Grammy Smith

A hatful of hollow, this year’s Grammys was all about the Smiths– Sam Smith in particular, who walked away with four awards. Smith was named Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (For ‘Stay With Me’) and Best Pop Vocal Album (for ‘In The Lonely Hour’) at the ceremony held at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles this week.

Beck also walked away with multiple awards for Album of the Year (Morning Phase) and Best Rock Album- despite a well-documented pseudo stage invasion from Kanye West.

Despite Kanye’s now predictable grievances, Beyoncé was nominated for six Grammys, winning Best R&B performance and Best R&B Song for Drunk In Love, and Best Surround Sound Album whilst Pharrell Williams walked away with Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Video for Happy, and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Girl.

The awards were telecast for over three and a half hours, and included over 25 live performances including AC/DC, Madonna, Katy Perry and Beyoncé.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier accepted the 2015 Grammy Salute To Industry Icons award, interestingly using his speech to address the remuneration of songwriters in the digital age: “The music industry is changing in ways that I could never have imagined even just a decade ago. It is exciting for us that this has resulted in music lovers having new ways to listen to music as they move from CDs and digital downloads to streaming services. But it is also the case that songwriters are not being adequately compensated for their creations in today’s digital world. Their songs are the very reason these services exist; their songs are why we are all here tonight. As the saying goes, it all starts with the song”.

Sam Smith commented that he was “having a really, really great night”- proof that insurrection still looms large in pop music.

To see a complete list of winners go to the Grammy site here.