They say teamwork makes the dream work. To prove that axiom true, music creators and lawmakers must unite to advance the rights of music professionals. The drive to increase support for music creators defined the theme at the third GRAMMY Fund Breakfast, a fundraiser for the Recording Academy's Political Action Committee (PAC) held by the Advocacy & Public Policy team.

The GRAMMY Fund Breakfast — an official GRAMMY Week 2022 event held at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas on April 2 — gathered leaders of the Recording Academy's Advocacy team, supporters and advocates to thank them for their support and contributions to advancing creators' rights. The event raises funds for the GRAMMY Fund for Music Creators, a PAC that provides Recording Academy members the opportunity to help defend music makers' rights and support their best interests on significant policy issues. With a deep understanding of the creators' journey, the Recording Academy Advocacy team strives to build a better future for all music makers.

Leaders of the committee spoke on the importance of championing music advocacy throughout the GRAMMY Fund Breakfast fundraiser. Todd Dupler, Acting Chief Advocacy & Public Policy Officer at the Recording Academy, expressed the utmost appreciation for the Recording Academy's National Advocacy Committee and backers. 

"Your support for what we are doing here fuels our advocacy work all year long, fighting for music creators and for creators' rights," he said.

During the event, Dupler recognized members of the Advocacy team, including Recording Academy Co-President Valeisha Butterfield Jones, as well as trustees in attendance — among them, Recording Academy Board Of Trustees Chair Tammy Hurt, Vice Chair Rico Love and Chair Emeritus Christine Albert. He also offered thanks to his Advocacy & Public Policy team members in attendance, including Senior Director Michael Lewan, Project Manager Anngela Hanks, and Executive Assistant Montana Miller.

Dupler also acknowledged Brookly Bowl founder and owner Peter Shapiro for hosting the event. At the venue, located in the LINQ Promenade, fundraiser attendees settled into large leather sofas as they drank breakfast cocktails and noshed on gourmet morsels.

Shortly after, Andrew Joslyn, composer, orchestrator, violinist, and Co-Chair of the National Advocacy Committee, took the mic. With great enthusiasm, Joslyn delivered a heartfelt speech, expressing appreciation to the Washington, D.C.-based Advocacy team and donors. Through his leadership role, he aims to advance economic equality and recovery for all musicians.

"I wanted to talk a little about the human aspect of what the GRAMMY Fund does. Advocacy sometimes can feel like a stratospheric concept," Joslyn said, adding that he is a gig musician.  "It doesn't really get to the heart of what it actually means. Becoming a full-time musician for a lot of artists is the dream. It's not about the glitz and the glamor and the millions of dollars. It's about being able to sustain the dream.

"The pandemic, the zombie apocalypse, Ice Age, we've all been living through, that was difficult for all of us," he continued. "The gigs stopped. The work stopped. The tours stopped. So where's the money come from? Here's the human aspect that you need to know."

In his gripping speech, Josyln praised the Committee for their dedication to making progressive changes in the music industry, noting that the Advocacy team is "really on the front lines making sure that people like me, people like my colleagues" can live their dreams and sustain a living. "The conductors, the engineers, the road crew, the people that make the dream happen for all the superstars. They're the ones that are suffering.

"The money you are contributing today is putting forth the dreams for all the musicians," Joslyn said. "Not just for me … but all the people that deserve the right to be here in the future. Thank you so much."

Following Joslyn, Yolanda Adams, Co-Chair of the Academy's National Advocacy Committee and the event's special guest host, took the floor. The iconic gospel singer and four-time GRAMMY winner has been at the forefront of fighting for fair compensation for artists and creating legislation to increase the rights of creators.

"I am so excited about the future. We have come through some really stressful, hard times, and to see you all in attendance today makes our hearts just burst with joy because we know that the work we are doing is not going in vain," she said. "We're fighting on the Hill, we're fighting at the state level, we're fighting on the local level. Everywhere we fight, we know the fight is worth it."

Adams' radiant presence and warm voice charmed the crowd. "Although our faces are the most prominent, your participation helps us get to the Senate floor [and] the House floor to tell folks, 'Hey, y'all doing us wrong.1945 prices for 2022. That will not work!' Some of y'all didn't get the joke, you'll catch it after the Bellini."

Such efforts require a team, she continued. "We could not do this without you. None of us are islands," Adams said with exuberance. "We all got here through people, so we're gonna need people. I am so glad that the people we need today are the amazing folks in this room who are going to make it happen."

