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2020: A YEAR OF CHANGE AND CHALLENGES
By Eric Diep
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CHANGED OUR WORLD.
The year 2020 will be remembered for many things, including social distancing and how COVID-19 created a “new normal” for music creators who couldn’t perform live at a venue or bar, go on tour or safely collaborate in the studio. In the United States, as of this writing, there have been over 21 million cases and more than 361,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus, which has crippled our economy and led to massive unemployment. For the majority of 2020, we were stuck at home, finding ways to stay creative through uncertainty.
On top of the devastation caused by the pandemic, on May 25, 2020, the killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police was captured on video, sparking ongoing protests for justice and worldwide racial reckoning.
In the aftermath, the music industry looked inward, and many groups announced steps to implement constructive change in their practices. On June 2, #TheShowMustBePaused was launched by friends and music executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, who urged the entire industry to disconnect and reflect on “the role the music business must play in consideration of Black lives.” The Recording Academy stood in solidarity with the grassroots campaign, but that was just the beginning.
During a life-changing year, the Academy proactively responded to these events as they unfolded. They partnered with MusiCares to establish the COVID-19 Relief Fund in March and kept their promise to push forward with new diversity and inclusion initiatives, teaming up with civil rights nonprofit Color Of Change and inviting a diverse new membership class in July. During a rigorous election year, the Recording Academy lobbied in Washington, D.C., to help save music creators and empowered members to engage in virtual conferences with their elected officials on District Advocate Day in August.
Through the lens of a pandemic and social unrest, the Recording Academy remained dedicated to music creators, exemplifying an industry leader who listens, learns and takes action. But it hasn’t been easy.
“It’s definitely been a challenge,” says Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO. “Logistically, it’s been more difficult than ever working remotely and trying to communicate and collaborate through computer screens, but it’s been a unique opportunity for us to be an organization that brings people together, that tries to heal, and tries to support through some of the things we’re doing through MusiCares and with our advocacy.”
Mason, the Academy’s second Black Chair of the Board (the first, Jimmy Jam, held the position from 2007 to 2009), has worked alongside an integral hire who came aboard in May: Valeisha Butterfield Jones, the first Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at the Academy. They work in tandem, thinking critically about how a 63-year-old organization can be more diverse and inclusive, from its voting body to its Trustees, staff and leadership.
“We have those conversations every day,” Mason says. “And that’s something that’s really important to us, making sure that our organization looks like our membership and that our membership looks like the music community at-large.”
When the Academy partnered with Color Of Change, they committed $1 million to the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. Butterfield Jones brought the idea of a strategic partnership with Color Of Change to Mason and has worked closely with the organization and its president, Rashad Robinson.
“Color Of Change can challenge us, be honest with us, look at where we are, and help us navigate where we want to go from a DEI perspective,” Butterfield Jones says. “More specifically, they help us focus on making sure that underrepresented creators have equity in everything that we do.”
In October, the Recording Academy joined Color Of Change to host a virtual industrywide #ChangeMusic Summit with leaders in music and media for panel discussions on shifting culture, best practices to encourage systemic change and more. At the summit, Butterfield Jones presented data about the Academy’s diversity efforts across all entities. In October 2020, the Recording Academy had 169 employees: 60% female and 40% male; 46% diverse and 54% non-diverse; 55% under age 40 and 45% over age 40.
“I think you have to know where you’ve been and you have to know where you’re going. Full stop,” she says. “And for us, transparency meant, one, looking at our data, understanding where are the gaps, where are the opportunities, but then sharing it. And I think there are some examples of that with other industries where it shows that transparency goes a long way when you’re trying to earn trust.”
Though best known for Music’s Biggest Night, the Recording Academy’s doors are open year-round. During the first wave of the coronavirus, the organization, along with its charitable arm, MusiCares, established the COVID-19 Relief Fund on March 17 to support music creators and community members affected by the pandemic. The fund launched at $2 million — with $1 million base donations from both the Recording Academy and MusiCares — and has raised more than $22 million. More than 24,000 music people have received funds to date thanks to donations from large benefactors such as Amazon Music, ASCAP, BMI, City of Austin, Country Music Association, Elma Philanthropies, Sony Music Entertainment, Spotify, TikTok, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group, among others.
