The Recording Academy has completed its annual awards review and established new amendments and key dates guiding the 59th Annual Grammy Awards process. Among other changes, the updates allow previously ineligible streaming-only works into the process and limit the number of categories in which members may vote. The new guidelines go into effect immediately in the current-year awards cycle.

“The Grammys aren’t just peer-awarded, they’re peer-driven. Throughout the year, members of the music community come to us asking to make changes to the Awards process, and we work with them to figure out how those changes might work,” said Bill Freimuth, SVP of Awards for The Recording Academy. “I’m proud of this year’s changes because they’re a testament to the artists, producers, writers – the people who rolled up their sleeves to shape the proposals and, in turn, the future of the Grammys. It’s exactly what they should be doing. It’s their award.”

The eligibility period runs from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. Nominations will be announced December 6, 2016 and the Grammys will be handed out on February 12, 2017 on CBS.

Previous eligibility guidelines required recordings to be commercially available via general distribution or digital recordings/downloads, thereby precluding works released solely through streaming services. The eligibility guidelines have been revised to include recordings released via streaming platforms.

Additionally, the number of categories in which Academy members may vote has decreased from 20 to 15, plus the four General Field categories (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist).

The Academy’s Best New Artist rules have been amended to “remove the album barrier given current trends in how new music and developing artists are released and promoted.” To be eligible in the category of Best New Artist, the artist, duo, or group must have released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album, but no more than 30 singles/tracks or three albums. They also may not have entered into this category more than three times, including as a performing member of an established group. Additionally, a new artist “must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the eligibility period.”

Also, the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category has been renamed and redefined as Best Rap/Sung Performance to “represent the current state and future trajectory of rap by expanding the category beyond collaborations between rappers and vocalists to include recordings by a solo artist who blurs the lines between rapping and singing.”

Finally, the Best Blues Album category has been split into Best Traditional Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Album.