When it was announced that Beyoncé won AOTY (Album of the Year) for “Cowboy Carter” at the 67th Grammy Awards in early February, it was quite a suprise. People were arguing about whether she deserved the award or that it was rigged. While I do not think it was unfair, there were many nominees that were more deserving of the award.

Looking at writers on the album, according to WhiskeyRiff, Beyoncé gave songwriting credits to the outstanding number of 72 writers. This includes artists such as Jay-Z and Pharell Williams.

In comparison, nominee Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” had a smaller number of writers. According to UPROXX, the album only had two writers – Eilish and her brother, FINNEAS.

Another example that shows that the AOTY award should not have been given to Beyoncé is the amount of streams on “Cowboy Carter.” According to Kworb.net, as of Feb. 25, the album has 1.7 billion streams, and 2 million streams daily.

There was a major difference when comparing the total streams to nominee Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.” According to Kworb.net, as of Feb. 25, the album has 5.1 billion streams, and 8.2 million streams daily.

Even though Beyoncé’s album was very successful, there was much more potential for the other nominees to win AOTY. I believe that the Recording Academy should look into these facts when it comes to deciding the winners of these awards, and listening to what the people liked most.

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