Grammy Award for Best Music Film | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Quality long form music videos |
Country | United States |
Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
First awarded | 1984 |
Currently held by | Moonage Daydream ( 2024) |
Website | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, [1] to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs.
Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". [2] In order to qualify for this category, concert/performance films or music documentaries must be released theatrically or for sale to the public for the first time or first appearing on television or online during the current eligibility year. Dramatic feature films and biopics are not eligible. [3]
Prior to 2024, films were only considered eligible for this category if they featured a minimum of 51% performance-based material. As of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, this requirement has been removed entirely. [4]
The category was preceded by the Grammy Award for Video of the Year, which was presented in 1982 and 1983, awarding long form videos (or video albums as they were known back then) in the budding music video market. Along with the similar honor Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, this award was first presented in 1984. From 1984 to 1985, the accolade was known as Best Video Album, but in 1986, it was renamed to Best Music Video, Long Form. From 1998 to 2012, it was named Best Long Form Music Video, [5] [6] [7] before changing to Best Music Film since 2013.
In 1988 and 1989, the award criteria were changed and the video accolades were presented under the categories Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance Music Video. The awards were returned to the original format in 1990. Except in 1988 and 1989, the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video recipients included the artists, directors, and producers associated with the winning videos. The Best Music Film category is one of two categories in the Best Music Video/Film Field. The other one is Best Music Video, which recognizes stand-alone videos of one song or performance. In 2024, the Field was abolished and both categories were moved to a Children's, Comedy, Audio Book Narration & Storytelling, Visual Media & Music Video/Film Field.
Singers Madonna and Sting hold the record for the most wins as a performer in this category, with two each, while there have been three films about the Beatles among the winners. However, in two instances, the Beatles were not recognized as individual winners. To date, three directors won the award twice: David Mallet, Jonas Akerlund and Bob Smeaton. Beyoncé holds the record for the most nominations with five. The British pop rock group Eurythmics and Coldplay hold the record for the most nominations as a performer without a win, with three each. Although Beyoncé also held four losing nominations, she won with her fourth nomination with Homecoming in 2020.
In 1984 and 1985, only the artists were presented with an award. In 1986 the award went to the artist(s) and the video director(s). From 1987 onwards, the award has been presented to the artist(s), video director(s) and video producer(s). (Nominations list performing artists only).
Year [I] | Work(s) | Performing artist(s) | Director(s) and Producer(s) [II] | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Duran Duran | Duran Duran | — | [8] | |
1985 | Making Michael Jackson's Thriller | Michael Jackson | — |
|
[9] |
1986 | Huey Lewis & The News: The Heart of Rock 'n Roll | Huey Lewis and the News |
|
|
[10] |
1987 | Bring On the Night | Sting |
|
|
[11] |
1988 | — [III] | — | — | — | [12] |
1989 | — [III] | — | — | — | [13] |
1990 | Rhythm Nation 1814 | Janet Jackson |
|
|
[14] |
1991 | Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em: The Movie | MC Hammer |
|
|
[15] |
1992 | Madonna: Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90 | Madonna |
|
|
[16] |
1993 | Diva | Annie Lennox |
|
|
[17] |
1994 | Ten Summoner's Tales | Sting |
|
|
[18] |
1995 | Zoo TV: Live from Sydney | U2 |
|
|
[18] |
1996 | Secret World Live | Peter Gabriel |
|
|
[19] |
1997 | The Beatles Anthology | The Beatles |
|
|
[20] |
1998 | Jagged Little Pill, Live | Alanis Morissette |
|
|
[21] |
1999 | American Masters: Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart | Lou Reed |
|
|
[22] |
2000 | Band of Gypsys: Live at Fillmore East | Jimi Hendrix IV |
|
|
[23] |
2001 | Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album | John Lennon IV |
|
|
[24] |
2002 | Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks | Mel Brooks |
|
|
[25] |
2003 | Westway to the World | The Clash |
|
|
[26] |
2004 | Legend | Sam Cooke IV |
|
|
[27] |
2005 | Concert for George | Various artists IV |
|
|
[28] |
2006 | No Direction Home | Bob Dylan IV |
|
|
[29] |
2007 | Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run | Bruce Springsteen |
|
|
[18] |
2008 | The Confessions Tour | Madonna |
|
|
[18] |
2009 | Runnin' Down a Dream | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers |
|
|
[18] |
2010 | The Beatles Love – All Together Now | The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil IV |
|
|
[18] |
2011 | When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors | The Doors IV |
|
|
[30] |
2012 | Back and Forth | Foo Fighters |
|
|
|
2013 | Big Easy Express | Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show |
|
|
|
2014 | Live Kisses | Paul McCartney |
|
|
|
2015 | 20 Feet from Stardom ≈ | Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill |
|
|
|
2016 | Amy ≈ | Amy Winehouse IV |
|
|
|
2017 | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years | The Beatles IV |
|
|
|
2018 | The Defiant Ones | Various artists IV |
|
|
[31] |
2019 | Quincy | Quincy Jones |
|
|
[32] |
2020 | Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé | Beyoncé |
|
|
[33] |
2021 | The Sound of My Voice | Linda Ronstadt |
|
|
[34] |
2022 | Summer of Soul ≈ | Various Artists IV |
|
|
[35] |
2023 | Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story | Various Artists IV |
|
|
[36] |
2024 | Moonage Daydream | David Bowie IV | Brett Morgen, video director and video producer |
|
[37] |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^[II] Director(s) are only indicated if they were presented a Grammy Award.
^[III] Award was not presented. Music video categories presented that year included
Best Concept Music Video and
Best Performance Music Video.
