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On Thursday, Jan. 30, artist, songwriter and producer Kirk Franklin will be celebrated at the fourth annual Recording Academy Honors Presented by the Black Music Collective at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Franklin will receive the Black Music Icon Award, which celebrates Black music creators whose “commitment to their craft has profoundly shaped […]
Prince, The Clash and Frankie Valli are among the artists who were selected to receive lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy in 2025. The awards will be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Feb. 1 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
The event, always one of the most memorable and musical of Grammy Week, will also honor the recipients of trustees awards (which go to non-performers) and a Technical Grammy Award recipient.
The other lifetime achievement award recipients are Frankie Beverly, Dr. Bobby Jones, Taj Mahal and Roxanne Shante. The trustees award recipients are Erroll Garner, Glyn Johns and Tania León. Dr. Leo Beranek is the Technical Grammy Award honoree.
Several of the awards will be presented posthumously. R&B singer Beverly just died three months ago; Prince and Dr. Beranek both died in 2016; Joe Strummer of The Clash died in 2002; and Garner, the composer of the pop standard “Misty,” died in 1977.
Several of this year’s recipients have already received major honors. Prince was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2010, and was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in July (he had been voted in while he was alive, but scheduling the presentation proved difficult).
Valli was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Four Seasons) in 1990, followed by The Clash in 2003 and producer Glyn Johns in 2012. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2012. León received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2022.
“It’s an amazing privilege to honor this eclectic group of music icons during the year’s biggest week in music,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy said in a statement. “Each of this year’s Special Merit Award recipients has left an indelible mark on music, from paving the way for others to innovation that forever has changed the trajectory of the musical landscape. We can’t wait to celebrate this group and their achievements in February.”
Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.
Trustees Awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.
Technical Grammy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, organizations or institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
Here’s a complete list of the 2025 Special Merit Award recipients.
Frankie Beverly (Lifetime Achievement Award)
Alicia Keys is set to receive the 2025 Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the fourth annual Recording Academy Honors Presented by the Black Music Collective, to be held at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 30. The award was established in 2023 to recognize artists whose influence extends far beyond music. It also takes into account entrepreneurial achievements, philanthropic efforts and global impact.
Dre received the inaugural award on the Grammy telecast in 2023. Jay-Z received on the telecast earlier this year, where he memorably called out Grammy voters for not yet honoring his wife, Beyoncé, in the album of the year category.
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Keys is a current Grammy nominee for best musical theater album for Hell’s Kitchen. The musical, based on Keys’ early career story and featuring her songs, opened at the Shubert Theatre in New York on April 20 and is still playing. It received 13 Tony nominations and won two – best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical (Maleah Joi Moon) and best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical (Kecia Lewis).
“From her timeless music to her unwavering dedication to uplifting others, Alicia has made an indelible impact on the world,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Alicia embodies everything the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award represents – her artistry knows no bounds, her advocacy inspires meaningful change, and her influence has profoundly shaped culture. We are honored to celebrate her extraordinary legacy and the transformative contributions she continues to make in music and beyond.”
Keys is a 16-time Grammy-winner. She won five Grammys in 2002, including best new artist and song of the year for “Fallin’.” She was just 21, which made her the youngest song of the year winner to that point.
Keys has amassed four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
Returning for the fourth consecutive year to produce the Recording Academy Honors event is MVD Inc, with Adam Blackstone also returning as music supervisor for the evening. Blackstone won a Primetime Emmy in 2022 as the music director of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent. He has received five Grammy nods, including one this year for working with Keys on the Hell’s Kitchen cast album.
In March, Tennessee became the first state to modernize its laws for the age of artificial intelligence. The ELVIS (Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security) Act — which updates the state’s right of publicity and likeness rights to prevent AI companies from creating unauthorized deepfake vocal imitations — represented the culmination of efforts from across the industry, including those of record labels and music publishers. But it was Todd Dupler, Recording Academy vp of advocacy and public policy, who gave the law its distinctly rock’n’roll name.