The Recording Academy's Songwriters & Composers Wing Town Hall: Here Were The Insights About Songwriter Royalties & Justice For Music Makers

Thirteen-time GRAMMY winner Pharrell Williams understands how to wield his influence for the betterment of humanity. When he's not in the studio making award-winning music, the prolific multihyphenate spends his time supporting causes like education, sustainable fashion, conservation, and human rights, and leverages his platform to make change happen — creating a blueprint for merging passions with social causes.

The visionary's philanthropic reach is awe-inspiring. Since establishing his first non-profit, From One Hand to AnOTHER, in 2008 — a six-week summer camp that offers learning programs focused on science, technology and the arts to children from low-income families — Williams has given a host of communities access to resources, tools and life-changing opportunities. He's helped build an after-school center in his hometown of Virginia Beach, offered internships to students from Harlem, New York, and launched a non-profit initiative for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs on the heels of the 2020 racial justice protests.

Ultimately, the mega-producer wants to make the world a better place for future generations, which shines through in his dedication to education, climate action and equality. By taking action to tackle these big-picture issues, Williams is showing others in his position that it's possible to do what you love and make a difference in the world.

To mark Williams' efforts and their impacts, the multihyphenate will be honored alongside U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) at this year's GRAMMYs On The Hill in Washington D.C. The annual event spotlights congressional leaders and music makers who have worked together to raise awareness and pass legislation to help ensure fair pay and equal rights for creators. 

Ahead of the event on April 26 and 27, take a look at four ways Williams has supported the music industry — and beyond. 

He Advocates For The Protection Of Creators' Rights

Williams has made a concerted effort to negotiate with labels for control of his music, and he uses his platform to help fight for equality and equity for all artists. "I shouldn't be the only one with this preferred deal," Williams said to the head of Columbia Records after negotiating a deal to own his masters in 2015. "All artists should own their intellectual property — otherwise you're just working for someone else. It's really weird: They own the fields where you and God have laid the seeds; you do the harvesting, but they have the ownership."

Williams has consistently highlighted the importance of ownership in music, and his push to usher in new protections for artists extends to the virtual world. In 2021, the music mogul joined the advisory council of CXIP DAO, a decentralized organization that allows creators to protect their copyrights and manage their digital assets.   

Read More: Everything You Need To Know About GRAMMYs On The Hill 2023: What It Is, Who It Benefits & What It Has Accomplished

He Supports And Funds Arts & Music Education Programs

Williams got his musical start as a drummer in elementary school before taking band in middle school, where he met a similarly music-minded classmate named Chad Hugo, his future production partner in the Neptunes. Along with support from his grandmother, this educational experience shaped Williams into the innovator he is today, and encouraged him to center much of his philanthropy on the arts and education as a whole.

"I want all children to have access to that kind of creative growth, access, and support. All kids, not just my own," Pharrell told Billboard in 2019. 

His actions have shown just that: In 2009, Williams' non-profit launched a Summer of Innovation camp in association with NASA. His foundation would go on to donate school supplies and offer free after-school programs and camps to kids from his hometown areas. 

In 2018, the "Happy" singer partnered with American Express Platinum for The Yellow Ball, a fundraising event at the Brooklyn Museum to benefit Young Audiences Arts for Learning. Soon after, he joined forces with Verizon to launch a tech-forward music curriculum for underserved middle schools all over the country, which provides students with access to virtual reality, 3D printers and other emerging technology. 

He Launched A Private School

Back in 2021, Williams took his education advocacy to the next level when he announced the launch of Yellowhab, a tuition-free private school for third to sixth graders from low-income families in his home state of Virginia. Always innovating, Williams's micro-school takes "a future-forward approach" to learning that includes using tech and other methods to immerse students in the educational process.   

"If the system is fixed and unfair, then it needs to be broken," Williams said in a press release.  "We don't want lockstep learning where so many kids fall behind; we want bespoke learning designed for each child, where the things that make a child different are the same things that will make a child rise up and take flight."

He Uses Fashion To Help Global Causes

The fashion influencer has created a number of clothing and accessory lines throughout his career, from the Billionaire Boys Club label to its many offshoots. He's partnered with high-profile brands to create collections that raise awareness and funding for socially conscious causes; in December 2022, his global lifestyle brand ICECREAM collabed with Mini USA for a capsule collection whose proceeds went to Polar Bears International, a non-profit that works to protect the endangered species.

But with eight million metric tons of plastic in the ocean, his sustainable denim collection with Bionic Yarns may be his most socially impactful. Over a two-year period, this collaboration converted an estimated seven million plastic bottles into clothing items.

