Taylor Swift could make history on Sunday if she wins music’s most coveted prize, album of the year, for a fourth time — becoming the first artist to do so since the Grammy Awards were created in the 1950s and leaping ahead of legends like Frank Sinatra.
Behind her commercial and cultural triumphs, however, is a music industry that feels far less assured this year.
Swift was already the toast of Los Angeles this week, as music’s most influential executives and artists gathered for events surrounding the industry’s biggest night. In addition to the ceremony’s glitz and red carpets, the Grammy Awards hold business implications, with winning artists usually receiving a boost to sales and streams as well as more leverage in future contracts.