Article: Steve Jobs Wins a Grammy, Record Execs Turn Over in Their Graves (or Beds)

[Phillip Swanson]

The Recording Academy announced the winners of its annual Special Merit Grammy awards today and Steve Jobs is a recipient of the Trustees Award for 2012. The Trustees Award category honors those who have made significant contributions to music in areas outside of performance.

Steve Jobs won a Grammy. Let that sink in for a minute. The man who bent record executives backwards over a lead-spiked barrel and branded them with an Apple logo was honored with one of the most prestigious awards handed out by the Recording Academy.

The press release from the Academy says it all:

As former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs helped create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books. A creative visionary, Jobs' innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased. In 2002 Apple Computer Inc. was a recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The company continues to lead the way with new technology and in-demand products such as the iPhone and iPad.

A special ceremony honoring winners of Trustees Awards, lifetime Achievement Awards ad Technical Grammy Awards will be held Saturday, February 11. The winners will also receive special recognition during the main Grammy Awards. Jobs fellow recipients include spoken word poet and soul songstress Gil Scott-Heron, audio engineer Roger Nichols (also awarded posthumously), and Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

I wonder how many recording industry executives still grind their teeth at night thinking about the terms they agreed to when signing their lives over to Jobs and iTunes.

Source: MacRumors

[thetoothfairy]

To bad he isn't here to receive it. He deserved it! I will never forget that man bless his soul.

[rocketApe]

Ohhh the irony!

[bish0p34]

Ridiculous.

[GunHo198]

I think he deserved it. iTunes made it easier to get music as apposed to pirating the music. Rather pay .99 cents for a song I want then spend money on an whole album that I don't need.

[Zokunei]

Lol like anyone who gets a Grammy deserves it.

[charlyc]

Well deserved

[RICO_]

It took them this long to realize the impact of Apple's contribution in music?

[firetwuck]

What you say may be true but he also saved the recording industry by driving more traffic to them with paying customers instead of torrents. The recording industry just hates anyone telling them they are idiots and losers. And artists can release their own work without sharing with those greedy $#%€ĄŁ?+

[fleurya]

iPod+iTunes really did become the biggest factor in reshaping the way people get their music. Before mp3s became mainstream I always pirated my music because I never wanted to pay for a couple of decent songs and a load of "filler" material that I didn't care for. Once I could pick and choose the songs I wanted to buy, the annoyances of pirating started to become not worth the hassle versus buying.

I think pirating would be much bigger today than it is had it not been for this major change in distribution. Jobs and Apple deserve some recognition for this.

[******Mother]

Songstress?? Gil-scot heron is a dude jackass

[Taranis17]

"I wonder how many recording industry executives still grind their teeth at night thinking about the terms they agreed to when signing their lives over to Jobs and iTunes. "


Probably not many, if at all. Steve Jobs helped (read: Forced by the nose) them make millions doing something they were historically against - distributing music electronically.

[Breezy215]

FYI: Gil-Scott Heron was NOT a songstress, he was a "songster". A "songstress" is a female singer.

[Greatbiguns]

BOOOYA Be-oches....
STEVE was the MAN!!
This is a WELL - DESERVED Honor and it is a shame he is not here to receive it...

[firestarter9999]

This article sounds kinda of slanted. Think about all the artist the got shafted by the "Industry" in publishing rights and in other ways. If the music industry had changed with the times when they could have,they would have had Apple over a barrel. So good for Jobs!

[R.Mortera]

Even when he's dead, he still gets awards .

[roflblargamapep]

haha he deserved it for being able to dominate everyone else

[Jimwarmsands]

They should have done this when he was still alive. Being honored for your lifework doesn't mean much to you when you're dead.

[fleurya]

[I]Probably not many, if at all. Steve Jobs helped (read: Forced by the nose) them make millions doing something they were historically against - distributing music electronically.

Now if only someone would do that for TV/movie streaming.

[quidam_brujah]

+1 for Job forcing the industry to change for the better. He also made it possible for independents to reach a huge market that heretofore was only reachable by signing up with a label -- if they could. He didn't make it free or easy, but he made it possible. See CDBaby.