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Faster than you can say "And the award goes to... ," we sped to the official Grammy web site and found your answer. The winners page lists this year's award recipients as well as the criteria for each award. Record of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the performing artist and the producer, recording engineer, and/or mixer for that song. Album of the Year is awarded for a whole album, and the award is presented to the artist, producer, and recording engineer for that album. So, in this context, "record" means one song and "album" means the whole collection of songs on a CD or LP. But if "record" really means "song," what's the Song of the
Year award for? The Grammy's frequently asked questions page has the answer. Record of the Year is given to the artist who performs the song and the people who produce the track. Song of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the songwriter who dreamed up the song in the first place. While some artists -- like 2001 Song of the Year winner Alicia Keys -- write their own songs, not all do. For example, in 1999 Itaal Shur and Rob Thomas won the Song of the Year award for "Smooth," which appeared on the album Supernatural by Santana. Guitarist Carlos Santana and his band performed that song with singer Rob Thomas, but they didn't receive the Grammy. However, they did
win nine other Grammys that year, including Record of the Year (for "Smooth") and Album of the Year (for Supernatural).
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