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Recording Academy Advances New Membership Model, Inviting This Year's Class

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Membership VP Laura Segura Mueller on how the Academy is "committing to fostering diversity and inclusion while encouraging the music industry to reexamine and reinvent their own long-standing practices"
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jun 4, 2019 - 12:52 pm

Over 1,300 highly-qualified music professionals from wide-ranging backgrounds, genres and disciplines woke up to good news this morning, as the Recording Academy begins extending membership invitations to its new class today. This monumental moment signifies a profound shift not only for the careers of the hand-picked music makers, but for the music industry in general. 

Last November, the Academy revolutionized its new member submission process for the first time in over 60 years, implementing a community-driven membership model.  Today, a new class of highly accomplished music professionals, recommended by their peers, receive an invitation to join the Recording Academy. We spoke with Laura Segura Mueller, Vice President of Membership & Industry Relations at the Recording Academy to gain some insight on this important step forward.

"The Recording Academy is honored to announce our inaugural membership class of 1340 qualified music creators and business professionals. The 2019 class is comprised of music creators and professionals from across the music industry and their talents and backgrounds span many genres, crafts, ethnicities, genders, ages, locations and professions. As a result of meaningful recent changes to our member recruitment process, the class is more representative of the diverse voices, modes of expression, and excellence within the music industry, as compared to the data reported in the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative studies released in 2018 and 2019."

The Annenberg studies revealed a very lopsided gender breakdown, reporting that across the Billboard chart data sources, women only account for 21.7 percent of artists, 12.3 percent of songwriters, and 2.1 percent of producers. These figures stunned much of the music industry and provide a stark backdrop for the Recording Academy's inaugural class. 

Looking at the numbers, 49 percent of the Recording Academy class are females, 41 percent are from traditionally underrepresented communities, and 51 percent are 39 and under. The Recording Academy's current membership is 26 percent females, 24 percent traditionally underrepresented communities and 29 percent are 39 and under. While the improvement is clear, the work is just beginning.

2019 MEMBER CLASS STATS

"When you compare these figures to what was reported in the 2019 Annenberg study, it’s clear that our new member class shows a marked improvement," said Segura Mueller. "We are deeply committed continuing this positive trend for years to come."

"With such dire statistics industry-wide, we will face challenges with future new member classes if not enough women and people of color are being hired, mentored, and have access to opportunities to lead and excel. The industry-wide change we need will only be achieved when new voices are encouraged to rise through the ranks," she said, emphasizing the need for partnership with the industry as a whole. 

Last year marked the start of a series of turning points for both the Recording Academy and the music industry. As both began to take a closer look at itself, the picture of diversity and inclusion in today's music world snapped into focus, revealing a fundamental imbalance.

In response, the Recording Academy and committed industry leaders took action, organizing a Task Force chaired by Tina Tchen to examine and better understand the barriers and biases affecting underrepresented voices in the music industry and Academy, including women and people of color.

Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow reflects, “I thank Tina and all of the participants for their hard work and follow through on the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force.  The task force was key in reviewing and helping us get this new member model off the ground after many years of internal development.  It is through an industry-wide dedication on this scale that we see true transformation.”

Ultimately, the move to a yearly membership model cycle, creates a unique opportunity to celebrate the talented individuals who make up the music community and recognize the creative endeavors that enable it to thrive. The new model also more closely reflects the peer-driven process behind the GRAMMY Awards, as Kelley Purcell, Senior Director of Member Outreach points out.
 
"Membership is the lifeblood of the Recording Academy and a privilege we strive to uphold," says Purcell. "This evolved model puts the power in the hands of music professionals to recommend who among their peers they think should be a member and will help ensure the Academy represents the breadth and depth of talent synonymous with the recording industry. The GRAMMY Awards are already renowned for being a peer-awarded honor, and now our membership model also reinforces that peer-driven commitment to excellence."

The class of invitees will have until voting ballot deadlines to accept their invitation and participate in the 62nd GRAMMY Awards, set to take place Jan 26, 2020 in Los Angeles.

Our new peer-driven membership model is just one more way that the Recording Academy is evolving while also encouraging other industry companies to reinvent their own long-standing practices," said Segura Mueller. "We are nurturing a more inclusive organization for our members today and for generations to come."

T-Pain

Photo: Marcus Ingram/WireImage

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T-Pain, Ari Lennox & More Heat Up Atlanta At Recording Academy Member Celebration

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What do you get when Blanco Brown, Baby Rose, Ari Lennox, Michelle Malone and T-Pain show up at the Atlanta Chapter's membership celebration? The hottest party of the summer!
Melissa Love
GRAMMYs
Aug 9, 2019 - 1:10 pm

Atlanta loves a good party, and the Recording Academy Atlanta Chapter especially loves its Summer Celebration — always a raucous reunion of friends and colleagues, clients and collaborators, and performances by artists at the top of their craft.