Coming up with catchy titles for laws is something of an extreme sport in legislative circles — think of the DREAM Act (for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), or, in music, the CLASSICS (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society) Act, which became part of the Music Modernization Act. Like these subjects, AI is complicated, so getting positive attention helps. And “in Tennessee, there’s no better way to capture attention than Elvis,” says Dupler, who has worked in the academy’s policy department since 2012 and was promoted to his current position in September 2023.
Dupler’s role in pushing for the Tennessee law is just one prominent example of how the Recording Academy is increasingly taking its lobbying work for music creators beyond Washington, D.C., to various state capitals. “The ELVIS Act became a model that state legislators and members of Congress looked at,” Dupler says. (Sometimes state laws lead to change in D.C.) “Our focus is to be a high-impact organization, to be a thought leader on issues that matter.”
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Right now, AI is the biggest issue of all. “It’s the issue that most of the community feels the most concern about,” Dupler says. It also involves a range of laws, including both federal copyright law (under which the major labels are suing generative AI companies Suno and Udio for using their recordings to train their software) and state law likeness rights (the legality of creating a “Fake Drake” or a similar vocal imitation). That’s why the academy, along with other music rights-holder organizations, is pushing for stronger statutes in statehouses, plus backing the federal NO FAKES (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe) Act. (The bill, which has been introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, now has widespread support; there will be attempts to attach it to must-pass legislation in the current “lame duck” session before Christmas, but it seems more likely that it will be reintroduced next year.)
By the beginning of this year, AI loomed so large that the House Judiciary Committee had a “field hearing” about it in Los Angeles two days before the 2024 Grammy Awards, where country singer Lainey Wilson and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. testified. “We wanted to use the spotlight of the show to draw attention to the issue,” Dupler says. “We embraced this idea of protecting human creativity.” The hearing helped raise the visibility of the Tennessee law, which in turn became a model for other bills around the country.
In February, Mason spoke at a House Judiciary Committee field hearing in Los Angeles on artificial intelligence.
Maury Phillips/Getty Images
The academy’s other two advocacy priorities are banning the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials and regulating the secondary ticketing market, especially to mandate transparency. Unlike copyright law, which is federal, both of these issues involve a mix of federal and state legislation. The admissibility of lyrics as evidence can be a matter of federal or state law, depending on the charges; ticketing laws have come from statehouses, as well as Washington, D.C.
The academy launched its advocacy division in the late ’90s, and what began as a modest attempt to help shape policy for the digital age has grown into a significant operation that lobbies for creators, often along with the RIAA and the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represent the recording and publishing businesses, respectively. The academy now runs an annual Grammys on the Hill event to recognize artists and legislators (including, this past year, Sheryl Crow and Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas), and a Music Advocacy Day in which academy members visit the regional offices of national legislators to talk to them about their policy ideas. (This year drew 2,100 members.) In 2024, the academy also organized seven State Capitol Advocacy Days, twice as many as in past years, reflecting the importance of state law to its priorities.
Although the nature of procedural rules for criminal cases isn’t a core issue for the music industry, the academy and other music organizations have pushed to limit the use of lyrics as evidence on free expression grounds. “We engage in issues that affect the music business,” Dupler says, “and members and local chapters bring issues to us.”
In September 2022, California became the first state to limit the use of lyrics as evidence in its Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, after the practice gained attention in Young Thug’s RICO trial. But bills in other states have stalled, and the federal RAP (Restoring Artistic Protection) Act, which would apply to trials for federal offenses, has yet to pass. “That has to be reintroduced,” Dupler says. “And we’ll continue to focus on both AI and lyrics on a federal level.”
Ticketing — the other big issue for the academy — has become controversial and seems likely to remain so, especially now that Donald Trump’s election has thrown into doubt the future of the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Live Nation. (The new attorney general will decide if and how to continue that case.) The state ticketing bills the academy is lobbying for are simpler and have more to do with requiring secondary sellers to disclose extra charges and refrain from offering tickets they do not yet own. There’s similar federal legislation, known as the Fans First Act in the Senate and the TICKET (Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing) Act. Dupler didn’t come up with that name — but he’s prepared to spread the word once the bill is reintroduced in 2025.
