Little Boots is looking ahead
The singer, above, says music needs to open itself up to women, and “blockchain.”
Musicians Sheryl Crow, Common, Andra Day, Jimmy Jam and Cam are among 16 music industry members who have been named to a task force looking into gender and racial bias issues that came to a head earlier this year following the 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony.
The newly formed task force is headed by Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama. Others selected to explore the disparities in Grammy Award nominations that resulted in a #GrammysSoMale campaign include executives from record companies, music publishers, academic institutions and other entertainment world entities.
They include Stephanie Alexa, ATO Records vice president of finance and licensing administration; Universal Music Group Executive Vice President Michele Anthony; broadcast journalist Giselle Fernandez; Creative Nation CEO and co-owner Beth Laird; BET Networks chairman and CEO Debra Lee.
Rounding out the group are Lionfish Entertainment co-founder and CEO Rebeca Leon; ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews; USC Annenberg inclusion initiative founder and director Stacy L. Smith; Friends at Work founder and CEO Ty Stiklorius; Sony Music Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and general counsel Julie Swidler; and Seven20 CEO Dean Wilson.
Leading up to the 60th Grammy Awards, USC published results of a study showing that 90.7% of nominations in the top awards categories over the past five years went to men, only 9.3% recognizing female nominees.
Recording Academy President Neil Portnow was roundly criticized when he responded to a question about the imbalance by saying it was time for women to “step up” to claim a more representative share of recognition.
Portnow later tried to clarify his comment. “After hearing from many friends and colleagues, I understand the hurt that my poor choice of words ... has caused. I also now realize that it’s about more than just my words. Because those words, while not reflective of my beliefs, echo the real experience of too many women. I’d like to help make that right.”
Following the outcry, the academy announced it would create a task force to explore conscious and unconscious biases that have resulted in the imbalance and make recommendations on addressing the causes.
Crow herself was critical of Portnow and the Grammys in a social media post.
“I wish the #Grammys would return to female/male categories,” she tweeted after the ceremony. “Who will young girls be inspired by to pick up a guitar and rock when most every category is filled with men? I’m not sure it is about women needing to ‘step up,’ (as said by the male in charge). #GrammysSoMale.”
Tchen was announced in March as the choice to head the task force. In making the announcement of the other members on Wednesday, the Recording Academy noted that “all members will volunteer their time and expertise, and none are employed by the Recording Academy or hold any position on its Board.”
“This is an extremely important initiative for us,” academy board of trustees Chairman John Poppo said in a statement. “The Board takes seriously any role the Recording Academy can play in serving our music community, and certainly one that could facilitate increased diversity and inclusion.”
According to its charter, “The task force will identify the various barriers and unconscious biases faced by underrepresented communities throughout the music industry and, specifically, across Recording Academy operations and policies.”
Among the task force’s initial actions, it has created a mechanism for collecting feedback through a website, grammy.com/taskforce feedback.