Every year music fans complain that Grammy voters are out of touch.

Granted it's not as bad as it used to be (remember the absurdity of 1989's hard rock / heavy metal prize going to Jethro Tull over Metallica), but it's still quite apparent when Adele wins the best pop solo performance Grammy for the second year in a row, for a live version of a song released a year earlier (beating Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Carly Rae Jepsen).

Grammy voters love to stick with what’s familiar to them whether it’s an artist or a sound and that could be why the Grammy’s had such a retro feel to them last night. 

You might say "who cares", but it matters, because like it or not, winning a Grammy often lends an artist legitimacy and “the Grammy tally will be used as a measuring stick for future generations to understand the past and when it’s flawed, as it reliably is, it disrupts proper history-writing,” according to an article in this morning’s New York Times. 

If you’re a serious music fan you may want to check out a couple of thought provoking articles from this morning’s Times that delve into “the systemic issues in the Grammy voting pool” and analyze last night results. 

Read Jon Caramanica’s article “Measuring the Present From the Grammy Past” here. 

And Ben Ratliff’s article “New Appreciation for the Old Days” here.