Grammy Award for Best Music Film

The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an annual accolade for performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. It is presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 when it was called the Gramophone Awards.

Criteria

Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". In order to qualify for this category, concert/performance films or music documentaries must be released theatrically or for sale to the public for the first time or first appearing on television or online during the current eligibility year. Dramatic feature films and biopics are not eligible.
Prior to 2024, films were only considered eligible for this category if they featured a minimum of 51% performance-based material. As of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, this requirement has been removed entirely.

Background

The category was preceded by the Grammy Award for Video of the Year, which was presented in 1982 and 1983, awarding long form videos in the budding music video market. Along with the similar honor Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, this award was first presented in 1984. From 1984 to 1985, the accolade was known as Best Video Album, but in 1986, it was renamed to Best Music Video, Long Form. From 1998 to 2012, it was named Best Long Form Music Video, before changing to Best Music Film since 2013.
In 1988 and 1989, the award criteria were changed and the video accolades were presented under the categories Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance Music Video. The awards were returned to the original format in 1990. Except in 1988 and 1989, the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video recipients included the artists, directors, and producers associated with the winning videos. The Best Music Film category is one of two categories in the Best Music Video/Film Field. The other one is Best Music Video, which recognizes stand-alone videos of one song or performance. In 2024, the Field was abolished and both categories were moved to a Children's, Comedy, Audio Book Narration & Storytelling, Visual Media & Music Video/Film Field.

Multiple wins and nominations

Singers Madonna and Sting hold the record for the most wins as a performer in this category, with two each, while there have been three films about the Beatles among the winners. However, in two instances, the Beatles were not recognized as individual winners. To date, three directors won the award twice: David Mallet, Jonas Akerlund and Bob Smeaton. Beyoncé holds the record for the most nominations with five. The British pop rock group Eurythmics and Coldplay hold the record for the most nominations as a performer without a win, with three each. Although Beyoncé also held four losing nominations, she won with her fourth nomination with Homecoming in 2020.

Recipients

In 1984 and 1985, only the artists were presented with an award. In 1986 the award went to the artist and the video director. From 1987 onwards, the award has been presented to the artist, video director and video producer..
File:Duran Duran.jpg|thumb|upright|180px|alt=Four men performing on a stage in front of a red mist. In the foreground a white man sings into a microphone. Another male can be seen playing the guitar|Members of the English new wave group Duran Duran, among recipients of the 1984 accolade for Duran Duran, performing in 2005.
File:Michael Jackson 1984.jpg|right|170px|thumb|alt=A man wearing dark sunglasses and a jacket covered in blue and yellow rhinestones, holding up his right hand which is covered in a white glove. Behind him stands a man in a black suit.|1985 winner for Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, Michael Jackson
File:Sting 2009 portrait.jpg|170px|alt=A Caucasian male wearing all black and a floral scarf around his neck. |thumb|right|Sting has earned two accolades from this category for Bring On the Night and Ten Summoner's Tales.
File:Janet Jackson.jpg|thumb|right|170px|alt=A woman wearing a white shirt with jeans that have a rip in them and a black belt. She has her head tilted to her right. |Janet Jackson won the award in 1990 for Rhythm Nation 1814.
File:MC Hammer.jpg|thumb|right|170px|alt=A image of a black man with an earring in his left ear. He is smiling and wearing a brown shirt. |1991 recipient rapper MC Hammer won for Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
File:Madonna at the premiere of I Am Because We Are.jpg|thumb|right|170px|alt=A white female with blonde hair.|Two-time award winner Madonna. She won in 1992 for Madonna: Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90 and again in 2008 for The Confessions Tour: Live from London.
File:Alanis Morissette at Espacio Movistar 3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A Caucasian female with light colored hair leaning her head back while singing into a microphone. She is wearing a sleeveless green shirt with dark grey pants and has a guitar strapped around her. |170px|Alanis Morissette won the award in 1998 for Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill, Live
File:Bad-don-letts-2-np.jpg|thumb|right|170px|Director Don Letts received the award for the documentary Westway to the World about the band The Clash.
File:Martin Scorsese by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A Caucasian man in his 70s smiling. He is wearing black framed glasses and a tie with a black suit over a white shirt. Behind him is a white background|170px|2006 award winner for directing the documentary No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese
File:Bruce Springteen Front.jpg|thumb|right|170px|alt=A Caucasian male with brown hair smiling while raising his right eyebrow. He is wearing an unzipped black leather jacket over a dark colored shirt. In the background, a yellow and red bricked wall can be seen|Bruce Springsteen won the accolade in 2007 for Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run
File:Peter Bogdanovich.jpg|thumb|right|170px|alt=A white male in his 60s sitting in a chair while speaking into a microphone. He is wearing eyeglasses and a grey jacket over a blue buttoned down shirt. His left hand is rested on his lap. |In 2009, Peter Bogdanovich earned the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for directing Runnin' Down a Dream
File:The Doors in Copenhagen 1968.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A black and white image of four white men performing onstage. |170px|2011 award winners included director Tom DiCillo for When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors.
File:James Moll MovieGuide Awards 3.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Director James Moll won Foo Fighters's Back and Forth.
File:Amy Winehouse f4962007 crop.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Amy Winehouse was the subject of 2016 winner Amy that depicted her life and death. The award went to the director Asif Kapadia who also won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the same film as well.
File:Ron Howard Cannes 2018.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Oscar-winning director Ron Howard won for the documentary The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.
File:Rashida Jones 2017.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Rashida Jones won the award as co-director of Quincy, a film about her father, Quincy Jones.
File:Beyoncé - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - 1st June 2023 .jpg|alt=|thumb|218x218px|Beyoncé hold the record for the most nominations as of 2022 with five. She won the award in 2020 for directing and performing on Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé.

