# A Question About The Grammy Awards. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-grammy-awards/217300 "2003-12-06T02:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-grammy-awards/217300/1 "2003-12-06T02:51:51Z")
I read an article today about the Grammy Awards nominations. I know what a song is, so Best Song makes sense to me. Please, can somebody explain the difference between Best Album of the Year, and Best Record of the Year? Where I grew up ( Philly ), the terms were interchangeable. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-grammy-awards/217300/2 "2003-12-06T03:06:30Z")
Record of the Year refers to a single song. Album of the Year refers to the entire album. The difference between Record of the Year and Best \_\_ Song (it’s broken down by category) is that Record of the Year goes to the performer and Best \_\_ Song is an award for the songwriter. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-grammy-awards/217300/3 "2003-12-07T20:11:20Z")
Oh, thank you **TeaElle**. Why don’t they call it “Best Performance of the Year” and then " Best Song of the Year" ?