"2013 GRAMMY Nominees" Soundtrack Lyrics

"2013 GRAMMY Nominees" Soundtrack Description

Questions and Answers

Is there an official 2013 GRAMMY Nominees album?

Yes. It’s the 19th entry in the long-running GRAMMY Nominees series, released January 22, 2013. (as stated by The Recording Academy’s news page)

Who released it?

Capitol Records in partnership with GRAMMY Recordings. (according to The Recording Academy and a PRNewswire announcement)

How many tracks are on it?

22 songs drawn from major 55th GRAMMY Awards categories like Record/Album/Song of the Year and Best New Artist. (as stated by the Recording Academy)

Which artists are featured?

Among others: The Black Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Gotye feat. Kimbra, fun. feat. Janelle Monáe, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, Katy Perry, and Jack White. (per Recording Academy’s release)

Did it chart?

Yes — Billboard projected a Top 10 bow; the set was “set for a Top 10 debut” with ~52k first-week sales. (as reported by Billboard)

Do proceeds support music charities?

A portion benefits MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation. (as stated by the Recording Academy)

Does the album include only winners?

No. It spotlights nominees across key categories tied to the 55th GRAMMY Awards (Feb 10, 2013). (per Recording Academy and the 55th GRAMMYs overview)

Notes & Trivia

• Release date: January 22, 2013 — timed three weeks before the 55th GRAMMY telecast on February 10, 2013. (as stated by the Recording Academy)
• Series tradition: labels rotate; 2013’s edition came via Capitol/GRAMMY Recordings. (Recording Academy press)
• Charitable angle: a portion of proceeds supports MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation. (Recording Academy; CBS local news brief)
• Runtime on streaming services sits around ~1h 20m. (as shown on Amazon Music)
• The GRAMMY Nominees series (1995–2020) regularly hit the U.S. charts; the 2013 entry continued the trend. (according to Billboard and the series overview on Wikipedia)

Overview

How do you bottle a whole award season into one spin? You cherry-pick the songs with a cultural pulse and let them argue for themselves. 2013 GRAMMY Nominees plays like a snapshot of 2012’s mainstream: arena blues-rock next to feather-light pop, indie folk stamped into stadium size, a viral earworm or three, and the year’s breakout ballads.

It’s not a mixtape for one mood; it’s a cabinet of headlines. The sequencing keeps radio titans within arm’s reach of upstarts — the point being context, not consensus. When the broadcast rolled on Feb 10, these tracks already felt familiar; the compilation just put the debate on one disc. (as stated by The Recording Academy’s album note; echoed by Billboard’s preview coverage)

Genres & Themes

• Pop maximalism ↔ mass reach: Big hooks (“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Stronger”) showcase the year’s precision-built choruses.
• Roots/Alt revival ↔ authenticity beat: Guitars and grit (“Lonely Boy,” “I Will Wait”) stake out a counterweight to pop sheen.
• Indie-to-mainstream crossover ↔ zeitgeist: Quirky textures and sing-along refrains (fun., Gotye) prove left-field can still chart. (as noted in Billboard’s GRAMMY previews)

Key Tracks & Scenes

Note: We don’t print the full tracklist here. Instead, a few focal cuts and why they mattered to the 55th GRAMMY year (category references reflect 2013 nominations). (according to the Recording Academy’s album page)

“Lonely Boy” — The Black Keys
Where it plays: Record of the Year / Best Rock Performance / Best Rock Song lanes.
Why it matters: Ragged riff + radio power; the rock flag-bearer of the compilation.

“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” — Kelly Clarkson
Where it plays: Record of the Year / Song of the Year / Best Pop Solo Performance.
Why it matters: Bulletproof pop craftsmanship; a template for empowerment anthems.

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” — Taylor Swift
Where it plays: Record of the Year.
Why it matters: Country-pop crossover at full commercial tilt; meme-ready and meticulous.

“Somebody That I Used to Know” — Gotye feat. Kimbra
Where it plays: Record of the Year / (also Song of the Year — separate writing award).
Why it matters: Minimalist production with a global sing-back; the year’s quiet juggernaut.

“I Will Wait” — Mumford & Sons
Where it plays: Album-era anchor for Babel (Album of the Year winner).
Why it matters: Banjo-driven catharsis scaled to arenas; folk’s mainstream inflection point. (as reported by Billboard on winners)

Music–Story Links (characters & plot beats)

• Award-season arc: The compilation mirrors the broadcast’s narrative — pop vs. rock vs. indie — so the “story” is the year’s genre tug-of-war. (as framed by Billboard’s GRAMMY preview)
• Cross-format diplomacy: Sequencing puts radio staples beside critical darlings, softening silos between Top 40, alt-rock, and singer-songwriter lanes.
• Hooks as history: Heard together, these singles read like a yearbook of 2012’s mainstream sound.

How It Was Made (supervision, score, behind-the-scenes)

Series model: The Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Recordings partners with a major label (Capitol in 2013) to license chosen nominee tracks across key categories; label partners rotate year to year. (as stated by the Recording Academy and Universal Music Canada)

Charity tie-in: A portion of proceeds benefits MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation — a standing aspect of the series. (per The Recording Academy; CBS local coverage)

Scope & curation: 22 tracks spanning pop, rock, folk, R&B and more; the aim is to reflect the telecast’s headline races in a single listen. (as stated by The Recording Academy news post)

Reception & Quotes

Commercially, the set was primed for a solid chart impact: Billboard projected a Top 10 debut off ~52k first-week units. The list also functions as a quick primer for the Feb 10 telecast hosted by LL Cool J. (as reported by Billboard and the 55th GRAMMYs overview on Wikipedia)

“A tidy shorthand for the year’s biggest conversations in pop — the nominees you already know, elbow-to-elbow.” (as echoed in Billboard’s preview framing)

“Compilation albums like this are time capsules first, playlists second.” (editorial synthesis; Recording Academy release positions it exactly that way)

Technical Info

• Title: 2013 GRAMMY Nominees
• Year: 2013
• Type: Various Artists compilation (award nominees)
• Label: GRAMMY Recordings / Capitol Records
• Release date: January 22, 2013
• Tracks: 22 (major-category nominees)
• Runtime: ~1h 20m on streaming editions
• Associated telecast: 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards (Feb 10, 2013; Staples Center, Los Angeles)
• Chart note: Set for a Top 10 debut; ~52k first week projected. (as reported by Billboard)
• Beneficiaries: MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Recording Academy (album announcement and artist list); PRNewswire (release announcement); Universal Music Canada press page; Billboard (Top 10 debut projection); Amazon Music (runtime/edition metadata); Wikipedia (55th GRAMMYs overview).

October, 22nd 2025