Year	Work	Performing artist	Director and Producer	Nominees	Ref.
1984
1985
1986		Huey Lewis and the News	Bruce Gowers, director
1987		Sting	Michael Apted, director Sting, video producer
1988
1989
1990			Dominic Sena, Jonathan Dayton, and Valerie Faris, directors Aris McGarry, Jonathan Dayton, and Valerie Faris, producers
1991			Rupert Wainwright, director John Oetjen, producer
1992		Madonna	David Mallet & Mark "Aldo" Miceli, directors Anthony Eaton, producer
1993			Sophie Muller, director Rob Small, producer
1994		Sting	Doug Nichol, director Julie Fong, producer
1995		U2	David Mallet, director Ned O'Hanlon and Rocky Oldham, producer
1996			François Girard, director Robert Warr, producer
1997			Bob Smeaton and Geoff Wonfor, directors Chips Chipperfield and Neil Aspinall, producers
1998			Alanis Morissette and Steve Purcell, directors Alanis Morissette, David May, Glen Ballard and Steve Purcell, producers
1999			Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, director Karen Bernstein, Susan Lacy, Tamar Hacker, and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, producers
2000			Bob Smeaton, director Chips Chipperfield and Neil Aspinall, producer
2001			Andrew Solt, director Andrew Solt, Greg Vines, Leslie Tong, and Yoko Ono, producer
2002			Susan Froemke, director Peter Gelb and Susan Froemke, producer
2003			Don Letts, director
2004			Mary Wharton, Mick Gochanour, and Robin Klein, producers
2005		Various artists	David Leland, director Jon Kamen, Olivia Harrison, and Ray Cooper, producers
2006			Martin Scorsese, director Anthony Wall, Jeff Rosen, Margaret Bodde, Martin Scorsese, Nigel Sinclair, and Susan Lacy, producer
2007			Thom Zimny, director and producer
2008		Madonna	Jonas Åkerlund, director David May and Sara Martin, producer
2009			Peter Bogdanovich, director Skot Bright, Tony Dimitriades & George Drakoulias, producers
2010		The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil	Adrian Wills, director Jonathan Clyde and Martin Bolduc, producers
2011			Tom DiCillo, director Dick Wolf, Jeff Jampol, John Beug, and Peter Jankowski, producers
2012	Back and Forth	Foo Fighters	James Moll, director James Moll and Nigel Sinclair, producer
2013	Big Easy Express	Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show	Emmett Malloy, director Bryan Ling, Mike Luba, and Tim Lynch, producers
2014	Live Kisses	Paul McCartney	Jonas Åkerlund, director Violaine Etienne, Aron Levine & Scott Rodger, producers
2015	20 Feet from Stardom ≈	Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill	Morgan Neville, director Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers, producers
2016	Amy ≈	Amy Winehouse	Asif Kapadia, director James Gay-Rees, producer
2017	The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years	The Beatles	Ron Howard, director Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Scott Pascucci, Nigel Sinclair, producers
2018	The Defiant Ones	Various artists	Allen Hughes, director Sarah Anthony, Fritzi Horstman, Broderick Johnson, Gene Kirkwood, Andrew Kosove, Laura Lancaster, Michael Lombardo, Jerry Longarzo, Doug Pray & Steven Williams, producers
2019	Quincy	Quincy Jones	Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, directors Paula DuPré Pesmen, producer
2020	Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé	Beyoncé	Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Ed Burke, directors Steve Pamon & Erinn Williams, producers
2021	The Sound of My Voice	Linda Ronstadt	Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, directors Michele Farinola & James Keach, producers
2022	Summer of Soul ≈	Various Artists	Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, video director David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent & Joseph Patel, video producers
2023	Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story	Various Artists	Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffern, video directors Frank Marshal, Sean Stuart & Ryan Suffern, video producers
2024	Moonage Daydream	David Bowie	Brett Morgen, video director and video producer
2025	American Symphony	Jon Batiste	Matthew Heineman, video director; Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino & Jordan Okun, video producers
2026

Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Director are only indicated if they were presented a Grammy Award.

Award was not presented. Music video categories presented that year included Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance Music Video.

Award not presented to the performing artist and video producer)

Director unknown; award presented to video producers only