The Recording Academy extended membership invitations to 2,710 established music professionals from wide-ranging backgrounds, genres and disciplines. The invitations are a reflection of the Recording Academy's commitment to excellence and further growing its robust membership body. The invitations also reaffirm the Recording Academy's recognition of the important contributions of music people to influence progressive changes within the music industry. The 2021 class of invitees is 48 percent female, 32 percent Black or African American+, 13 percent Hispanic or Latino/a/x+, and four percent Asian or Pacific Islander+. The Academy's existing membership represents 26 percent female and 27 percent from traditionally underrepresented groups. Since setting the goal of adding 2,500 women voting members by 2025, 831 women have joined the Academy's voting membership, putting the organization 33 percent closer to reaching that milestone.
"Membership is the Academy's change agent — our members drive everything we do," said Ruby Marchand, Chief Industry Officer at the Recording Academy. "I'm inspired by the potential for each invited music creator and business professional to lend their creativity and passion to our organization. We are immensely proud of our accomplishments and the strides we've made toward equitable representation. We look forward to welcoming our new invitees as they help us shape the future of the Academy and the music industry."
"This is an incredibly exciting time to join the Academy and play a part in accelerating change, progress and evolution within the music industry," said Kelley Purcell, Vice President of Membership and Industry Relations at the Recording Academy. "Our membership body is the driving force behind our actions, and we value the contributions of our members that help ensure the Academy's practices authentically represent the current state of music. We're excited to see what this new group brings to the table as we enter a new era at the Academy."
Recording Academy membership reflects the rich, diverse and wide-ranging contributions of music creators and professionals. The areas of focus include service, advocacy and recognition of the art and craft of music with a community-driven approach and peer-reviews on an annual cycle. In order to participate in the process for the upcoming GRAMMY Awards, new members have to accept their invitations by Sept. 15, 2021. The first voting ballot opens Oct. 22 and closes Nov. 5. The 64th GRAMMY Awards are set to take place Jan. 31, 2022, at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
To celebrate the new class of invitees, the Recording Academy is activating across its social channels, giving the music industry and music fans a look into what it means to be a member of the Recording Academy. New invitees will be featured across Instagram Reels, Voice Tweets and Instagram Lives hosted by Recording Academy staff and executives. Activations can be followed on the official Recording Academy Instagram at @RecordingAcademy and Twitter at @RecordingAcad.
