Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 131: Grammy Nomination (2)

<🎧 Song Recommendation: When I Grow Up by NF>

...

On the television screen, a famous late-night comedian stepped up to a podium on the broadcast, flashing a smile as the live audience in Los Angeles erupted into polite applause.

Von was imagining the chances of himself grabbing a nomination, or even going all the way to win it. But that didn’t weigh much on him; what mattered most was that his fans loved his music even if the industry didn’t give it recognition. It will still be epic if they did though...

On the couch, Zack wasn’t even watching the television. He had his tablet glowing brightly on his lap as he tapped the refresh button on the Recording Academy’s official website.

"They only televise about eight of the major categories on this primetime special," Zack explained without looking up, waiting for the page to load.

"There are over eighty categories in total. Things like Best Music Video and other minor awards are dumped onto the website in one massive master list the exact second the broadcast starts."

"Did it load?" Emily asked, her leg bouncing slightly. For all her talk about hating the industry, her competitive nature made it impossible for her not to care.

She wanted her artist to win. She wanted to shove it in the faces of every executive who had hung up the phone on her months ago. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Just hit. The embargo is lifted," Zack said, his eyes narrowing as a massive wall of text and categories populated his screen. "I’m not scrolling through this. I’m just using the search bar."

Zack typed in Masquerade and hit enter.

"One result!" Zack announced with excitement that made everyone turn their heads at him.

"But it’s not for you, Von. It’s Patch."

"Patch?" Von sat up slightly with piqued interest.

"Producer of the Year, Non-Classical," Zack read aloud, a massive grin breaking across his face. "He got the nomination! They cited his underground credits from earlier this year, but the primary driving track listed next to his name is Masquerade."

"Let’s go!" Von yelled, clapping his hands together. A wide smile broke across his face.

He was genuinely thrilled for his producer. Patch was a hermit who practically lived in the Studio, grinding out beats and tweaking frequencies until his client was satisfied. If anyone deserved industry recognition for the sonic perfection of Masquerade, it was Patch.

"That’s amazing," Naomi beamed. "Good for him!"

"It’s a great sign," Emily said, finally relaxing her shoulders a fraction. She popped a piece of gum into her mouth. "If they acknowledge the production on Masquerade, they have to acknowledge the song itself."

"Yeah... So I couldn’t get the Best Music Video nod?" Von asked, his brow furrowing just a fraction.

Masquerade was currently sitting on over 390 million views on YouTube, which was a breathtaking numbers for any artist of any genre, let alone an independent teenager.

It was definitively sitting at the top of the list of the most viewed songs of the year. The movement and idea behind the video was also something that simply couldn’t be ignored.

"Sorry for that, Von," Emily said. "But we still have the main categories to look forward to. Those ones aren’t shown on the site. They keep them locked until the broadcast."

Zack cleared the search bar on his tablet. He typed in Von Varley and hit enter, just to be absolutely sure there were no minor genre awards hiding in the text. The screen refreshed instantly. Zero results.

"It’s okay," Von said, waving it off casually before turning to watch the screen with everyone.

On the television, the comedian was making a few dry jokes about the music business before introducing the first major presenter of the night.

A legendary, multi-platinum R&B singer walked out from the wings, holding a golden envelope in her hands.

"And now, the nominees for Best Rap/Sung Performance," the singer announced, her clear voice echoing through the television’s surround sound speakers.

A golden graphic appeared on the screen, dividing into five split windows of music videos.

Nominee number one... Streets Gotta Lie by SadBoiNoJob.

Nominee number two... I Stole Your Heart by Benny Moon.

Von watched the screen in silence as the names rolled by. Four names. Five names.

Three were industry veterans, and two were newer artists. None of them were him.

One of the songs nominated hadn’t even cracked the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100, whereas Masquerade had peaked at No. 3 and had stayed on the charts for months.

But the category ended, the screen transitioned, and he wasn’t mentioned.

"Damn it," Zack cursed under his breath. But nobody else spoke; they just kept watching in silence.