On Thursday, July 25, Atlanta's music community came out in force to Terminal West, a popular music venue in trendy West Midtown, who took a night off from hosting some of the industry's hottest acts to welcome Recording Academy members, special guests and honorees. Chapter-affiliated artists Baby Rose, Michelle Malone, Ari Lennox, Blanco Brown, and T-Pain took the stage in individual sets, heating up the joint just when guests thought they'd cooled from the hot Georgia heat.

Atlanta Chapter Executive Director, Michele Caplinger, started off the evening welcoming the standing room only crowd and recognizing Josh Bonner (R – Fayetteville), Beth Moore (D - Peachtree Corners) and Matt Dollar (R – Marietta) — members of the Georgia House of Representatives in attendance, who supported the Music Modernization Act nationally and House Bill 347 locally, revising certain tax laws and exemptions aiming to bolster the music industry and associated spending within Georgia.

Newly elected Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Tammy Hurt, announced that earlier in the day local advocacy group, Georgia Music Partners, in partnership with Sound Diplomacy, a global music strategy expert, unveiled the launch of a comprehensive study of recording studios, rehearsal spaces, music festivals, and music venues within Fulton County. The study will map related businesses across the geographic area and assess the economic impact of the music industry within Fulton County. Al Nash, CEO of Select Fulton, and Robb Pitts, Chairman of the Fulton County Commissioners, were on hand to announce the study in the morning, and they celebrated the announcement alongside the supportive Recording Academy in the evening.

With essential business concluded Jorel "J-Fly" Flynn, Atlanta Chapter president, took the stage and reiterated what has become the mantra of his tenure: engagement. Flynn explained afterward that he wants active and prospective Recording Academy members to know that the Recording Academy, "Reflects working musicians and artists, and with that comes connectivity. We meet musicians and artists at their place of understanding, and the new membership models validate inclusion through intimate conversations where we make connections with one another. Together we balance new innovation and industry experience that can be shared."

Baby Rose, a young performer who embodies Flynn's message, performed first. Afterward she excitedly said, "Performing for the Atlanta chapter of the Recording Academy was a dope experience! I am honored and happy to have been able to share my music with them."

Diane Durrett, stalwart of the southern Blues scene and Atlanta chapter VP 2019-20, kept the excitement going when she stepped up to the mic and crooned, "Diversity is unique, soul is deep," enticing the crowd to sing the line with her before introducing another of Atlanta's favorite female musicians, Michelle Malone.

Commanding the stage in her full-on rock-n-roll set, Malone later echoed Durrett's call, saying "It's always an honor to be asked to perform, but it's a special treat to perform for a room of [Recording Academy] members, music industry peers who love music as much as we do. Plus it's a kind of reunion, because I don't often get to see a lot of these folks. Then there's the added plus of playing to members in other genres who would've never otherwise heard us."

Where Do You Keep Your GRAMMY: T-Pain 

Recording Academy members continued grooving the night away to performances from Ari Lennox, 2-time GRAMMY winner, T-Pain, and Blanco Brown. Ian Schumacher, Atlanta chapter Secretary, welcomed Brown to the stage and presented him with a plaque commemorating Brown's first single, "The Git Up," reaching gold status. 

Just when you thought the night couldn't get any hotter, DJ Pierre and Ian Live took the stage and had the crowd on their feet, bringing home an unforgettable night with a dance-ready closing set.

Said Brown about performing at Summer Celebration, "It's a blessing. From the day I can remember seeing my first GRAMMY show on television, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson (Off the Wall), TLC… I was always figuring out, and I tried to wonder, how would I ever make such an impact to be a part of that stage. And I just followed my dreams and my goals. To be here tonight and to perform and have the love in the room filled — and the purpose in the room — feels so magical to me."

That magical feeling was everywhere at the Atlanta Chapter's summer celebration, from the passionate performers to the supportive veteran industry professional to the aspiring future moguls of music, everyone in attendance could feel the warmth of the good vibes and rejuvenating feeling music provides. Or as Brown so eloquently put it, "Every time I touch the edge of that stage, I touch a new life."

