For Grammys, A Complex Cross-Country Transition Takes Shape

Madison Square Garden, the site of the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, as seen from above. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

If you dropped by Madison Square Garden this week, you might have found Grammy host James Corden practicing introductions to an audience of cardboard cutout celebrities or Recording Academy president Neil Portnow running through a speech. In short: the same sort of scene you’d have seen a year ago at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Same show, different city–or at least that’s what...