2027 Grammy Awards: Song of the Year Leads Categories With Highest Number of Submissions

The race for the 2027 Grammy Awards is gathering momentum, with new figures revealing the categories attracting the highest number of submissions ahead of music’s biggest annual celebration. Song of the Year tops the list with 923 entries, followed by Record of the Year with 779 and Album of the Year with 683. The figures highlight the intense competition facing artists, songwriters and music professionals hoping to secure nominations at the 69th Grammy Awards.

Best Music Video ranks fourth with 645 submissions, while Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, attracted 531 entries. Best Global Music Performance follows with 526, placing it among the most heavily contested categories. The newly introduced Best Latin Song category also recorded a strong debut, attracting 519 submissions in its first year.

Other categories with high submission numbers include Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, with 471 entries; Best Jazz Performance, with 449; Best American Roots Song, with 411; Best Instrumental Composition, with 405; and Best Rock Performance, with 385. Best Americana Performance received 340 entries, while Best American Roots Performance recorded 339. Best New Artist rounded out the top 15 with 331 submissions.

Despite the strong numbers in the major categories, some experienced a decline compared with the previous Grammy cycle. Song of the Year fell from 1,015 entries to 923, while Record of the Year dropped from 894 to 779. Album of the Year received 683 submissions, slightly down from 686, and Best New Artist decreased from 337 to 331. However, Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, rose to 216 entries from 195, while Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical, increased from 63 to 74.

The 2027 awards season also features new categories introduced by the Recording Academy to recognise a broader range of music and creative work. Alongside Best Latin Song, new categories include Best Asian Pop Music Performance, Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The Best Folk Album category has also been split into Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Traditional Folk Album.

The figures show that competition varies considerably across the awards. Song of the Year has more than 20 times the number of entries recorded for Best Opera Recording, which received 43 submissions, the lowest total among the categories listed. However, submission numbers alone do not determine who will be nominated or win; the outcome depends on the Academy’s voting process.

First round voting opened on October 12 and is scheduled to close on October 22, 2026. The nominations are expected to be announced on November 16, while the winners of the 69th Grammy Awards will be revealed on February 7, 2027, in Los Angeles. As voting continues, attention will turn to which entries progress to the final nominations and which artists emerge as leading contenders.