![Airplane [image source: chau nguyen/ http://thedevilhatessweatpants.blogspot.com.au ], crowd ink, crowdink, crowdink.com, crowdink.com.au](https://crowdink.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Chau-airplane-218x150.jpg "5 Reasons You Should Travel Alone")
The 2018 Grammy Award nominations have been released and, after years of calls for more diversity in the nominees, the list is the most diverse it has ever been. For the first time in Grammy history, the list for Album of the Year does not contain a single white male artist, which may anger some music fans but is certainly admirable recognition of the diverse range of artists in the music industry. The changes to the nominee list can be attributed to one change in the voting system: for the first time, ballots were cast online, rather than on paper.
To be eligible to vote, members must be music industry professionals with a series of credentials, and the reality of the situation is that many of them travel throughout the year and don’t always get the chance to vote on the traditional paper ballot. The switch to digital polling means members could vote from anywhere in the world, giving more voters a say. With only around 13,000 people eligible to vote, this year saw the number of voters skyrocket.
Album of the Year nominations have gone to Childish Gambino, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, and Bruno Mars, while the Record of the Year nominations have been awarded to Childish Gambino, Luis Fonsi (featuring Justin Bieber), Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Bruno Mars, in a similarly diverse list.