"We are trying to infiltrate the entire spectrum of fashion, high-end and low. It's a part of sustainability and the cause is to never throw anything [plastics and trash] into the ocean again," Williams told Women's Wear Daily in 2014. "The ocean is just one part of the earth we're concentrating on, but the world is made up of 75 to 80 percent water. It's a huge place to start."

Inside GRAMMYs On The Hill 2023: How The Recording Academy Will Fight For Creator's Rights

As we prepare to celebrate music's best and brightest at the 2022 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 64th GRAMMY Awards, we must also recognize those who are dedicated to serving our music community year-round.

The active participation of Recording Academy members makes a difference, whether it's voting in the GRAMMY Awards process, recommending peers for membership, or registering for the District Advocate advocacy movement.

The upcoming Chapter Board Elections are a pivotal opportunity to serve our local Chapter communities and to help launch the next generation of Recording Academy leaders. The results of this election will impact the future of the Academy from the local to the national level.

Here's everything you need to know about the Recording Academy's 2022 Chapter Board Elections before voting opens next week.

When are Chapter Board Elections?

The Chapter Board Elections are typically held in early April of each year. The 2022 Elections are open Tuesday, March 29, at 8 a.m. local time – Monday, April 4, at 11:59 p.m. local time.

What are Chapter Boards?

The Recording Academy's membership is organized into 12 Chapters nationwide. Each Chapter has a local Board of Governors that advises and supports the National Board of Trustees and collaborates with the Chapter President and Academy staff on local programming and Academy initiatives.

Who is eligible to vote in Chapter Board Elections?

Each Chapter's Voting and Professional membership vote in their respective Chapter Board Elections to elect their Chapter's Governors.

Who serves on Chapter Boards?

A Chapter Board is composed of Recording Academy members who are elected to the positions of Trustee; Chapter Officers, which include a President, Vice President, and Secretary; and Governors.

Why is voting in Chapter Board Elections important?

Voting is a right and a responsibility as a member.

While we love hearing creators' voices on stage and on recordings, it's our responsibility to listen to their concerns, ideas and recommendations in order to keep our Academy and our industry moving forward.

Your vote makes a difference.

Voting in this election is an opportunity to help drive the Recording Academy and our music communities forward by electing the best and brightest members to your Chapter's leadership.

Your vote helps ensure a diverse, inclusive and representative Board.

Recording Academy members elected to their Chapter Boards ensure the policies and procedures put in place by the Academy reflect the needs and aspirations of our vastly diverse music community.

Your vote is your voice.

As a member of the Recording Academy, your vote carries weight and is tremendously valued.

How can I vote in the Chapter Board Elections?

When the elections open on Tuesday, March 29, Voting and Professional members will receive an email from the Recording Academy with a direct link to their online ballot. This login will be different from each member's Recording Academy login.

Once you click on your ballot link, review the candidates' bios. Vote for the individuals who you believe will best represent your local music community.

Be sure to submit your Chapter Board Elections ballot before voting closes on Monday, April 4. If you have any questions or issues with your ballot, please reach out to elections@recordingacademy.com.

For more information about Recording Academy Governance or to view the current list of Elected Leaders, visit https://recordingacademy.com/Governance.

Recording Academy Bolsters Membership With 2,710 Music Creators And Professionals Invited

Editor's Note: The 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show, officially known as the 64th GRAMMY Awards, has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 3, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The below article was updated on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to reflect the new show date and location.

The 24th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative GRAMMY Week Event will return to an in-person luncheon and program in Beverly Hills in January 2022. 

The Recording Academy's Entertainment Law Initiative was established in partnership with the nation's most prominent entertainment attorneys to promote discussion and debate around compelling legal matters and trends in the ever-evolving music industry. 

The event will honor Susan Genco, co-president of The Azoff Company, with the 2022 Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award.

This honor is awarded to an attorney who has demonstrated a commitment to advancing and supporting the music community through service. One winner and two runners-up of the Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Contest (to be announced in January) will also be recognized at the event.

The Entertainment Law Initiative GRAMMY Week Event is the premier annual gathering of entertainment attorneys to celebrate the achievements of their own practitioners, hear from legal thought leaders and support students who are pursuing careers in music law.

One key educational initiative of the Entertainment Law Initiative is a national legal writing contest co-sponsored by the American Bar Association that awards law students with $15,000 in tuition scholarships.

