Hands up: Who knew that songs with samples couldn’t be nominated for Grammy Awards? Up until now, the Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences only allowed songs with samples and interpolations to compete in the Best Rap Songs category, which stands as a powerful testament to the out-of-touchness of the Grammy Awards and the whole system that surrounds it. Sampling has been a vital part of popular music for something like 35 years now (shout out to the live-band Chic interpolation on 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight”), but songs that use it have been sidelined by the Grammy people this whole time, which goes a long way toward explaining why something like “Empire State Of Mind” didn’t get nominated for any of the big awards. But incremental progress is still progress, and now Billboard reports that the laws have changed, and songs with “samples and interpolations of previously written songs” are now up for all the awards, including the songwriter-centric Song Of The Year award. There are a few other minor but well-advised changes, like the decision to rename the Best Dance/Electronica awards to Best Dance/Electronic Music, which makes sense because it is no longer 1997. You can read about all the new changes here.