IBM and Recording Academy Unveil Agentic AI-Powered “GRAMMY IQ” to Elevate Fan Experiences for 2026 Awards
As the official AI and Cloud partner of the awards, IBM’s latest suite of tools—developed through its consulting expertise and Granite LLMs—is designed to scale the Academy’s digital presence leading up to “Music’s Biggest Night”.
RMN Digital Entertainment Desk
New Delhi | January 22, 2026
ARMONK, N.Y. – In a move to deepen the connection between music fans and the history of the recording arts, IBM and the Recording Academy have announced the launch of GRAMMY IQ built with IBM watsonx. Debuting ahead of the 2026 Grammy Awards, this new fan engagement solution leverages agentic AI to transform the Academy’s extensive music industry data into interactive quizzes and digital experiences.
Interactive Fan Engagement via watsonx
The core of the new experience is an AI-assistant embedded across the Grammys’ digital channels. Powered by IBM’s Granite 3.0 large language model (LLM), the tool generates trivia questions, hints, and detailed answer explanations based on historical Grammy data. To encourage community interaction, the platform features leaderboards and sweepstakes, allowing top-scoring fans to be featured on Grammy.com.
Jonathan Adashek, IBM’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, noted that the collaboration aims to deliver “more personalized and engaging digital experiences” by tapping into “vast reserves of music industry data spanning all genres and generations”.
Reinventing the Grammy Museum Experience
The partnership’s technological integration extends beyond digital screens and into the physical world. IBM plans to work with the Grammy Museum to reinvent the Musical Crossroads exhibit. Utilizing watsonx, this interactive experience will allow visitors to explore the complex history of nearly 200 music genres. The exhibit will connect artists, songs, and photos across different styles, encouraging a deeper understanding of how various genres influence one another.
Enhancing Member Services and Global Reach
In addition to fan-facing features, IBM is focused on streamlining workflows for the Recording Academy’s 30,000+ members. These members represent every creative discipline, from classical composers to hip-hop producers. Planned improvements include:
- A reimagined member portal to enhance digital processes.
- New translation capabilities in four additional languages to better serve the Academy’s global membership.
- The use of AI-driven solutions to automate workflows and scale content capabilities.
A Decade of Innovation
This launch marks a continuation of a nearly decade-long partnership between IBM and the Recording Academy. Adam Roth, Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships at the Recording Academy, emphasized that the collaboration is “pushing the boundaries of how technology can celebrate and deepen the world’s connection to music” while honoring the stories that shape culture across generations.
As the official AI and Cloud partner of the awards, IBM’s latest suite of tools—developed through its consulting expertise and Granite LLMs—is designed to scale the Academy’s digital presence leading up to “Music’s Biggest Night”.
