A few weeks ago, the 64th annual Grammy Awards took place. Held to showcase the very best in music from the previous year, the Grammys have recently become the subject of scrutiny. Just this year, there were multiple controversies in the months leading up to the awards, most notably surrounding artists like comedian and singer-songwriter Bo Burnham who weren’t nominated in categories in which their fans thought they deserved to be nominated. There have also been several debates over which genres certain works should be nominated for, and even where the separation should be between genres themselves.

To many, the biggest fault in recent years of the Recording Academy, the collective of music professionals that hosts the Grammys, was neglecting to nominate singer-songwriter The Weeknd for any awards at the 63rd annual Awards in 2021, which followed the release of his critically acclaimed album After Hours. The Weeknd later called the Academy “corrupt” for this and announced that he would not be submitting any of his future works to them.

Even prior to the last couple of years, the Grammys had been criticized for “snubbing” artists who were nominated but lost to “worse” nominees, or who weren’t nominated for a certain award in the first place. Some of these snubs are still talked about to this day, and it would take multiple pages to describe them all.

Despite these controversies and criticisms that keep piling up, people still pay attention to the Grammys, with the most recent show receiving an increase in viewers from the previous year. Whether people watch to see their favorite artists perform live or just to see who wins, it is indisputable that the awards have remained a mainstay of the music world. On top of this, the Grammys remain an event that sparks discussion about music and brings attention to rising artists. With all of this said, the question remains: should the Grammys remain a cornerstone of culture the way they are, be significantly changed in order to adapt to modern expectations, or be ended entirely?

To keep it brief, my personal opinion on all of this is that I don’t care. I’ll look up the winners after the Awards end and might even watch some of the performances, but ultimately I couldn’t care less about the Grammys. I don’t think they should be completely canceled, but I also don’t think they need to remain such a huge deal. To answer the question posed by the title, you should care about the Grammys if you want to, but shouldn’t put too much focus on who wins and who doesn’t; ultimately forming your own opinion about music is what matters.