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.
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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..
YearWorkPerforming artistDirector and ProducerNomineesRef.
1984
1985
1986Huey Lewis and the News
1987Sting
  • 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
    • 1992Madonna
  • David Mallet & Mark "Aldo" Miceli, directors
  • Anthony Eaton, producer
    • 1993
  • Sophie Muller, director
  • Rob Small, producer
    • 1994Sting
  • Doug Nichol, director
  • Julie Fong, producer
    • 1995U2
  • 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
    • 2005Various 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
    • 2008Madonna
  • Jonas Åkerlund, director
  • David May and Sara Martin, producer
    • 2009
  • Peter Bogdanovich, director
  • Skot Bright, Tony Dimitriades & George Drakoulias, producers
    • 2010The 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
    • 2012Back and ForthFoo Fighters
  • James Moll, director
  • James Moll and Nigel Sinclair, producer
    • 2013Big Easy ExpressMumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show
  • Emmett Malloy, director
  • Bryan Ling, Mike Luba, and Tim Lynch, producers
    • 2014Live KissesPaul McCartney
  • Jonas Åkerlund, director
  • Violaine Etienne, Aron Levine & Scott Rodger, producers
    • 201520 Feet from Stardom ≈Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill
  • Morgan Neville, director
  • Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers, producers
    • 2016Amy ≈Amy Winehouse
  • Asif Kapadia, director
  • James Gay-Rees, producer
    • 2017The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring YearsThe Beatles
  • Ron Howard, director
  • Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Scott Pascucci, Nigel Sinclair, producers
    • 2018The Defiant OnesVarious 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
    • 2019QuincyQuincy Jones
  • Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, directors
  • Paula DuPré Pesmen, producer
    • 2020Homecoming: A Film by BeyoncéBeyoncé
  • Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Ed Burke, directors
  • Steve Pamon & Erinn Williams, producers
    • 2021The Sound of My VoiceLinda Ronstadt
  • Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, directors
  • Michele Farinola & James Keach, producers
    • 2022Summer of Soul ≈Various Artists
  • Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, video director
  • David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent & Joseph Patel, video producers
    • 2023Jazz Fest: A New Orleans StoryVarious Artists
  • Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffern, video directors
  • Frank Marshal, Sean Stuart & Ryan Suffern, video producers
    • 2024Moonage DaydreamDavid BowieBrett Morgen, video director and video producer
    2025American SymphonyJon BatisteMatthew 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

    Artists, directors, and producers with multiple wins

    ;2 wins

    Artists, directors, and producers with multiple nominations

    ;6 nominations
    ;5 nominations
    ;4 nominations
    ;3 nominations
    ;2 nominations