Academy chair emeritus Jimmy Jam and Academy VP of Awards Bill Freimuth announced drastic changes to the 53-year old Grammy Awards. According to the announcement, the Recording Academy will consolidate dozens of awards categories, alter eligibility requirements and rewrite the rule on voting. The changes will take effect immediately, as next year’s 54th annual Grammy Awards will have only 78 categories, 31 fewer than presented at the last award show. In addition, some other noticeable changes include the stripping of gender-based categories, and new rules on entries and voting.

Today at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET, Portnow, Freimuth and Jam will participate in a live online chat about the changes. The event can be viewed at livestream.com, grammy.com and the Grammys’ Facebook page. Billboard’s Gail Mitchell will moderate; questions may be submitted via Facebook and Twitter. What do you think?