ACADEMY BROADENS DIVERSITY

The Recording Academy has welcomed a record-breaking 2.4k+ new members this year, half of whom are people of color.

The Academy noted that 37% are women and 46% are under the age of 40. Most of the new members are songwriters (64%); pop is the top genre at 41%.

Since implementing the new-member model in 2019, membership among people of color has risen to 38% from 24%, and the percentage of women members has increased to 30% from 26%. The Recording Academy is now 98% of the way to reaching its goal of adding 2.5k women voting members by 2025.

“I’m proud as our organization continues to evolve and build a membership body that reflects the diverse talents and backgrounds that make up our music community,” said Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. “Our commitment to diversity and inclusivity, however, is an ongoing effort. While we celebrate our progress, we also acknowledge that there’s still more work that must be done. Our members play a crucial role in everything we do, so representation is integral to our mission of supporting and uplifting music makers.”

For all the Academy diversity stats, click here.