MP3.com Grammy Picks: Record of the Year

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Record of the Year is one of the most prestigious Grammy Awards because it recognizes the achievement of the entire team of artists, songwriters, producers, audio engineers and mixers that goes into making a great song.  This year’s nominees represent a wide range of musical styles, from the radio pop of [mp3com-artist]Katie Perry[/mp3com-artist] to the experimental […]

Adele performing live in Berlin (Getty Images)

Record of the Year is one of the most prestigious Grammy Awards because it recognizes the achievement of the entire team of artists, songwriters, producers, audio engineers and mixers that goes into making a great song.  This year’s nominees represent a wide range of musical styles, from the radio pop of [mp3com-artist]Katie Perry[/mp3com-artist] to the experimental indie-folk of [mp3com-artist]Bon Iver[/mp3com-artist].

Record of the Year celebrates the achievement of an entire recording process. Many listeners don’t realize how much effort goes into getting a song to sound exactly the way it does on a recording – there is a long way between the artist sitting down to write a song and the actual finished product. There are many decisions that go into creating the sound of a recording – what instruments to include, how they are recorded, what sort of effects are applied – that determine really what kind of a song it will be. To wit, [mp3com-artist]Katy Perry[/mp3com-artist]’s song “Firework” could just as easily have been a punk song if it was recorded differently.

Without further ado, here are this year’s nominees:

“Rolling In The Deep”
[mp3com-artist]Adele[/mp3com-artist]
Paul Epworth, producer; Tom Elmhirst & Mark Rankin, engineers/mixers
Track from: 21
[XL Recordings/Columbia Records]

“Firework”
[mp3com-artist]Katy Perry[/mp3com-artist]
Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen & Sandy Vee, producers; Mikkel S. Eriksen, Phil Tan, Sandy Vee & Miles Walker, engineers/mixers
[Capitol]

“Holocene”
[mp3com-artist]Bon Iver[/mp3com-artist]
Justin Vernon, producer; Brian Joseph & Justin Vernon, engineers/mixers
Track from: Bon Iver
[Jagjaguwar]


“Grenade”
[mp3com-artist]Bruno Mars[/mp3com-artist]
The Smeezingtons, producers; Ari Levine & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers
Track from: Doo-Wops & Hooligans
[Elektra]

Click HERE to watch the Last.fm Presents exclusive live studio recording of “The Cave”

“The Cave”
[mp3com-artist]Mumford & Sons[/mp3com-artist]
Markus Dravs, producer; Francois Chevallier & Ruadhri Cushnan, engineers/mixers
Track from: Sigh No More
[Glassnote Records]

Each of these nominees are strong candidates in their own right, but for our pick we’re going to go with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” It’s instrumental production creates a huge sound to compliment Adele’s powerful vocals.

Who is your pick for Best Pop Group Performance? Let us know in the comments!

Related: MP3.com Grammy Coverage