During this year's GRAMMY Week, the Recording Academy Advocacy team gathered with Members of Congress, congressional staff, and music creators for our annual congressional briefing series.

GRAMMY Week provides a unique chance for members of Congress to hear directly about the issues that affect the music community, leaving the bipartisan group with a firsthand look at what passing pro-music legislation, such as the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) and the Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act, could mean for the community.

This year, the Advocacy team had over a dozen Members of Congress join from both sides of the aisle, including House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Larry Bucshon (R-IN).

First on the agenda was a songwriter panel including Songwriter of the Year nominees, Nija Charles and Laura Veltz, and Chair of the Recording Academy's Songwriters & Composers Wing, Evan Bogart.

The panelists discussed their individual careers, the hurdles that come with being a songwriter, and the determination necessary to succeed. However, in addition to determination, they stressed the importance for Congress to protect their rights so songwriters throughout the country can continue creating music and succeed in the industry.

Following the panel, Todd Dupler, Acting Chief Advocacy & Public Policy Office at the Academy, sat down with two-time GRAMMY winning artist Shaggy to discuss his impressive career as well as key pieces of legislation, including the HITS Act.

Shaggy's most recent album, Come Fly Wid Mi, was nominated for a GRAMMY this year, but what most people didn't know was that Shaggy, along with 17-time GRAMMY winner Sting, created this album without the backing of a record label.

This means they provided the funding for the album themselves — something independent and small artists do all the time. However, under current laws, these artists have to write off their expenses for tax purposes over a period of years, which makes an expensive project even more difficult to pull off.

The HITS Act, which is expected to be re-introduced later this month, would allow artists to fully deduct the cost of producing a new record in the year they incur the expenses rather than spreading them out over time. If the HITS Act became law, it would allow small artists to create more music by lessening the immense financial burdens that accompany the production process.

Shaggy and Dupler also discussed the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA), which was reintroduced in the House and Senate on Feb. 2nd – just days prior to the briefing. Sponsored by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Senators Padilla (D-CA) and Blackburn (R-TN), AMFA would end a decades-long loophole that allows AM/FM radio to play artists' music without compensating them.

The United States is currently one of three major countries that does not pay artists for radio play. In turn, American artists don't receive any money when their music is played on radio stations internationally. Shaggy — whose music is popular around the globe and has experienced this first hand — talked to lawmakers about how important it is to right this wrong.

The next day, Members of Congress and staff took a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations and production of the GRAMMYs telecast at Crypto.com Arena. Allowing them to witness the reality that music is more than just the famous names and voices behind the music we love but is made up of numerous backstage workers whose efforts are the reason a show like the GRAMMYs telecast is able to take place.

The weekend briefings left these congressional leaders with a better knowledge of the realities of the modern music industry, and the policies to support back in Washington to ensure a better future for all music makers.

The Senate Committee On The Judiciary Held A Hearing On Fair Ticketing: Here's What You Need To Know

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

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

Neil Portnow's keynote speech at the 2007 GRAMMYs on the Hill event 

How does it feel to turn 50? For some in the room, it may be a fond memory. For The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Awards, on our 50th Anniversary, we're using the tagline: "For some it's a milestone — but we're just getting started."

To a large extent, what that means to us is looking ahead to the next 50 years, and that includes preparing to turn over the reins to the next generation. And for that next generation of music makers, creators, executives, legislators and fans, these next 50 years will define the future of the music industry and indeed, the future of our entire cultural landscape.

As I travel, I meet students from our GRAMMY Signature Schools from all across the country and I can tell you, they make me very optimistic about the future of the music industry. They are bright, passionate and who knows — maybe one of them even dreams of growing up to be a music lobbyist.

For all these reasons, I want to particularly recognize our guests from Chesnee High School's music department, whom you just met. To them I say, keep up the great work, use this grant and recognition wisely, and know that the current generation of music leaders is relying on you to carry the future of our business to even greater heights. As I add my personal congratulations to each of our GRAMMYs on the Hill honorees for their impressive achievements which have allowed all of our lives to be enriched through music, I’d like to direct my comments tonight to music students everywhere, and particularly to the music students of Chesnee High School and the students from all of our GRAMMY Signature Schools, each of whom will receive a podcast of these remarks.

I know to many of you in high school music programs, it looks like we don't have a clue. Technology is changing faster than we can manage it, and you — the young music lovers — have mastered it far better than we have. It may even appear as if we are fighting new technologies, trying to hold them back. And I can certainly understand how it might look that way.

But let me assure you that every music industry leader in this room, every member of Congress here tonight, every technologist present, and every legislative staffer here with us, is working as hard as they can to prepare for and adjust to the new world of music.

