The day before the first-round voting opens for the 67th Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy has released its 2024 Membership Report, which indicates that it has added more than 3,000 women voting members since 2019, exceeding its goal of adding 2,500 women voting members by 2025.
The Academy’s total membership is over 16,000 members, of which more than 13,000 are voting members.
The milestone comes less than five years after the Recording Academy set the goal of increasing representation among women voting members. In total, the Academy has added thousands of new members, and now 66% of the current Grammys electorate has joined in the past five years.
The report notes that since 2019, the Academy has added around 8,700 new members, with:
65% growth in the percentage of voting members who are people of color;
90% growth in the percentage of Black or African American voting members;
43% growth in the percentage of Hispanic or Latin voting members;
and 100% growth in the percentage of Asian or Pacific Islander voting members.
However, it also notes the steep challenges in its diversifying. Its total membership is:
62% men, 32% women and the remainder non-binary, gender non-conforming or unknown;
48% white or Causcasian, 48% Black or African American+, 13% Hispanic or Latin, 10% Asian or Pacific Islander, 21% 2% Middle Easter or North African, 1% South Asian, and the remainder undisclosed or unknown.
But the new membership is more diverse, with 51% men and 39% women; and 36% white or Caucasian, 26% Black or African-American, 14% Hispanic or Latin and 11% Asian or Pacific Islander.
“We are not at our ultimate destination yet, but the Recording Academy membership has never been more reflective of the music community than it is today,” said Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy CEO. “It has more women, more people of color, and a broad representation of diverse genres and crafts. It represents a dynamic and vibrant body of music creators who push the boundaries of a rapidly changing musical ecosystem while driving our culture forward and deciding Grammy outcomes. It’s the most diverse, representative, Grammy electorate ever.”
First-round voting for the Grammy Awards opens tomorrow, October 4, and closes on October 15. Voting Members, including those welcomed in the 2024 new class, are eligible to participate in the voting process. Grammy nominees will be announced on November 8, 2024.
Read the full article here
