LOS ANGELES: The 46th annual Grammy Awards, the music industry's most prestigious trophy show, will return to Los Angeles on 8 February, 2004. This is a few weeks earlier than the show's traditional late February time slot.

Grammy organisers said there was some "shuffling" after the Academy Awards decided to move that broadcast up by a month in an increasingly crowded awards season. The Oscars will now be held on 29 February right around the time the Grammys are usually staged said an official report.

The 46th annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on CBS. This marks the 31st consecutive year the show will be aired on the network.

The awards show was held last year in New York for the first time since 1998, when then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani accused the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences president at the time, Michael Greene, of harassing a mayoral aide.

The tiff between Greene and Giuliani exploded into a big feud and the Grammys remained in Los Angeles until last year. Traditionally, prior to that, the show used to alternate more frequently between the two cities.

Greene expanded the clout of the Grammys and the academy itself during his nearly 15-year tenure but abruptly resigned in 2002 amid charges of various improprieties.

The show's move back to New York marked an easing of tensions between New York and the Recording Academy, now headed by Neil Portnow.