In 2019, the Recording Academy launched a new community-driven membership model to help diversify its voting body. Now, 66% of that electorate are voters who joined in the last five years.
It's a significant change for the organization and could lead to artists who have been snubbed at the show for years – from Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar – to win in the biggest categories. The change was also reflected at the 2024 Grammys earlier this year, where all of the televised winners were female artists, including Taylor Swift, SZA, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus.
The news is part of the Academy's 2024 Membership Report, released Thursday. When the organization decided to restructure its new member submission process in 2019 — its first attempt in 60 years — it added requirements that prevented older voters without recent music credits from easily renewing their memberships. To be a voting member, creators must have 12 “verifiable, commercially distributed credits in a single creative profession,” and at least five of these should have occurred in the previous five years. This new requirement has helped fundamentally change who gets nominated and ultimately wins a Grammy.
“It is essential that our membership reflects the current music community, which is why we have specific membership and renewal requirements. We want to ensure that it is made up of people who are actively engaged in the industry today. The more representative we are of the music industry, the more impact we can have on the community as a whole,” says Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the academy. The Hollywood journalist.
The Grammys currently has more than 13,000 voting members. Since 2019, approximately 8,700 creators have become voting members, and the academy has seen a 65% growth in voting members who are people of color. There was 90% growth in black voting members; 43% growth for Latinos; and 100% growth for Asians.
The academy also surpassed its goal of adding 2,500 women voters by 2025, after already adding more than 3,000. Since 2019, women voters have grown by 27%.
“We're not at our final destination yet, but membership in the Recording Academy has never been as representative of the music community as it is today,” Mason jr. said. he says. “There are more women, more people of color, and a broad representation of different genders and professions. He represents a dynamic and vibrant body of music creators pushing the boundaries of a rapidly evolving music ecosystem as they advance our culture and decide Grammy outcomes. It's the most diverse and representative Grammy electorate ever.”
The Academy's voting body spans over 13 creative disciplines, including songwriters, composers, producers, engineers, singers, conductors and more. Songwriters and composers make up the largest voting body with 46%, followed by producers and instrumentalists, each with 33%. Singers represent 32%, followed by technicians (19%) and arrangers (12%).
Members of the pop genre represent 27% of current voters, while jazz comes in second place with 19%. This is followed by R&B and rock (17% each), American Roots and alternative (13% each), classical (12%), rap, Latin and global music (10% each), while country and dance account for 9% each. .
First-round Grammy voting begins Friday and runs through Oct. 15. Nominations will be announced on November 8 and final voting will take place from December 12 to January 3. The live show will air on February 2 from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Angeles.
Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history, is expected to get a nomination for her fifth album of the year Cowboy Carter. Others expected to earn more nominations include Swift, Eilish, Lamar, Post Malone, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Chris Stapleton, Ariana Grande and Charli XCX.