Grammy Award for Song of the Year

The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in the entire American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 to the composer (not the performer) of the song in question. It almost always happens that one or more recordings are nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, and a recording could receive both awards. Years reflect the year the Grammy Awards were presented, for music released the previous year.

Unlike Record of the Year, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year goes to the song composer(s).

Confusion

Every year there is a lot of confusion between the Grammy categories Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. Record of the Year is awarded for either a single or an album track. This award is given to the performing artist and the producer, recording engineer, and/or mixer of that song. Song of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the songwriter who actually created the song in the first place. Album of the Year is awarded for an entire album, with the award being given to the artist, producer, and recording engineer for that album.