This story appears in the Dec. 7, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Five years ago, the Recording Academy put forth a new membership model committed to “fostering diversity and inclusion while encouraging the music industry to reexamine and reinvent their own long-standing practices.” Its recently released membership report revealed just how far it’s come in meeting that goal — adding 3,000 women voters (a 27% increase since 2019) and seeing a 65% increase in voting members who identify as people of color.
The record 2,800-plus new members who accepted invitations to join the academy in 2024 — including the artists and creatives interviewed here — exemplify that transformative, ongoing shift.
Kaash PaigeSinger-rapper, 23
What sparked your interest in becoming a Recording Academy member?
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I think what sparks a lot of interest in the Recording Academy is boom, you see the Grammys. Then you really get involved and see it’s a community of creatives that are excited to build their career and network. I think that sparked my interest more when I started to be part of email threads and got invited to stuff. I realized this isn’t just the Grammys — this is a whole thing.
What was your opinion of the academy before joining?
I thought about it in a sense of “If you join, you’re going to win a Grammy.” I was really naive. It’s not about that at all. As you build and grow within the community, you’re like, “This is family.” I plan on staying with the Recording Academy for the rest of my life.
Why did you ultimately accept the invite?
It’s kind of like, who wouldn’t accept the invite to be a part of it? Leaving Def Jam last year and coming back out to Los Angeles this year, I needed to dive deep into what I want in my life right now. Being accepted felt like affirmation to me of like, this is where you need to be and these are going to be the rooms that you’re put in to help facilitate growth in your life, because you never know who you might meet.
Shirley SongComposer, 34
Why did you accept the invite?
When you’re a composer for film and TV, you’re immersed in that and don’t always get to hang with the songwriters, composers, and mixing and mastering engineers on the pop side. I think more and more inspiration [for film and TV scores] is drawn from the pop and hip-hop worlds — it’s no longer just your typical John Williams orchestral score. To be able to meet more musicians, songwriters and engineers from that world, I am able to learn and improve my production chops.
Prior to being invited to join, what if any experience did you have with the academy?
Honestly, I didn’t know much. I just thought they did the Grammys. I realized it was a lot more. They are always offering invaluable learning opportunities — panels, discussions — and these experiences keep me informed and inspired. The academy has given me a deeper sense of purpose within this industry and motivates me to also want to contribute meaningfully and advocate for changes.
When it comes to diversity, what do you hope to see the academy improve in the future?
What they are doing now is the biggest step — mentoring, opening this up and inviting people who look like me. Fostering this sense of community is what is going to help champion diversity and support emerging talent.
I am just excited to be able to vote and have my little voice heard. Voting allows me to champion work that pushes boundaries and ensure genres and voices from often underrepresented [communities] get the acknowledgment that they deserve. I know the countless hours and creativity that were put into making this music. It’s nice to be able to support that.
Tara FineganCOO of Cutting Edge Group, a Grammy-winning music financier, record label and publisher, 37
Tara Finegan
Madeleine Farley
Why did you want to join?
I felt really motivated to learn more about the Recording Academy when it added a category to recognize video-game soundtracks a few years ago. [That] has had a big impact — already, all kinds of video-game companies across the board are more focused on music because they want to run a Grammy campaign and receive that accolade. It actually does have a ripple effect where it brings more focus and resources to video-game composers.
I was even more motivated to take a role in the Recording Academy’s year-round community of professionals when [artificial intelligence] innovations, and dangers, started to come up. I straddle the line between film, television, video games and music, so AI is something that has been very, very present in what we’ve been thinking about over the last year or so. It was one of the central points in the Hollywood strikes last year, and that just really highlighted to me how important these types of organizations are. The Recording Academy is an important advocate for making sure that whatever happens next is done thoughtfully and with real consideration to the human beings behind the art.
If you could create a new Grammy category, what would it be?
