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The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented 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 sales or chart position." The Record of the Year award is one of the four "General Field" categories at the awards presented annually since the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959.
According to the 54th Annual Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented:
For commercially released singles or tracks of new vocal or instrumental recordings. Tracks from a previous year's album may be entered provided the track was not entered the previous year and provided the album did not win a Grammy. Award to the artist, producer, recording engineer and/or mixer if other than the artist.
Arrangers, songwriters, musicians and background singers of a winning recording can apply for a Winners Certificate. Songwriters can only apply for a certificate if it is a new song.