The Latin Grammys get closer to cinema with the new best music for visual media category

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The Latin Grammys are getting closer to cinema and television with the new best music for visual media category.

The new category announced Wednesday will recognize original music for movies, TV shows, video games and other visual media. For a project to participate in this category, it must feature Latin rhythms or be composed by someone of Ibero American descent.

“It is a category that we had been analyzing for almost three years,” Luis Dousdebes, the Latin Recording Academy's chief awards, membership & preservation officer, told The Associated Press. “We were told 'there is a lot of production here that is being orphaned a little in the process.’”

After analyzing statistical information, meeting the Latin creators of music for visual media and finding the necessary experts for the committee that will vote in the category, the academy decided to create the category.

“We know that in the near future it will mutate into other categories and, logically, it will be differentiated between soundtracks, music for video games, best song, all sort of things,” Dousdebes said.

The Latin Grammys will also add a best roots song category. This award will go to the songwriters of new, unpublished recordings that reflect the traditions and roots of various communities, cultures, or social groups, especially those of Hispanic American origin, whether in Spanish, Portuguese or Indigenous languages or dialects.

The changes are immediate and will be effective for the 26th edition of the Latin Grammys to be handed out in November in Miami.

Among other changes announced by the Latin Recording Academy, the best pop vocal album category will be renamed best contemporary pop album and the best Latin children’s album will now become best children’s album.

The best urban/urban fusion performance category has a new name, and its criteria has also changed. Now, remixes are eligible only if the original version of the song was released within the same eligibility year. The required percentage of urban elements has increased from 51% to 60% to qualify in this category.

The songwriter of the year category reduced its minimum song threshold from six songs to four, and the best long form music video category now has a minimum duration of 12 minutes (not including the credits, unless they contribute to the creative process).

The screening and voting process for the producer of the year category was also modified to be recognized as a craft, and thus, will now be screened and voted on by a specialized committee in addition to the membership screening and voting process.