There’s been a real resurgence in pop culture of film soundtracks, with these unbelievable soundtracks that have been put together from scratch, and in my dream world we would have an all-original-music soundtrack [category], like for something like Barbie, in a separate category than a compiled soundtrack of preexisting songs, like Guardians of the Galaxy.
What are your Grammy week plans?
My label is nominated in the [best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media] category for Pinar Toprak’s score for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. She’s absolutely phenomenal. Up until voting closes, we will be campaigning for her. Then, come Grammy week, hopefully enjoy the week, attend the awards and try not to get too anxious.
Andre MerrittSongwriter (Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, Rihanna)
Andre Merritt
Remy
What if any experience did you have with the academy, and why did you join?
I did a few meet-and-greets [with them] where I would come and speak to people about what I did [in] music. I wanted to be around my peers and around people who feel and think about music the way I do.
What does the recognition that comes with a Grammy mean to you?
You put so much into being an artist and working on ways to get yourself seen and heard — to be rewarded with a Grammy, it lets other people know, “Oh, this guy really means business.”
What do you hope to see the academy help improve in the industry?
I would like them to get [further] involved in the pay for streaming. The biggest thing is creating a livable wage for people to continue to create and give us new art. When you have an organization like the academy that’s backing you, it gives you a lot more to fight with.
Do you have go-to Grammy-watching plans?
I get with some of my fellow songwriters because we like to talk crap about everything, like who we think is going to win. We get some food and drinks. I enjoy that.
Lil Mexico BeatzLatin Grammy-nominated producer (Roddy Ricch, Arcángel, Marshmello), 25
What if any experience did you have with the Recording Academy before joining?
I had a lot of friends who were part of the academy and they told me about it. But the thing was that the past couple of years, it seemed more like a closed circle to me. I never really heard how you were able to get signed up to join or be a part of it. I had no idea how to get involved. From the outside, it seemed like it was only a select couple of people. [But] now they’re expanding to more musicians, producers, songwriters.
How did the invitation to become a member come about, and why did you decide to join?
My friends who were in the academy were telling me things like, “Honestly, you’ve done a lot already in the music industry. You should join the academy. They’re looking for new people.” One of those friends was Paul Wall. He’s been a member for a while now, and he told me that I had to join. “It’s a big thing to be a part of this,” he said. So that’s part of the reason I was motivated to join. I grew up watching the Grammys, and it really had an influence on me. Now someone like me talking about being part of the academy, that will light a fire in the new generation.
As a producer, you’ve worked in the trap scene with both Latin and non-Latin artists. Do you think that duality will shape your role as a member?
Definitely. The one thing I really wanted to push, especially this year, was to get more spotlight on the Latin genre. English and Latin trap share similar issues, including getting overlooked constantly, mainly if you’re an indie artist. And I know we have Latin Grammys, but to be on a global stage like the Grammys, even in the Latin categories — that’s huge.
Joshua MosleyComposer-producer, 44
Why did you accept the invite to join the academy?
The [recommendation to be a member] came from Justin “Henny” Henderson. He was the president of the Atlanta chapter; now he’s a national trustee. We’re old friends from sixth grade, and we had a rap group back in 1991 at school. We both loved music then, and it’s really cool to see where our paths have led us to this point in our lives. To have that recommendation coming from him, and then also from a good friend, Gilde Flores — who has done work with me on a lot of film scores and productions — just made it really special.
The best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media category is still a recent addition to the Grammys. As someone with plenty of experience crafting music for video games, why do you think the category is important?
Some of the greatest music is written for video games. It’s long overdue for it to be recognized; there are a lot of great writers. It exposes music to a different type of audience. It was really cool to see Gordy Haab win [with Stephen Barton in February for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor], a friend of mine and extremely talented gentleman that deserves recognition.
A best score for an animated feature or series [category] would be cool. I would start with connecting with the film and TV parts of the L.A. chapter, get people talking there and see if we can push it out there and get people exposed to that [idea].
What do you hope to see the Recording Academy improve in the future?
