Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording

History

Though she was not the first to suggest that the genre be recognized officially, Ellyn Harris and her Committee for the Advancement of Dance Music lobbied for more than two years to encourage the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to acknowledge dance music. Some Academy members debated whether dance music, with its heavy use of layering, remixing, "lack of melody or verse", and numerous varieties, was truly considered music. Others were concerned that dance music was not a long-lasting genre, fearing the category would face retirement much like the award for Best Disco Recording, which was presented for one year only at the 22nd Grammy Awards in 1980.

In 1998, Harris' efforts paid off when the Academy first presented the award to Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder at the 40th Grammy Awards for the song "Carry On". While the Academy had once been quoted as saying that "they considered dance music as something pop artists had created in their most frivolous moments", Ivan Bernstein, executive director of the organization's Florida branch, insisted that an award for excellence in dance music would not exist "if there were concerns about excellence".

Starting from the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022, the category was renamed from Best Dance Recording to Best Dance/Electronic Recording. Starting from the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024, a sister category Best Dance Pop Recording, was established in order to prevent well-established pop artists who incorporate dance music into their work from dominating the category over dedicated dance acts.

Criticism

Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys has criticised the award, saying "there's always been a sense that people just think you've pressed a few buttons rather than do real music, the Grammys [...] kind of diss two huge massive genres at the same time by putting them together".

Writing for Mixmag, Annabel Ross noted a lack of gender and racial diversity associated with the award, claiming that one "might assume, judging by the winners and nominees [in the category] that the best dance music is made by white people (mostly men), and that commercial success is a marker of quality".

Recipients

Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Artists with multiple wins

;4 wins

• Skrillex ;2 wins
• Diplo
• Justin Timberlake
• The Chemical Brothers

Artists with multiple nominations

;6 nominations

• Disclosure

;5 nominations

• Bonobo
• The Chemical Brothers
• Fred Again
• Madonna
• Skrillex

;4 nominations

• Daft Punk
• Diplo
• David Guetta
• Kaytranada
• Kylie Minogue

;3 nominations

• Gloria Estefan
• Lady Gaga
• Rihanna
• Rüfüs Du Sol

;2 nominations

• Above & Beyond
• Avicii
• Basement Jaxx
• Britney Spears
• Calvin Harris
• Cher
• Depeche Mode
• Donna Summer
• Duke Dumont
• Fatboy Slim
• Flume
• Goldfrapp
• Groove Armada
• James Blake
• Jennifer Lopez
• Justice
• Justin Timberlake
• LCD Soundsystem
• Pet Shop Boys
• Robyn
• Swedish House Mafia
• Tame Impala

References

;General

• Note: User must select the "Dance" category as the genre under the search feature.

;Specific

References

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