Not only that, but the academy has repeatedly emphasized — including on Sunday’s show, where Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. hammered the point in a speech — that its electorate has evolved by welcoming younger and more diverse members (and, by extension, by booting older and whiter ones). Maybe it’s working.

In 2010, the year Swift won album of the year with “Fearless,” Beyoncé won song of the year for “Single Ladies” over Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and won best female pop vocal performance for “Halo,” also over “You Belong with Me.”