I think [the academy] is on a good track with making sure different voices are being heard. I’m a fairly new member, and so far, I’m liking what I’m seeing. I know [the academy] is a big advocate, too, in Washington [D.C.], as far as music rights, publishing and all that stuff goes, forging ahead with making sure that artists are taken care of and represented.
Sarah SchachnerComposer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, 36
Sarah Schachner
Moog Music
What issues are most important to you right now within the Recording Academy?
The work the academy does on Capitol Hill to protect artists’ rights is so crucial. If no one is out there fighting for us, music-makers could lose ownership and sustainable income. The Grammy Museum’s work in keeping music education in schools is super important, and if we’re going to encourage kids to pursue music as a career, we need to continue to find ways to protect artist rights.
Any thoughts on the video-game music composers nominated in 2025?
It’s awesome to see my peers get recognition. Game music is truly a unique and intricate art form, and it’s about time it gets acknowledged.
Alana LinseySinger in R&B duo GAWD, 29
Alayna Rodgers and Alana Linsey of GAWD
Mancy Gant
How did you feel about the academy prior to joining?
I felt a sort of distance, [like] there was a veil over the process of how people win Grammys. Who votes? Who’s in the community that’s making these decisions? Then I [performed at] two Grammys as a background vocalist. It really felt like a community, and it lifted the veil. [Since] joining, I’m starting to see that it really is the people deciding.
Why did you accept the invitation?
It was an honor to be invited. I also noticed that my friends who were members had different resources, and they were more involved and connected to the community that makes decisions. It was important for me to help broaden the scope of what a Recording Academy member looks and sounds like because I know sometimes, historically, [Black artists] have been or felt left out of a lot of these conversations and moments.
How do you two feel about how the academy is handling R&B?
I think that R&B is really growing, and they’re leaving room for that growth in places like the progressive R&B category. There’s room for different types of R&B artists to exist, which I really appreciate. We’re R&B artists mainly because we sing, but our music is [more similar to] OutKast or Teezo Touchdown. It’s very nuanced where people get inspiration from. To be categorized as R&B is an honor and a blessing, but the progressive moments create a whole other space for people to be free in their art.
This story appears in the Dec. 7, 2024, issue of Billboard.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, four days before the 67th annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers (P&E) Wing will honor producer, engineer and mixer Jimmy Douglass at its annual Grammy Week Celebration. The event will take place at The Preserve LA in East Hollywood.
“Our P&E Wing proudly celebrates Grammy Week each year with a special evening that unites producers, engineers and artistic professionals to honor a truly deserving creator,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “This year, we’re thrilled to pay tribute to the extraordinary Jimmy Douglass, who has led groundbreaking creative and technical efforts in the recording industry, encouraging artists to transcend genre boundaries and contributing to iconic musical projects that will resonate for generations.”
“Throughout his illustrious career spanning more than four decades, Jimmy’s visionary approach to producing, engineering and mixing has shaped some of music’s most iconic recordings,” said Maureen Droney, vp of the P&E Wing. “Jimmy consistently pushes the boundaries of sound by bringing unconventional techniques into the studio while inspiring countless artists along the way.”
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Douglass (also known as The Senator) is a five-time Grammy winner for his work on Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” (best dance recording, 2007); Timberlake’s “Love Stoned/I Think She Knows” (best dance recording, 2008); John Legend & The Roots’ Wake Up! (best R&B album, 2011), CeCe Winans’ Let Them Fall in Love (best gospel album, 2018) and Andra Day’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday (best compilation soundtrack for visual media, 2022).
Douglass has also received five album of the year nominations for his work on Missy Elliott’s Under Construction, Timberlake’s Justified and FutureSex/LoveSounds, Pharrell Williams’ Girl, and Jay-Z’s 4:44. He has additionally notched two record of the year nods for Timberlake’s “What Goes Around…Comes Around” and Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.”
In addition to paying tribute to Douglass, the event will celebrate the year-round work of the Producers & Engineers Wing and its members.
Grammy Week culminates with the 67th Annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, broadcasting live on CBS and streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+ from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT. Prior to the telecast, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and be streamed live on live.Grammy.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel.
Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden and The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. announced today a new 10-year global deal for The Grammys to be exclusively simulcast on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ beginning in 2027 — making The Walt Disney Company the first new home for Music’s Biggest Night in 50 years. The Grammys aired […]
Dolly Parton is the 2024 recipient of the PEACE Through Music Award, which honors an American music industry professional, artist or group who has played an invaluable role in cross-cultural exchanges and whose music works to advance peace and mutual understanding globally. The award is presented jointly by the Recording Academy and the U.S. State Department.
Parton, a 10-time Grammy winner who also received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2011, will be celebrated on Friday (Oct. 25) at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. She will not be in attendance, but sent a video acceptance.
“To say that I was honored to accept the PEACE Through Music Award from the Recording Academy and the U.S. State Department would be putting it mildly,” Parton said. “I was very touched and moved by that. If I have been an inspiration in any way through some act of kindness or through some music that I have written, well, that makes me feel like I have done my job properly. Thanks again for such a great honor.”
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Parton’s commitment to serving others is well-known. Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides underserved children the opportunity to learn through reading, stretches from the hills of Appalachia to the outback of Australia. In addition, she has been a champion of public health, most recently around the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Over the course of her career, Dolly Parton has been committed to enriching communities across the globe, and it’s a privilege to celebrate her dedication to service with the PEACE Through Music Award today,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “We are grateful to partner with the Department of State on the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, which represents an important part of the Academy’s work to support music people across the globe.”
“Dolly Parton represents the best of America – her excellence in music, her servant’s heart in giving back to those in need, and her unique ability to always bring people together,” said Lee Satterfield, Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. “On behalf of the American people and Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken, we are honored to celebrate all of her contributions to people around the world with the PEACE Through Music Award in partnership with the Recording Academy.”
The PEACE Through Music Award is determined through a nomination process, with U.S. embassies around the globe submitting nominations to be considered by a selection committee created jointly by the State Department and Recording Academy. The committee includes Recording Academy members, U.S. Department of State leadership, music industry professionals, and academia. The recommended honorees are approved by the CEO of the Recording Academy, then presented to the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, who makes the final selection.
The award is part of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, which was announced by the Recording Academy and the State Department in 2023. The initiative is designed to elevate music as a global diplomatic platform that promotes peace, expands economic equity, elevates creative economies, ensures societal opportunity, and increases access to education worldwide. The initiative was developed pursuant to the PEACE Through Music Diplomacy Act, which was championed by the Recording Academy and its members in 2022 at its annual Grammys on the Hill and Music Advocacy Day events, resulting in the legislation being passed into law in December 2022.
Tonight’s Grammy Museum event also recognizes the first-ever cohort of the American Music Mentorship Program, which took place in Los Angeles from Oct. 15-25.
Being a Grammy voter may sound glamorous, but it’s a lot of work if you do it right, or even close to right. That’s because, in the first round of voting, the Recording Academy presents voting members with really long lists of titles and asks them to select the five they think are most worthy of a nomination.
How long is “really long”? This year, voters had to wade through alphabetical lists of 780 entries for record of the year, 707 for album of the year, 978 for song of the year and 323 for best new artist. And that’s just the Big Four categories!
Can you imagine how much time and mental effort it would take to contentiously pick your five favorite anythings from a list of 978 contenders? If that task were less overwhelming, it seems likely that the quality of voting would go up – and that the percentage of voting members who completed it would go up. If the voters were presented with a list of, say, 100 contenders, it would turn a daunting task into a manageable, and maybe even pleasurable, one. (That number could go up a bit, to 125, 150 or 200, but of course the higher it goes up, the less benefit would be realized.)
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My idea is to have a group of knowledgeable, plugged-in and fair-minded people cull the massive entry lists and bring them down to a more reasonable length. Big hits would probably remain on the list, as would non-hits that people on the panel spoke up for.