We may not always get it right. But our overriding concern is a noble one — protecting the intellectual property of music makers and copyright owners so that music creation can and will continue. And if it appears that we are treading too slowly into the new world, it is because that concern is paramount in our minds and certainly is not easy or simple to address.

You should also know that technology entrepreneurs and music industry leaders are working together each day to solve these issues and hasten the digital transition. And I'd like to share with you — publicly for the first time — one such place where this occurred at an entirely new level.

Last year at this podium, I spoke about the so-called music and technology war. Rhetorical battles were creating an environment in which cooperation was difficult. I called for a truce, and offered The Recording Academy as the facilitator of a high-level summit between music and technology leaders.

That summit actually took place this summer — at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif. Why at Skywalker? No, it wasn't because each side saw the other as the evil empire.

It was because Lucas's operation is one that seamlessly — you might even say "magically" — melds content and technology to produce results that are at once artistic, popular — and profitable.

Sitting at a conference table in the cavernous Skywalker soundstage where so many innovative films were scored, we were inspired by what can happen when music and technology work together toward a common goal.

So, we gathered our participants for a two-day retreat. To keep us honest, we mixed in four music creators: Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and two of the industry's most successful producers — who are here with us tonight — Jimmy Jam and Phil Ramone.

Guided by our expert moderators, technology guru Ted Cohen and digital entertainment attorney Bobby Rosenbloum — and, I should disclose, under the watchful eye of an antitrust attorney — the participants set out to find common ground.

Presidents, CEOs and other high-level leaders dedicated significant time to this unprecedented discussion. Executives from digital music services such as Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, SNOCAP and Pandora; from technology manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sandisk; from retailers including Best Buy and Amazon; from major and independent music publishers; and from all four major labels came to Skywalker for the retreat.

Many of these executives were meeting face to face for the first time and to us, that alone was important. That they engaged in such an honest and open dialogue was even more fulfilling. That they all agreed to continue the discussion beyond the retreat was gratifying all the more. But perhaps paramount was their contributions to several guiding philosophies, which we're calling the GRAMMY Music & Technology Principles. These include:

First and foremost, music creators are the foundation of the music business and must be adequately compensated regardless of the technology. We must ensure that whatever technology is used to bring music to the public, creators are paid, period.

Similarly, meeting the needs of consumers is critical, and the music and technology industries must provide a wide array of business models that appeal to consumers and value compensation to creators and copyright owners. Ultimately, consumers will tell us how they wish to enjoy music. Our job is to provide them with legitimate choices that value creators' rights.

Third, new technologies are essential to the future of the music business, therefore an environment for experimentation and innovation — that respects copyright and music creators — should be fostered.  Content providers must give entrepreneurs the freedom to explore new and untested business models — but in return, those innovations must build in an appreciation and respect of copyright.

Fourth, interoperability across hardware and services is essential to the consumer experience and should be a priority in the digital music space. We cannot continue to frustrate and confuse our customers. They know any DVD they buy plays on every DVD player, and every CD plays on every CD player. Music files must do the same.

Fifth, the best defense against music piracy is a vibrant, complete and legal digital marketplace. Yes, legislation, litigation, and education all play important roles. But without giving the consumer legal options that provide the same deep catalogue as pirate sites, we will never solve the problem of piracy.

Sixth, the industry must make faster rights clearances a higher priority in order to grow the legal digital distribution of music and to more effectively compete with the volume of titles available through illegitimate sources. Now, we all recognize that music licensing is complicated by nature, and streamlining the process would help grow the business. Since the retreat, rights owners already have started to compile a "roadmap" document to make the process clearer.

Seventh, the music economy is not a zero-sum game; music and technology sectors can both benefit as the business grows. Perhaps the biggest disservice of the rhetoric wars is framing the debate as though if content wins, technology loses and vice versa. The leaders at our retreat understood that this truly can be a win-win game.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, continued dialogue among music and technology leaders is essential to facilitating growth in the marketplace. That these very busy leaders of their industries left the retreat committed to continuing the dialogue is perhaps the most gratifying principle of all.

Now, we realize that these principles are just a first step in greater cooperation between the music and technology sectors. There will continue to be hurdles and challenges ahead as we adapt to the new marketplace. But I have great respect for these leaders who came to Skywalker to build consensus, and I believe the entire industry should follow their example and the standards they have set forth.

So, to the music students listening: know that we are working to create an environment for music that recognizes the value of both creators and consumers, an environment that rejects a winner-take-all approach, and one that encourages innovation and experimentation. Even though the music industry you will manage will look very different from the one we have today, these concepts will remain constant.

Our generation will do its part to live by the GRAMMY Music & Technology Principles, and we hope you will too. We're counting on all of you to ensure that in another 50 years, the GRAMMYs' centennial will be a time to rejoice and celebrate a music industry and a culture that we all can be proud of.