What makes up a Grammy winner? Is it having high streaming numbers, critical acclaim, or a track that nobody can get out of their head? With the 2025 Grammy Awards just around the corner, music fans across all genres are buzzing with their theories about who they think will walk home with the prized golden gramophone.

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Grammy Categories Explained

The Recording Academy currently votes in 94 different categories, each designed to recognize artists, songwriters, producers, or other musical contributors in different genres and areas of music production. These categories are divided between genre-specific sections, such as pop, rock, r&b, or jazz, and general categories, which are open to all types of artists. The general categories include Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and the highly coveted Album of the Year.

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Best New Artist

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The Best New Artist category awards an artist who has experienced a musical breakthrough during the eligibility period. Unlike what the name suggests, "new artist" does not only mean someone who is in their first few years of making music; instead, it refers to an artist who has finally begun to achieve significant mainstream attention or acclaim for the first time. Notable previous winners include Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Victoria Monét.

This year the nominees for best new artist are Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims.

Of these artists, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims are the only ones to earn a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and Sabrina Carpenter is the only one to earn a number one album on the Billboard 200 chart. From a charting perspective, it seems like Sabrina Carpenter is the strongest contender to win. However, charts are not the only factor that goes into the decision about who will win. All of the nominated artists have been pushing boundaries and experimenting with new sounds and musical techniques, so they all have a shot at winning.

Record of the Year

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The Record of the Year category awards the artists, producers, and engineers of a song that has outstanding music production and performance. In previous years, they have awarded this Grammy to the contributors of songs like “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and “Leave the Door Open” by Silk Sonic.

This year the nominees include “Now and Then” by The Beatles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “360” by Charli XCX, “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar.

From a commercial standpoint, “Not Like Us," “Fortnight,” “Texas Hold 'Em," “Espresso,” “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Birds of a Feather” were all highly successful songs that people proved to enjoy based off of the song’s sales and streaming numbers. However, from a recording standpoint, “360” and “Now and Then” utilized complex production techniques, with the latter using AI to isolate the vocals of the deceased members of the band. With all of these songs having their own unique strengths, it will truly be a surprise who wins this category, but I believe The Beatles legacy will leave them to be crowned the winner.

Song of the Year

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Not to be confused with the previously mentioned Record of the Year, Song of the Year only awards the songwriters of a song rather than all of the contributors. It focuses on the melody and lyrics of a song to determine who will win. Previous winners include “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and “That's What I Like” by Bruno Mars.

This year, the nominees are “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone, “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey, “Good Luck Babe!” by Chappell Roan, “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, and “Texas Hold 'Em” by Beyoncé.

All of these songs have either hard-hitting lyrics, catchy melodies, or both. Despite this, only one song will win. To determine who has the strongest chance, it is important to look at their previous winning history.

For Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Sabrina Carpenter, it is there first year being nominated for any Grammy award, including Song of the Year. For Taylor Swift, she has been nominated for this award 8 times, yet never won. While it could be these artists first win, it is not as likely because of their lack of prior Grammy history.

Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé both have solid chances because of how recognizable their lyrics and melodies were, but they are not as likely to win as the other candidates because Bruno Mars and Billie Eilish are notorious for their ability to win Grammys. Billie Eilish has already won Song of the Year twice before, so if she wins this year, she will become the first artist in history to win this award three times. Nevertheless, Bruno Mars has not lost a Grammy in 9 years, so it is unlikely that this year will break his streak.

Album of the Year

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The Album of the Year category highlights an album's overall impact, cohesiveness, production, artistry, and storytelling. This award recognizes the recording artist, producers, sound engineers, mixers, and other contributors involved in the making of the album. Some previous winners are Midnights by Taylor Swift, Harry's House by Harry Styles, and We Are by Jon Batiste.

This year the nominees are Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé, New Blue Sun by André 3000, Djesse Vol. 4 by Jacob Collier, Short n' Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter, The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan, Brat by Charli XCX, and Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish.

This year there is an abundance of pop album nominations in this category. One consequence of this is "vote-splitting.” This is when the members of the Recording Academy who typically vote for pop albums all decide to vote for different albums. This causes no pop album to end up with the majority needed to win.

Since this is likely to occur this year either Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé or New Blue Sun by André 3000 will end up winning. However, one important factor for Album of the Year is cohesiveness, so with a grand total of 27 tracks, Cowboy Carter is unlikely to win. This leaves New Blue Sun by André 3000 as the most likely to earn the title of Album of the Year.

Make sure to tune in to watch the Grammy Awards on February 2nd to see which of these predictions come true!