You might say, “Didn’t the Recording Academy just get rid of Nomination Review Committees a few years ago — now you’re talking about bringing them back?” Good recall on the review committees, including the primary one, which determined the final nominees in the Big Four categories every year from the ceremony held in 1996 through the one held in 2021. Most Grammy-watchers (including me) were happy to see that committee disbanded, but there’s an important distinction to be made: The academy had the review committee at the tail-end of the process, after voting members had voted and just before the nominations were announced.
Here’s how it worked back then: The committee members selected their five favorites from the top 20 or 25 vote-getters from rank-and-file voters. They essentially second-guessed the voters, which always struck me as elitist, as if their taste and judgment was superior to that of the voters. I’m suggesting putting the committee at the front-end of the process. They wouldn’t be second-guessing anybody, but simply performing a reality check by eliminating the records, albums, songs and artists that have little to no chance of being nominated, but which clog up the list.
And why do I say you shouldn’t hold your breath for this actually happening? Many voting members like to see their entries on the list. If they didn’t see them anymore, they might not see any point in renewing their membership. Member dues are $150 per year. If, say, 2,000 of the current 13,000 voting members walked away because they missed seeing their names on the entry list, that’s $300,000 in lost revenue each year for the Recording Academy. But do the Grammys really want people voting who are that shallow and motivated only by narrow self-interest?
It’s not just the Big Four categories that have large numbers of entries. A total of 33 categories on this year’s Grammy ballot had 200 or more entries. Of those 33, 14 had 300 or more entries. In addition to the Big Four, the categories with 300+ entries are best music video (637), best global music performance (456), best engineered album, non-classical (456), best arrangement, instruments and vocals (444), best jazz performance (420), best instrumental composition (395), best American roots song (373), best alternative music performance (331), best pop solo performance (314) and best American roots performance (310). These categories could also stand a trim, either by this committee or by committees closer to these genres and fields of endeavor.
A small point, but just so there’s no confusion, voters are tasked with picking their five favorites in the Big Four categories, even though there are eight eventual nominees in those categories. That slight numerical difference doesn’t matter, but presenting the voting members with a reasonable task does.
On Thursday (Oct. 3), one day before first-round voting opens for the 67th annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy released its 2024 Membership Report. The most eye-popping statistic: 66% of the current Grammys electorate has joined since the Recording Academy introduced its new membership model in June 2019. Under that model, the academy invites large new member classes to join, with an eye on boosting the numbers of women, people of color and people under 40 in the academy.
Thus, the voting membership that delivered album, record and song of the year to Adele in 2017 and those same three awards to Bruno Mars in 2018 is much different today. We started to see a shift in voting patterns in February 2019, even before the new membership model was introduced, when Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” became the first hip-hop hit to win record or song of the year. (It won both.) That same year, Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour won album of the year.
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Since 2019, approximately 8,700 creators have become voting members of the Recording Academy. Of that total, more than 2,000 joined just this year. There are now more than 13,000 total voting members, according to the Academy.
Other key takeaways from the report include:
Boosting Numbers of Women
In 2019, the Recording Academy set an ambitious goal to add 2,500 women voting members by 2025. With a year to go, the Academy has already surpassed this goal, adding more than 3,000 women voting members. Since 2019, the percentage of women voting members has grown by 27%.
Increasing Racial Diversity
The Academy reports that the percentage of people of color has grown by 65% since 2019 among voting members. Since 2019:
The percentage of Black or African American+ members has grown by 90%.
The percentage of Hispanic or Latin+ members has grown by 43%.
The percentage of AAPI+ (Asian American or Pacific Islander) members has doubled, reflecting a 100% increase.
The current voting membership, counting the new voting members added this year, is 49% white or Caucasian; 38% people of color; and 13% prefer not to disclose or unknown. That “people of color” slice breaks down like this: 19% Black or African American+; 10% Hispanic or Latin+; 4% Asian or Pacific Islander; 2% prefer to self-describe; and other smaller slices.
The current voting membership is 66% men; 28% women; 6% prefer not to disclose/unknown; and other, smaller slices.