Atlanta Rapper J.I.D. Talks Working With J. Cole & Dreamville, New Music & More

Donna Missal

Donna Missal at SXSW 2019

Photo: Lorne Thomson/Redferns/Getty Images

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Report: How Music Creates Jobs, Drives Tourism, Improves Wellness & More

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Recording Academy partner Sound Diplomacy unleashes "a set of tools, case studies and lessons to increase the value of music in your city"
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Mar 14, 2019 - 10:43 am

For anyone working in the music world, Austin, Texas is the place to be in mid-March each year. South By Southwest brings together the industry's brightest minds, biggest players and sharpest talents to explore the business and craft of music. Attendees network, listen and soak up wisdom to bring home and implement in their own music communities, wherever they may be. For over three decades, this ritual has helped music professionals tackle the challenges of building and sustaining music in their city.

In the spirit of this connectivity of resources, and to coincide with this year's SXSW, international strategic consultants Sound Diplomacy released a special report titled "The Music Cities Manual: How Music Increases Economic, Social And Cultural Growth In Your City." The extensive report details the what, why and how of supporting music locally through everything from city policy to education and communication and beyond, providing a fresh and tangible idea bank for music people in cities and towns of all sizes to spur and sustain growth.

As partners of the Recording Academy, Sound Diplomacy shares the mission of supporting music by thinking big but starting small and understanding the power of local music markets have to lift up the industry at large. The Academy's 12 Chapters serve music communities nationwide based on the core philosophy that when local music economies innovate and thrive, the entire community benefits. Many of the principles in Sound Diplomacy's report speak directly to the work the Academy does each day to keep music strong across a diverse array of local marketplaces.

Inside The Music Cities Manual

"The Music Cities Manual" describes itself as "a set of tools, case studies and lessons to increase the value of music in your city," i.e., a report for everyone involved in the music process from musicians to developers, city government to bar owners and festivals to hoteliers. The report also showcases music's uncanny ability to create jobs, drive tourism, enhance social inclusion and even improve wellness. However, as the report points out, "few cities understand how to plan, manage and develop music for economic, social and cultural gain." 

In other words, how can cities best optimize the power of music to benefit their local economy? 

"Music pumps from speakers in shopping malls and metro stations, hospitals and car parks. From choirs in churches to the call to prayer, from the boardrooms of our multinational record labels to the basement of a pub, music fosters creativity, dialogue, creates commerce and incubates talent."

Music As Infrastructure

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Sound Diplomacy's method outlines 13 key indicators of a thriving music policy, centering around the idea that music is infrastructure. This means city governance declaring, through official communication, music's importance to its community. Let's look to the Midwest: The report cites Chicago's 2007 Chicago Music Policy as one of the first to send this message to not only its own local community, but to people everywhere about the importance of music's role in Chicago.

The report's 13 key indicators are chock-full of resources for action items such as creating a coalition, asset mapping, sparking tourism, supporting venues, encouraging entrepreneurs, expanding music education, and prioritizing affordability. All of these measures speak to a connectivity between creatives, policymakers and business owners that can grow a city's music community in a healthy and lasting way.

Cities As Agents Of Change

Sound Diplomacy also presents several case studies, taking a closer look at Melbourne, Australia's "Agent Of Change" principle, which set new obligations on property developers to adequately soundproof buildings within 50 feet of an existing venue, London's Music Venue Trust task force, which provided an outline for the city's grassroots venues to thrive, and New York City's repeal of its outdated Cabaret Law, making the Big Apple much for more friendlier for live music and entertainment. These real-world cases provide easily relatable change examples, and considering the sheer size of the cities referenced, the notion of making an impact in smaller music communities seems far less daunting.

Creating Inter-City Music Networks

In fact, the report goes another step to show how connection between music cities can benefit local markets on a global scale, examining Music Cities Network, a resource for improving communication and cooperation between music communities around the world. This is just one tool the report offers toward its encouragement to "be international," by starting, "With your sister cities and existing partnerships in other municipal departments, from tourism to economic development."

This top-down and bottom-up approach provides everyone who touches or is affected by music with steps to take toward a stronger community. And the best news is the benefits of a healthy music city go beyond cultural, social and even economic areas. Music's ability to improve health and wellbeing means, as the report states, "Better, happier, more efficient people, from birth to death."

As thousands descend upon Austin and SXSW 2019 kicks off its Music Conference, the Sound Diplomacy report provides the framework to implement new ideas across the musical landscape in any town, making the adage of "think globally, act locally" more than a bumper sticker.

Likewise, the Recording Academy continues its work on behalf of music creators across many tiers of the industry, from local events to educate and connect members to game-changing Advocacy work on Capitol Hill. Through these tireless efforts, and projects such as working with Sound Diplomacy in its Chapter cities, the Academy continues to support and foster a better tomorrow for music.

