"the Recording Academy has disproportionately favored the very white, the very male, and the very old, consistently rewarding legacy acts and industry darlings rather than the year's most accomplished, essential music. In 2018, Neil Portnow, who was then the president of the Academy, suggested that women performers needed to "step up" if they wanted to win more awards. The comment confirmed what everyone already knew: the Grammys voting body was an out-of-touch boys club whose biases reflected an institution on the brink of irrelevance."
"When Portnow left his post, in 2019, his replacement, Deborah Dugan, accused the Academy of vote-fixing and mismanaging finances, which the Academy denied; she was put on leave and then eventually let go. In the aftermath of these scandals, the Grammys have been on something of an apology tour, signalling to audiences and artists alike that they've heard the criticisms and they know. They know!"
Grammy voting has historically favored white, male, and older artists and frequently rewarded legacy acts over the year's most accomplished music. Macklemore won Best Rap Album in 2014 over Drake, while Fun. beat Frank Ocean for Best New Artist in 2013. In 2002, the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack won Album of the Year over OutKast's Stankonia. In 2018, Neil Portnow suggested that women performers needed to "step up" to win more awards. In 2019, Deborah Dugan accused the Academy of vote-fixing and financial mismanagement and was placed on leave and later dismissed. A Puerto Rican superstar won the top Grammy prize and criticized Trump's deployment of ICE.
Read at The New Yorker
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