By Kurt B. Reighley
For MSN Music

I once knew a top designer who used his Clio Award -- which recognizes excellence in advertising -- as a doorstop. Then there were those TV ads in the '70s where veteran actress and dancer Rita Moreno was lauded for having won a Grammy, an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony, thereby making her an expert on ... toothpaste.

Who, if anyone, will be wringing their hands in anticipation -- or dread -- during the 49th annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Feb. 8? Artists? Major-label CEOs? The public? What impact will the prizes doled out have on sales figures and long-term careers?

Since Norah Jones won an impressive eight Grammy Awards for her debut "Feels Like Home" in 2003, and sales of a marginally recognized disc suddenly escalated to a point where it was suddenly moving more than a million copies in a single week, there has been a lot of hype about the "Grammy bounce." But the bounce only goes so high.

Multiple wins are unlikely to heavily benefit a proven superstar's record label at the cash registers. Lesser-known acts have more to gain. Heck, the entire Americana and roots music movement is still reaping the benefits of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack nabbing Album of the Year in 2001.

Likewise, exposure via live appearances on the actual Grammy telecast can do wonders for rising stars or vets relegated to niche markets. Ricky Martin's explosive performance of "La Copa de la Vida" in 1999 turned a minor Latin heartthrob into an international pop sensation. A bald Melissa Etheridge signaled she had beaten cancer via her searing Janis Joplin homage "Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart." Subsequently, that performance yielded a hugely popular iTunes exclusive download that set the stage for Etheridge's subsequent greatest hits collection, "The Road Less Traveled."

For some artists, big Grammy sweeps have augured phenomenal drop-offs in commercial or creative success in the years to follow. In 1981, Christopher Cross won a then-record-setting five Grammy awards; he hasn't graced the chart again since 1983 (and that was with a song that cashed in on the craze surrounding soap opera "General Hospital"). And where's Lauryn Hill been since her 1998 sweep for "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"?

Although the Grammy Awards are ostensibly doled out "to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences," the folks who write, play, record and perform the music probably stress over victories and losses a lot less than those who sell it. Would you rather be remembered alongside the Who, Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin -- none of whom have won awards (except the grand apologia that is the Lifetime Achievement) -- or where-are-they-now winners such as A Taste of Honey, Alannah Myles and the Starland Vocal Band?

Exactly.

More on the Grammys
Grammy Goofs and Gaffes