A lot goes down months, weeks and even days before the GRAMMY awards every year. From the events leading up to the telecast during GRAMMY week and finding new ways to take viewers behind the scenes to events after the GRAMMYs, including the Latin GRAMMYs and special tribute specials like the upcoming Aretha! A GRAMMY Celebration For The Queen Of Soul, the Recording Academy is busy year-round finding ways to connect with audiences and the music community.

Teams in marketing, development, digital media and beyond work tirelessly to make sure it all runs smoothly. Forbes recently sat down with the Recording Academy's Executive In Charge of Production and Chief Business Development Officer Branden Chapmen to talk about what happens behind the curtain around the Biggest Night In Music and surrounding events. Here are some of the fun-facts and insights he shared:

On How GRAMMY Week Came To Be:

"Many years ago, when I first started with the Academy, we actually had something called Grammy Fest, which was a month-long series of events. But ultimately we did not control or produce all of them. We decided approximately a year or two into Neil Portnow's term that we wanted to have greater control and greater focus on amplifying the message around the Grammy Awards and all of our good causes and the people that we go to support, the music community. So we decided that we would no longer do a Grammy Fest, where somebody could simply apply to affiliate with us. We said let's narrow the scope, make it Grammy week and make everything owned or operated by one of us or one of our affiliates at MusiCares or the Grammy Museum Foundation currently. So that's what became Grammy week. So we ultimately made a very strategic decision that we know when the world's eye is focused on us...

Therefore we spend a lot of time focusing our projects initiatives and mission on other events that can amplify and promote the message for the Grammy Awards. But also call attention to all the good work that the Recording Academy and our affiliates at MusiCares and the Grammy Museum Foundation do."

Some Events During GRAMMY Week Are Just For The Music Community:

"At this point you can't stop social media. I believe that one of the reasons that people clamor to get into this room and attend the pre-Grammy gala is because we don't announce who the talent is before the event. We don't talk about the guest list before the event. It has become one of the industry's most preeminent events, where everybody wants to get inside to see and witness something that is likely only gonna happen once in a lifetime. I personally don't think we'll ever see Beck performing at the lead singer with the surviving members of Nirvana ever again. We put experiences on there that you can only see if you're in the room. There is social media, so people will put snippets up, put pictures up. But this isn't for worldwide consumption like the Grammy Awards. It's a unique event and I think that's why it's made such an impact on the industry and continues to stay relevant. Some of what we do should only be the industry, for our fellow musicians. Our voting is established on a peer-based system."

On How The Recording Academy Highlights Music Beyond The GRAMMYs:

"Since I joined the Academy, we've gone from one telecast to five. We now have the Grammy Awards, the Latin Grammy Awards, typically it's our fourth quarter special, this year is a little more unique where we taped it and we're gonna play our Grammy salute to Aretha Franklin in March and then we have our post telecast special. Then one of the shows that is not on CBS, but PBS is when we celebrate our Lifetime Achievement Awards. Our Grammy salute to music legends. So we have expanded our presence not only to the industry, but to the world at large by developing and producing multiple telecasts that would call worldwide attention to us and our Academy. So that has been a strategic decision as well as many as local events. We have summer events in most of our chapter offices and we have a presence in Washington, DC to promote our advocacy and all of that is really year round."

You can read the full interview at Forbes.

Sneak Peek: Patti LaBelle, John Legend, SZA, Alicia Keys, Common & More Celebrate Aretha Franklin