The Recording Academy on Wednesday announced several changes for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, most notably a reduction in the number of categories for which awards will be given.  Next year's ceremony will have only 78 total categories, compared to the 109 at the cermony in February.  A number of categories have been consolidated, mainly by eliminating gender-based distinctions in the pop, R&B, country, and rock categories.  A handful of instrumental categories have also been eliminated. 

The group has also changed its eligibility requirements for Grammys, and will now require each category to have a minimum of 40 entries to be a fully-fledged category.  Categories with 25 to 39 entries, meanwhile, will only receive three nominations, and categories with less than 25 entries will be cut for that year.  Furthermore, if a category gets less than the required 25 entries three years in a row, it will be removed for consideration permanently.