Grammys 2017: Is music's so-called 'biggest night' irrelevant and out of touch?

It's a perennial complaint: the Grammy Awards aren't relevant to younger music fans.But this year's outcry seems particularly pronounced, with influential acts choosing to skip the high-profile celebration.

Three of this year's big nominees Drake,KanyeWest and JustinBieber are apparently all giving this year's ceremony a pass, according to published reports.

• Beyonc, Drake, Adele and Justin Bieber to vie for Grammy Awards

There was a time that anominated artist would clear his or her schedule to attend the awards show. Not so for Drake, whose eight current nominations brings his career total to 35nods (with one actual Grammy win). The Toronto rapperhas other plans for Sunday night: performing in Manchester, U.K., as part of hisBoy Meets World European tour.

Justin Bieber, who hails from Stratford, Ont., is enjoying a break from his ongoing Purpose world tour, but requests to his record label and management about his Grammy night plans (he's a contender in four categories) went unanswered.

TheGrammysalways used to be called "music's biggest night"... [Now] it seems to be the party no one is RSVPed to.- Music criticSowmyaKrishnamurthy

Bieber nabbed his first Grammy in 2016 after two earlier nominations in 2011.

"TheGrammysalways used to be called 'music's biggest night.' But from the slew of stars who seem to be either boycotting or haven't submitted material or it seems to be they won't be showing up due to prior commitments, it seems to be the partyno one RSVPedto," said New York-based music criticSowmyaKrishnamurthy.

With 21 winsfrom 65 nominations so far the most by any hip hop artist and among the top fivehighest nominations overall in Grammy history outspoken rapper West could be considered a music establishment favourite.

Still, that doesn't necessarily make him a Grammy fan: he was irate when Beck won album of the year over his friend, pop singer Beyonc, in 2015and, last fall, told fans that if hip hop singer-songwriter and rapper Frank Ocean didn't earn a Grammy nomination this time around, he wouldn't show up either.

As it turns out, Ocean didn't get a nomination because he didn't submit his critically acclaimed album, Blonde, for consideration. Though acknowledging that the Grammys have "nostalgic importance," two-time winner Ocean told the New York Timesin November that it "just doesn't seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down."

Recent winners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis also pulled back this year, choosing not to submit their latest album, This Unruly Mess I've Made (but not revealing why). The rapper and producer duo won fourGrammysin 2014, including best rap album over West, Drake, Jay Z as well as Kendrick Lamar, who many (including Macklemore himself) felt should have won.

A Grammyslove-hate relationship

"Historically at theGrammys, black artists are poorly represented in the biggest categories," New York Timesmusic critic JonCaramanicawrote this week.

"And the hip-hop and R&B categoriestend to misread the genres they aim to celebrate, favouring the established over the insurgent, the legible over the provocative (and also, when possible, white artists over black)."

The most recent rap album to triumph as album of the year was OutKast'sSpeakerboxxx/The Love Belowin 2004 a surprising notion since hip hop has been a dominant music genre inthe years since.

"Hip hop has always had a love-hate relationship when it comes to theGrammys," said music critic Krishnamurthy. "It's usually more hate than love."

The Grammy academy's habit of sideliningmusic popular with younger audiencesmay also help explain why the annual telecast's ratings are in bad shape. The ratings for 2016's show were the lowest since 2009, while Nielsen ratings also revealed a specific decline in younger viewers.

The competition is stiff not just from compelling TV series such asThe Walking Deadalso airing on Sunday nights, but from the other awards shows considered more appealing, saidKrishnamurthy.

"The MTV Video Music Awards, the BET Awards, the BET Hip Hop Awards in many ways these shows have co-opted the place that theGrammysshould be taking," she said.

The Recording Academy behind the Grammys is, however, taking a few steps towards youthful change. Last year, it tweaked the criteria in several categories to include artists releasing material via streaming services alone, which resultedin nominations for critically acclaimed indieartist Chance the Rapper.

Organizers tapped late night TVhost and viral video favourite James Cordento host this year's telecast and also launched a Grammy trivia series on Snapchat, hosted by YouTube vlogger Jack Baran. The producers have also whittled down the number of performers in older-skewing rock and country categories in favour of more pop, rap and R&B.

Despite disillusionment abouttheGrammys,theyundeniably still add a shine to a recording artist's career, according to Stuart Johnston, president of the Canadian Independent Music Association.

"It's great for marketing," Johnston told CBC News on Thursday, speaking from a Los Angelespartycelebrating Canadian music at the Grammysand an event where Toronto hip-hop producer and current nominee Boi-1dawas among the performers.

"It'sgreat bragging rights too, to win a Grammy.To say they're recognized for their accomplishments, by their peers, by the industry,I think it's a fantastic thing."

Join our post-Grammy Facebook Live on Monday at 11 a.m. ET. The CBC's Deana Sumanac-Johnson will pose your questions to our expert panel: CBC Radio host Nana Aba Duncan and Exclaim! senior editor Stephen Carlick. Go to facebook.com/cbcnews.