The Grammy Awards are touted as the highest honor a recording artist can achieve. The golden trophy in the shape of a phonograph gleams with the sparkle of artistic success. It earns musicians a spot in the musical history books and a lifetime of notoriety. If you’ve won a Grammy, your music is important. Or is it?Hundreds of artists are overlooked every year by the Recording Academy, and this year was no exception. Instead of honoring revolutionary and avant-garde artists that truly propel the direction of contemporary music, the Academy focused on those with commercial success or classic rock fame.Pop-rockers Steely Dan won Album of the Year even though their heyday has clearly come and gone. If it were 1975, Steely Dan might be a good choice for Album of the Year. In 2001, however, Radiohead’s “Kid A” is blurring the lines between rock and electronica, sending music into worlds it’s never ventured into before. Beck’s outlandish “Midnite Vultures” also reached new musical heights. One of these should’ve received the coveted Album of the Year title. The forgettable “Who Let the Dogs Out” by the Baha Men took home Best Dance Recording, overshadowing the forward-thinking “Natural Blues,” by Moby.Singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne won the Grammy for Best New Artist, even though she has been releasing albums since 1989. It’s just another indication of the Recording Academy’s shallow understanding of the music scene. The Grammy Awards are obviously behind the times. Instead of buying into the Grammy hype, decide for yourself what deserves praise. Quality music is in the eye of the beholder, not an aging panel of recording industry dinosaurs. editorialboard: Carrie Tett, Greg Jerrett, Katie Goldsmith, Andrea Hauser, Jocelyn Marcus and Tim Paluch