The end of the calendar year always signifies the start of something great (and greatly overwhelming) — the precursor to the madness that is awards season: the nominations. On Friday, Dec. 7, the Academy released its list highlighting the best of music in 2018, and as per usual, there were a fair number of surprises and snubs. Perhaps one of the most eyebrow-raising omissions, however, was that of Taylor Swift, known to be a Grammys darling and an all-around awards show staple.
Swift’s latest album, reputation, often referred to as her most “divisive” album yet, was handed a paltry single nomination this year, for Best Pop Vocal Album; she was shut out of the big four categories completely. It’s a head-scratching reality, especially since Swift’s reputation garnered so much airtime this past year. She was Spotify’s No. 4 most-streamed female artist this year, and was No. 10 on iHeart Radio’s artists of the year.
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She is one of only two women on the Forbes’ list of top-earning musicians in 2018 (Katy Perry is the other female artist, having raked in $83 million this past year to Swift’s $80 million). And, importantly, her album was ranked No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums, and she was named their No. 4 top artist of the year.
All these numbers and rankings didn’t seem to translate into Grammy nominations, however. But where there’s a will, there’s a way: Swift still has the chance to fill up her trophy case with other hardware. Earlier this year, it was announced that Swift would take a turn on the big screen as part of an all-star cast of Cats, joining the likes of Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba and James Corden, just to name a few famous faces. So perhaps she’ll have better luck on the Golden Globes and Oscars circuit next year?