LOS ANGELES - The Grammy Awards, the music industry's most prestigious event, are getting an early start on next year's 50th anniversary with plans for a fashion line, coffee-table book, museum and TV specials, organisers said today.
Next year's ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday,February 10, although there might be remote broadcasts from such music centres as New York and Nashville, said Neil Portnow, the president of the Recording Academy.
Talks are underway with Grammys broadcaster CBS to hold some specials later this year, so that next year's awards show does not get too weighed down in nostalgia.
"Regardless of what we do 50th-wise, the nominated music for the year deserves just as much attention at the 50th as any other year, so we don't want to give short shrift to that," Portnow said in an interview.
The fashion line, which will go on sale in the fall, will include leather jackets, T-shirts, jewellery and handbags. A "meaningful portion" of the proceeds will go to music-related charity endeavours organized by the academy.
The Grammy museum, a 2,790-square-metre facility, will be located in an entertainment complex being built next to the Staples Centre, the Los Angeles sports arena where the Grammys have been held for the past few years.
It is scheduled to open in September 2008.
The coffee-table book will go on sale in October. It will primarily feature photos, but Portnow said the celebratory tome would not ignore low moments in Grammy history, such as when lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli was forced to return its award for best new artist.
The Grammys have suffered in the ratings in recent years, although this year's event pulled its best numbers since 2004, averaging just over 20 million viewers. By contrast, the blockbuster talent show American Idol has been averaging about 31 million viewers this season.