^[IV] Award not presented to the performing artist (only to video director(s) and video producer(s))
^[V] Director unknown; award presented to video producers only
Grammy Award for Best Music Film | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Quality long form music videos |
Country | United States |
Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
First awarded | 1984 |
Currently held by | Moonage Daydream ( 2024) |
Website | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, [1] to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs.
Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". [2] In order to qualify for this category, concert/performance films or music documentaries must be released theatrically or for sale to the public for the first time or first appearing on television or online during the current eligibility year. Dramatic feature films and biopics are not eligible. [3]
Prior to 2024, films were only considered eligible for this category if they featured a minimum of 51% performance-based material. As of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, this requirement has been removed entirely. [4]
The category was preceded by the Grammy Award for Video of the Year, which was presented in 1982 and 1983, awarding long form videos (or video albums as they were known back then) in the budding music video market. Along with the similar honor Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, this award was first presented in 1984. From 1984 to 1985, the accolade was known as Best Video Album, but in 1986, it was renamed to Best Music Video, Long Form. From 1998 to 2012, it was named Best Long Form Music Video, [5] [6] [7] before changing to Best Music Film since 2013.
In 1988 and 1989, the award criteria were changed and the video accolades were presented under the categories Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance Music Video. The awards were returned to the original format in 1990. Except in 1988 and 1989, the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video recipients included the artists, directors, and producers associated with the winning videos. The Best Music Film category is one of two categories in the Best Music Video/Film Field. The other one is Best Music Video, which recognizes stand-alone videos of one song or performance. In 2024, the Field was abolished and both categories were moved to a Children's, Comedy, Audio Book Narration & Storytelling, Visual Media & Music Video/Film Field.
Singers Madonna and Sting hold the record for the most wins as a performer in this category, with two each, while there have been three films about the Beatles among the winners. However, in two instances, the Beatles were not recognized as individual winners. To date, three directors won the award twice: David Mallet, Jonas Akerlund and Bob Smeaton. Beyoncé holds the record for the most nominations with five. The British pop rock group Eurythmics and Coldplay hold the record for the most nominations as a performer without a win, with three each. Although Beyoncé also held four losing nominations, she won with her fourth nomination with Homecoming in 2020.
In 1984 and 1985, only the artists were presented with an award. In 1986 the award went to the artist(s) and the video director(s). From 1987 onwards, the award has been presented to the artist(s), video director(s) and video producer(s). (Nominations list performing artists only).
Year [I] | Work(s) | Performing artist(s) | Director(s) and Producer(s) [II] | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Duran Duran | Duran Duran | — | [8] | |
1985 | Making Michael Jackson's Thriller | Michael Jackson | — |
|
[9] |
1986 | Huey Lewis & The News: The Heart of Rock 'n Roll | Huey Lewis and the News |
|
|
[10] |
1987 | Bring On the Night | Sting |
|
|
[11] |
1988 | — [III] | — | — | — | [12] |
1989 | — [III] | — | — | — | [13] |
1990 | Rhythm Nation 1814 | Janet Jackson |
|
|
[14] |
1991 | Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em: The Movie | MC Hammer |
|
|
[15] |
1992 | Madonna: Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90 | Madonna |
|
|
[16] |
1993 | Diva | Annie Lennox |
|
|
[17] |
1994 | Ten Summoner's Tales | Sting |
|
|
[18] |
1995 | Zoo TV: Live from Sydney | U2 |
|
|
[18] |
1996 | Secret World Live | Peter Gabriel |
|
|
[19] |
1997 | The Beatles Anthology | The Beatles |
|
|
[20] |
1998 | Jagged Little Pill, Live | Alanis Morissette |
|
|
[21] |
1999 | American Masters: Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart | Lou Reed |
|
|
[22] |
2000 | Band of Gypsys: Live at Fillmore East | Jimi Hendrix IV |
|
|
[23] |
2001 | Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album | John Lennon IV |
|
|
[24] |
2002 | Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks | Mel Brooks |
|
|
[25] |
2003 | Westway to the World | The Clash |
|
|
[26] |
2004 | Legend | Sam Cooke IV |
|
|
[27] |
2005 | Concert for George | Various artists IV |
|
|
[28] |
2006 | No Direction Home | Bob Dylan IV |
|
|
[29] |
2007 | Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run | Bruce Springsteen |
|
|
[18] |
2008 | The Confessions Tour | Madonna |
|
|
[18] |
2009 | Runnin' Down a Dream | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers |
|
|
[18] |
2010 | The Beatles Love – All Together Now | The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil IV |
|
|
[18] |
2011 | When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors | The Doors IV |
|
|
[30] |
2012 | Back and Forth | Foo Fighters |
|
|
|
2013 | Big Easy Express | Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show |
|
|
|
2014 | Live Kisses | Paul McCartney |
|
|
|
2015 | 20 Feet from Stardom ≈ | Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill |
|
|
|
2016 | Amy ≈ | Amy Winehouse IV |
|
|
|
2017 | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years | The Beatles IV |
|
|
|
2018 | The Defiant Ones | Various artists IV |
|
|
[31] |
2019 | Quincy | Quincy Jones |
|
|
[32] |
2020 | Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé | Beyoncé |
|
|
[33] |
2021 | The Sound of My Voice | Linda Ronstadt |
|
|
[34] |
2022 | Summer of Soul ≈ | Various Artists IV |
|
|
[35] |
2023 | Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story | Various Artists IV |
|
|
[36] |
2024 | Moonage Daydream | David Bowie IV | Brett Morgen, video director and video producer |
|
[37] |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^[II] Director(s) are only indicated if they were presented a Grammy Award.
^[III] Award was not presented. Music video categories presented that year included
Best Concept Music Video and
Best Performance Music Video.
^[IV] Award not presented to the performing artist (only to video director(s) and video producer(s))
^[V] Director unknown; award presented to video producers only