I'm sure some of this has changed since 1984, but probably only insofar as the definition of categories themselves. They would have been much more rigid in 1984, particularly with regard to race.

GRAMMY Awards Voting Process

Thanks! So, it seems that WB would have had to nominate the album in the Rock category and it passed the Grammy screening process for that category. Why was it slotted in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category in neithr Prince nor the album was marketed as Rock? I don't have a problem with the categorization but I wonder how it came about. Thanks again for your help!

In record stores he was always in the R&B section but they also had a top 20 or top 40 area too and his latest album would usually be there.