Law students are challenged to identify and research a pressing legal issue facing the modern music industry and outline a proposed solution in a 3,000-word essay. A $10,000 scholarship is awarded to the author of the winning paper, and a $2,500 scholarship is awarded to two runners-up.

All three recipients will receive a mentor session with a leading entertainment attorney. The winning paper will be published in the ABA's journal Entertainment & Sports Lawyer.

The winner will also receive travel and tickets to Los Angeles to attend the 64th GRAMMY Awards, MusiCares Person of the Year, and the ELI GRAMMY Week Event. The contest is open to JD and LLM candidates at U.S. law schools and students have until Jan. 4 to enter the contest. See official rules, detailed prize packages and deadlines at GRAMMY.com/entertainment-law-initiative.

Sponsorship packages for the ELI GRAMMY Week Event are available. Contact Neil Crilly at neil.crilly@recordingacademy.com for information. Individual tickets and a limited number of discounted student tickets are now on sale at GRAMMY.com/ELI-tickets.

WHEN:            Sat, Jan. 29, 2022

10 a.m.           Media Check-In
11 a.m.           Reception & Media Interviews
12 p.m.           Luncheon & Presentation

WHERE:         Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel

9500 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
PARKING:      $20 Valet

MEDIA RSVP MANDATORY: tra@finnpartners.com

Recording Academy And GRAMMY Museum Honor Local Teachers As 2022 Music Educator Award Finalists

The Recording Academy has announced that it will continue giving credit where credit is due with its 3rd annual "Behind The Record" initiative, a global social media activation aimed at spotlighting the many producers, engineers, songwriters, composers, mixers, instrumentalists, and other creators who contribute to the music recording process. Taking place Friday, Oct. 15, the industry-wide conversation encourages artists across all music genres to celebrate their collaborators' incredible behind-the-scenes work on the tracks, records and albums loved by music fans around the world. This year's campaign features a short film, narrated by Recording Academy Board of Trustees Secretary/Treasurer Om'Mas Keith, illustrating that behind every hit song is an intricate dance of creativity that builds and builds to the final product.

A day before the social media activation's launch, on Thursday, Oct. 14, the Recording Academy will introduce Behind The Record Advocacy, a new virtual advocacy program to inform lawmakers about issues affecting the creators behind their favorite records. Building off the success of the Recording Academy's "Behind The Record" initiative, Academy members will meet virtually with members of Congress nationwide to discuss legislation that would have a direct impact on America's recording artists, songwriters and studio professionals, such as the HITS Act and the American Music Fairness Act. With nearly 200 meetings with congressional offices anticipated for Behind The Record Advocacy, members will focus on ensuring that the individuals behind the record are able to earn fair compensation for their work.

"It takes a village to create a recording, and as an organization that serves to support all music creators, we invite our peers to join us in spotlighting the many music professionals behind our favorite songs," Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said. "While we celebrate the music professionals behind the scenes, we also recognize the importance of fighting for fair treatment of creators. We're proud of the evolution of 'Behind The Record' to include an advocacy element this year as we continue our ongoing work to ensure all music creators flourish."

"Behind The Record" is supported by the Recording Academy's Advocacy Department, Producers & Engineers Wing and Songwriters & Composers Wing. Supporting all music creators—including the artists behind our favorite records—is an urgent initiative for the Recording Academy year-round. Within the past year alone, the Recording Academy established the Songwriters & Composers Wing to better represent the diverse community of music creators who provide the world with the gift of song. The Academy also reintroduced the HITS Act in the House and Senate, which would allow artists and record producers to deduct 100 percent of sound recording production expenses in the year they are incurred, and continued efforts to support women producers and engineers through its Women In The Mix initiative.

To help the Recording Academy further support creators working behind the scenes, artists can participate in "Behind The Record" by:

• Emailing givecredit@recordingacademy.com to request an access code to the Credit Cover Generator Portal.
• Posting your Credit Cover across social media channels and tagging those who worked on your project. Use hashtags #BehindTheRecord #GiveCredit #WeAreMusic.
• Artists can create Credit Covers for a single track or album, and covers will live in a gallery on the "Behind The Record" website for music fans to view and discover the roles of creatives behind some of their favorite records.

For the third year, Jaxsta, the world's largest public-facing dedicated database of official music credits, provided credits for Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Merlin releases.

For more information, please visit the "Behind The Record" website. Follow and join the global conversation on social media using the hashtags #BehindTheRecord, #GiveCredit and #WeAreMusic.

Learn More About The Recording Academy's "Behind The Record" Initiative