The Recording Academy’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion has launched a new policy to give female producers and engineers more opportunities. The new policy is in an initiative titled The Producer & Engineer Inclusion Initiative. According to Pitchfork, the initiative calls on “any entity or individual responsible for or involved in selecting and hiring producers and engineers to commit to making hiring decisions only after considering slate of candidates that includes at least two women.” The policy comes shortly after Niel’s Portnow’s statement regarding women needing to “step up” in the music industry.
It also asks working producers to “take gender diversity challenges in music’s technical fields into account when determining who to mentor and prepare for development and advancement opportunities.” The Academy has now added two valuable resources for female producers and engineers to land their dream position. The two resources are promptly titled She Is the Music and Women’s Audio Mission.
2018 was a controversial year for the Grammy’s, with only one woman winning an award the whole night, who was Aleesia Cara for “Best New Artist,” which led to Task Force coming in to support. While Times Up Co-Founder Tina Tchen serves as the leader for the Task Force, the Recording Academy has made significant changes after female executives stating that the Academy is “woefully” out of touch.
Many artists have supported the new initiative including Justin Bieber, Cardi B, The Weeknd, Kacey Musgraves, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry.
The Task Force was formed last March after The Academy being criticized for the lack of female representation in the music industry. This is another big step for more diversity and inclusion in the music industry. The 61st Annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 10th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.
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