The broadcast continued. Ten minutes later, the presenter for Song of the Year stepped up to the podium. This was the songwriter’s award. This was the category that validated an artist’s pen game, proving they weren’t just a performer, but a true architect of music.

Once again, the graphics flashed. Once again, five names were read aloud.

For You by Jack Sherwin.

I Stole Your Heart by Benny Moon.

Five names were called, and once again, there was no mention of Von’s name or Masquerade.

The silence in the mansion was getting significantly heavier and the warm holiday cheer had now been replaced by growing tension.

Record of the Year came next. Despite Patch getting a nod for Producer of the Year based on the track’s sonic merits, this was an award meant for the artist and the producer as a duo. But unfortunately, the envelope was opened, the names were read, and there was no nomination for Von yet again.

"Best New Artist is next," Naomi said, her hands clasped tightly together in her lap, leaning forward with a spark of desperate hope.

But Emily didn’t show the same energy. She sighed heavily and turned to face them.

"Technically, Von isn’t eligible for a nomination there anyway. To even be on the ballot for Best New Artist, you have to have a minimum of five officially released tracks or a full album during the eligibility period. Von only dropped Masquerade."

Zack snapped his head toward her. "Wait. If he wasn’t eligible, how did you submit him? You used a waiver?"

Emily looked at Zack, genuinely impressed by his industry knowledge.

"Yeah, I did," she admitted. "There’s a discretionary waiver the Academy screening committee can grant for artists who have an undeniable cultural impact but don’t meet the arbitrary track-count threshold. I filed the paperwork months ago. But it’s never a given that they actually accept it and put him on the list of applicants. They hate breaking their own rules for independent acts. So... there’s a very low chance of winning this anyways."

"Hmm," Von hummed thoughtfully after hearing what she said. He honestly didn’t expect to grab this one either, but it wasn’t over yet. "Let’s keep watching."

The final presenter of the broadcast stepped out onto the brilliantly lit stage. It was a very familiar face to Von. It was the 15x Grammy Winner, Aria Diana.

At that exact moment in time, she had the highest number of monthly listeners of any artist in the entire world on Musicify. She was dressed in a stunning, custom-tailored, cute Christmas-themed outfit that sparkled under the stage lights.

It was her season, after all; her holiday tracks were currently dominating the airwaves.

Her and the comedian exchanged a few jokes and mutual praises before she stepped up to the podium to present the nominations for an award she had once won herself early in her career. The golden envelope for Best New Artist was opened.

They read off a massive country singer. They read off an underground R&B vocalist with a cult following. They read off a pop singer, then a girl band. And for the final slot... Aria Diana smiled brightly into the camera.

...

...

"SadBoiNoJob!"

There were loud claps and cheers from the Los Angeles audience before the broadcast quickly transitioned, the hosts continuing to talk as the credits prepared to roll.

Zack and Naomi immediately began debating, their voices overlapping as they vented about how blatantly unfair the whole event was.

The numbers simply didn’t make sense. But amidst the complaining, Naomi looked over at Von with eyes filled with sympathy.

She thought her brother would be crushed, but Von was already on his feet.

He didn’t look sad in the slightest. He walked over and turned off the TV to get their attention. With a wild grin spreading across his face, he announced,

"I had this amazing idea! How about we dedicate this Christmas entirely to the fans? I mean... buy gifts for the kids, sign stuff, sing for free right in the streets. I’ll just take out three hundred thousand dollars from my pocket right now to make them all happy."

Emily, Zack, and Naomi all stopped talking, looking at him, then looking at each other in silence after his words.

Emily was the first to break the ice,. "That’s a good ide, and a brilliant way to boost your reputation after a snub, seriously. But you can do all that without spending nearly that much money, especially when we consider your current financial conditions."

Von didn’t consider her argument for a single second.

"Nah, this ain’t for reputation. It’s 300 grand or nothing. The industry won’t feed us, so we feed our own. So, are you guys helping me plan this tonight or what?"

Seeing how dead serious he was, and feeling the infectious, rebellious energy radiating off of him, Naomi was the first to smile and show her support. Soon, Zack was nodding, and Emily also resigned to help.

"Let’s give them the best Christmas!"