NEW YORK โ The Grammy Awards have been criticized for years over their lack of diversity. This is because artists of color and women are excluded from top awards. Rap and modern R&B stars are ignored. This reflects the Recording Academy’s voters. An ever-evolving voting body, 66% of whom have joined in the past five years, is working to improve this issue.
What you need to know: The Recording Academy’s reforms come after former CEO Neil Portnow made disparaging comments about women at the height of the #MeToo movement, with a task force focused on inclusion and diversity. dating back to the founding of
Women dominated the major categories at last year’s awards. Every televised competitive Grammy Award went to at least one woman
Approximately 8,700 new members have been added to the voting body since 2019
The Recording Academy sought to increase voting representation by reaching out to various underrepresented communities.
Women dominated the major categories at last year’s awards. Every televised competitive Grammy Award has gone to at least one woman. This stems from a commitment the Recording Academy made five years ago. In 2019, the academy announced it would add 2,500 women to its voting body by 2025. Under the Grammy Awards’ new membership model, the Recording Academy surpassed that number before the deadline. : More than 3,000 female voters were added, it was announced on Thursday.
โThis is definitely something we are all very proud of,โ Academy President and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Associated Press. โIt shows that we were grossly underrepresented in this region.โ
The Recording Academy’s reforms date back to the creation of a task force focused on inclusion and diversity after former CEO Neil Portnow made disparaging comments about women at the height of the #MeToo movement. .
Since 2019, approximately 8,700 new members have been added to the voting body. We now have a total of more than 16,000 members, of which more than 13,000 are voting members, up from approximately 14,000 in 2023 (of which 11,000 are voting members). During that time, the academy increased the number of members who identify as people of color by 63%.
“It’s not a completely new voting body,” Mason asserted. โBy listening and learning from different genres and different groups who have felt ignored or unheard, we have made a difference in who we asked to be part of the academy. This is a very specific and intentional decision.โ
Over the past five years, the Recording Academy has “recertified 100 percent of our members, which is a huge step,” Mason said. Some voters have had their memberships revoked, and voters who no longer qualify as voting members are expelled.
While there has been a renewal review process in the past, the current model requires proof of a major career in music, two peer nominations, and 12 credits in one creative profession to become a voting member. and must earn at least 5 credits. From the past 5 years.
The Academy, which may be compared to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has announced that it will limit Oscar voting to full members. Those who are ineligible include those who have not worked in the 30 years since joining the academy, unless they themselves have not worked. Nominated as a response to #OscarsSoWhite criticism of lack of diversity. As a result, some members protested that the new measures unfairly scapegoated the academy’s senior members. The film academy is also growing in membership, including more women and people from underrepresented racial and ethnic communities.
Mason said the Recording Academy sought to increase voter representation by reaching out to various underrepresented communities. “Let’s take the time to understand why they’re not engaging with us and figure out how we can fix that,” he said. “And once we fix the problem, let’s invite them or ask them if they want to be part of our organization. So it was a multi-step process.”
Since 2019, the Recording Academy has also seen an increase in voters across a variety of racial backgrounds. AAPI voters increased by 100%, Black voters by 90% and Latino voters by 43%.
Still, Mason believes there is room for growth. Among current voters, 66% are male, 49% are white, and 66% are over 40 years old.
“We’re going to continue to build. We’re going to continue to grow,” he says.
While it may not seem like a commitment to a specific person, Mason says, “Our goal is to be the best, most reflective, most accurate representation of the music community humanly possible.” There is,โ I promise.