Recording Academy Task Force On Diversity And Inclusion Announces Initiative To Expand Opportunities For Female Producers And Engineers

Neil Portnow and Jimmy Jam

Neil Portnow and Jimmy Jam

Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images

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Neil Portnow Addresses Diversity & Inclusion, Looks Ahead During Speech At 2019 GRAMMYs

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Jimmy Jam helps celebrate the outgoing President/CEO of the Recording Academy on the 61st GRAMMY Awards
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Feb 10, 2019 - 9:58 pm

As Neil Portnow's tenure as Recording Academy President/CEO draws to its end, five-time GRAMMY winner Jimmy Jam paid tribute to his friend and walked us through a brief overview of some of the Academy's major recent achievements, including the invaluable work of MusiCares, the GRAMMY Museum, Advocacy and more.

Portnow delivered a brief speech, acknowledging the need to continue to focus on issues of diversity and inclusion in the music industry. He also seized the golden opportunity to say the words he's always wanted to say on the GRAMMY stage, saying, "I'd like to thank the Academy," showing his gratitude and respect for the staff, elected leaders and music community he's worked with during his career at the Recording Academy. "We can be so proud of what we’ve all accomplished together," Portnow added.

"As I finish out my term leading this great organization, my heart and soul are filled with gratitude, pride, for the opportunity and unequal experience," he continued. "Please know that my commitment to all the good that we do will carry on as we turn the page on the next chapter of the storied history of this phenomenal institution."

Full Winners List: 61st GRAMMY Awards

Travis Scott

Travis Scott

Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

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Everyone's A VIP At Clive Davis' Pre-GRAMMY Gala: From Travis Scott To Jimmy Jam To Brandi Carlile

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Pass through the velvet rope at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles for an exclusive look at the star-studded 2019 Pre-GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Feb 10, 2019 - 11:27 am

On Feb. 9, on the eve of Music's Biggest Night, the 61st GRAMMY Awards, artists from across genres and decades gathered at the glitzy Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. for the 2019 Pre-GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons.

Walk The 2019 Pre-GRAMMY Gala Red Carpet

Less than 24 hours before the big red carpet walk today, the likes of current GRAMMY nominees Ella Mai, Dua Lipa, Diplo, Shaggy, Alice Cooper and Weird Al Yankovich, and GRAMMY winners Melissa Etheridge and Quincy Jones, brought their vibrant energy and killer looks at the annual celebration hosted by the Recording Academy and Clive Davis. Onlookers tried to spy the glam looks on the red carpet as they peered into the hotel's glass—we'll let you past the velvet rope and walk it with us as at this exclusive music industry event.

Dua Lipa & Ellie Goulding

Dua Lipa & Ellie Goulding | Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images

This year's who's-who of music gala celebrated iconic industry veteran Clarence Avant, known as the Godfather Of Black Music, as the honoree of the evening. Like event host and fellow legend Davis, he helped launch the careers of many great artists, working with the likes of GRAMMY-winning greats Bill Withers, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of The Time.

The video celebrating Avant had countless heroes such as Former President Barack Obama, Jones, Diddy and JAY-Z sharing how much they love Avant, the powerful impact he's made on their lives and music, and how he always knows the right thing to say. Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow introduced him with a fitting complement, and a huge one given the company they were in: "You're the ultimate music person." The Time properly brought the funk on stage to celebrate Avant with a performance of their '80s hits "The Bird" and "Jungle Love," dancing as if no time had passed.

Current GRAMMY nominee Travis Scott set the mood opening the evening's performances with "Goosebumps" and "Sicko Mode," while sisters and fellow nominees Chloe x Halle brought home a rousing cover of the late GRAMMY-winning Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin's "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves." Brandi Carlile, another current GRAMMY nominee, returned to the stage to join the duo, along with past nominee Valerie Simpson and Broadway star Keala Settle, ending the evening on quite the high note.

Chloe x Halle

Chloe x Halle | Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

Other musical guests for the evening included current nominees Bebe Rexha, Florida Georgia Line and H.E.R., along with past nominees Jazmine Sullivan and Ledisi, plus GRAMMY winner Rob Thomas. Sullivan and Thomas offered a powerful duet, belting out Aretha and George Michael's "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)."

As the evening rolled on, Davis made sure to highlight all the countless legends in the room, as the crowd continuously burst into applause and often up on their feet to celebrate the likes of music greats Barbara Streisand, George Clinton and Dionne Warwick, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Apple's Tim Cook and even former-L.A. Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Don't forget to tune in to the 2019 GRAMMYs live from Staples Center today. Start with the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at 12:30 p.m. PST/3:30 ET, then follow us to the red carpet at 2:00 p.m. PST/5:00 p.m. ET—both will be live streamed right here on right here on GRAMMY.com.

Then the moment you've all been waiting for, the 61st GRAMMY Awards, hosted by 15-time GRAMMY winner Alicia Keys, will air live at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT on CBS.

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