Recording Academy exec teases Grammy night, talks Drake controversy: 'We welcome the feedback'

The Grammys (finally) arrive Sunday after a pandemic delay and location change to Las Vegas. But will viewers feel satisfied with the winners?

Music's biggest night, much like the Oscars, is far from immune to controversy – particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusion in its nominees and winners.

The last few years have brought the #GrammysSoMale hashtag; former President Neil Portnow suggesting that women need to "step up" to be recognized; Diddy lamenting the awards' treatment of Black music; The Weeknd boycotting the show after being shut out in the nominations; and Drake withdrawing his two nominations after his album “Certified Lover Boy” missed out on major category recognition.

"We welcome the feedback, and we always want to hear how people feel about our organization and the processes," says the Recording Academy's co-President and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Valeisha Butterfield Jones, regarding Drake's choice.

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She emphasizes that communication is the key to change: "We want to have conversations, even difficult conversations because that's the only way that we're going to be able to make change and also earn trust."

The awards show is starting by building more inclusion into its broadcast: The Grammys announced last fall that it had adopted an inclusion rider for the 2022 ceremony, an agreement requiring producers to audition, interview and hire people from groups that have been historically and systematically excluded from the industry. 

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Expect to see strong representation for women and LGBTQ people at this year's show, as well as themes around accessibility. "The inclusion rider really is a mechanism and tool for us to hold ourselves accountable, measure the progress that's being made and also hopefully inspire others to do the same," Butterfield Jones says.

The Recording Academy has made sweeping efforts to diversify its ranks, developing a task force months after its January 2018 ceremony celebrated mostly men and pop music. It has since tried to diversify membership, created inclusive initiatives and eliminated its controversial nomination review committees – panels that chose nominees from a list of those who received the most votes. Nominees will now be based purely on votes cast by the academy’s 11,000-plus voting members.

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Questions have loomed for years around the nominations process with music industry players calling for more transparency because the selection of finalists happens behind closed doors.

"Whenever we hear feedback from our members, we have a responsibility to respond and to do it quickly," Butterfield Jones says. "Our elected leaders, our board and all of us on staff wanted to make sure we were listening to the concerns of our members, and they were saying to us it may be time for us to eliminate nomination review, and let the members decide the nominees and the winners."

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Additionally, the Recording Academy announced it had invited more than 2,700 music creators to join the organization last June. Of this year's membership class invitees, 48% are female; 32% are Black; 13% Hispanic or Latino; and 4% Asian or Pacific Islander. Of those invited to join in 2021, 83% accepted.

Butterfield Jones says the organization is "seeing a very high acceptance rate in the invitations that are going out year over year," something she considers "real progress." 

The academy has a goal to double the number of female members by 2025, and it is more than halfway there, Butterfield Jones says.

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The organization has also partnered with Arizona State University and Berklee College of Music's Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship to study women across the music industry and found that discrimination is widespread. "There were real concerns and areas of improvement around burnout, a focus on mentorship was important, and also themes around pay equity," Butterfield Jones says. The academy donated $50,000 to five organizations supporting the growth of women and girls in music.

To critics still not satisfied, Butterfield Jones says she knows a lot of work remains. The real questions are: "How do we improve together? How do we grow and build together? And how do we make sure that artists are recognized for all that they give to us?"

Contributing: Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press

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