Too Much Jazz. Not Enough Country
By genre, the current voting membership is 27% pop; 19% jazz; 17% R&B; 17% rock; 13% American roots; 13% alternative; 12% classical; 10% global music; 10% Latin music; 10% other; 10% rap; 9% dance/electronic; 9% country; 8% gospel/Christian; 8% visual media; 7% contemporary instrumental; 5% new age; 4% children’s; 4% musical theatre; 3% reggae; 3% spoken word; and 1% comedy. (Members could select more than one genre.)
Jazz and classical are overrepresented, relative to their share of the music market. Country lags behind its share of the music market.
By area of specialization, the current voting membership is 46% songwriters/composers; 33% producers; 33% instrumentalists; 32% vocalists; 19% engineers; 12% arrangers; 6% other; 4% music video; 3% album packaging; 3% album notes writers; 2% music supervisors; 2% conductors; 2% spoken word.
In a letter accompanying the release of the report, Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in part: “The Recording Academy membership has never been more reflective of the music community than it is today. It has more women, more People of Color, and a broad representation of diverse genres and crafts. But we’re not just celebrating numbers. Our organization has been fundamentally transformed by this extraordinary infusion of new talent, making us an unquestionably better, stronger, more successful, and more impactful organization.
“And we’re not done yet. Even though we’ve made huge strides towards creating a diverse and representative membership body, there is still much work to be done. We want to recruit more young voters, because the future of music is in their hands. We want to see an increase in the percentage of women and people of color, because our goal must always be to accurately represent our community.
“And as we globalize our mission, we want a membership body that reflects every corner of the music world.”
Mason added some specifics in an interview with Billboard this week. “It’s been a very intentional effort to try and make sure that our membership is the most relevant, the most diverse. …We’re not just trying to build numbers. We’re looking at, what is the music community made up of? … A big goal for us is to make sure that we’re matching or coming close to the community that makes music. That’s not the same as the general population of our country. We know that R&B/hip-hop is roughly 33%-34% of all music created and consumed. We know what the numbers are for Latin music, women, and other groups. We have a rough idea of what the numbers feel like.”
On July 26, Mason sent a pointed letter, via email, to the Academy’s voting members, “It’s about the current year and the quality of the work, period!,” he implored. “There should be no other rationale for voting. If you are taking into account an artist’s older work, or their reputation, or race, or gender, what label they are on, who their manager is, how many friends participated in the project, or anything else like that, you’re not doing your job.”
Talking to Billboard, Mason expressed a little more sympathy for members who may be inclined to take other factors into account, though he again said he hoped the focus would be on the music. “Voters have their own ideas around how they vote and what they chose to vote for and we want to give them some latitude to be able to do that but it’s my hope and I believe it’s the Academy’s desire that our voters will evaluate the music based on the merit of that music exclusively. It’s not about past sins [of the academy]. It’s not about genre representation. It’s really about the quality of the music. My hope is that people listen to the music and evaluate it based on the merits.”
At another point in the conversation, he said “The whole idea of this membership [drive] is not just to hit numbers, it’s to try to get the right results and the right outcome.”
Asked to be more specific about that statement, Mason said, “I’m not saying the positive result is any specific album or genre winning any specific award. I’m just looking for accuracy and relevance and making sure the outcomes are reflective of what’s happening in music. I don’t care what genre that is. I’m definitely not looking at making reparations [for past Grammy outcomes]. I’m just saying the outcomes for our academy … are all driven by our membership and if we have the right membership, we’re a better organization.”
First-round voting for the Grammy Awards opens on Friday Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. PT, and closes on Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. PT. Grammy nominees will be announced on Nov. 8. Final-round voting will be held from Dec. 12 to Jan. 3. All voting members, including those welcomed in the 2024 new class, are eligible to participate in the voting process. The 67th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Feb. 2 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The host has yet to be named. Trevor Noah hosted the last four Grammy telecasts.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards were held on Sunday, Feb. 4. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins were executive producers. Hamish Hamilton directed. The show received a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding variety program (live), but lost to The Oscars (which was also executive produced by Kapoor). The Recording Academy has yet to announce the host, producer or director of the 2025 show.