“We do not await your welcome into the fraternity. We do not have to sing louder, jump higher or be nicer to prove ourselves.”
Female executives from many sectors of the music business are calling for The Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow‘s resignation following his statement earlier this week that women in music need to “step up” if they to be better represented in the industry.
In an open letter on Thursday (Feb. 1), Artist Group International’s Marsha Vlasic, MAC Presents’ Marcie Allen, Friends At Work’s Ty Stiklorius and more than a dozen others said Portnow’s comment was “wrong and insulting and, at its core, oblivious to the vast body of work created by and with women.” They argued that his attempt to “backpedal” only emphasized his refusal to recognize women and their achievements. No record label executives signed the letter.
“Your most recent remarks do not constitute recognition of women’s achievements, but rather a call for men to take action to ‘welcome’ women,” the letter continues. “We do not await your welcome into the fraternity. We do not have to sing louder, jump higher or be nicer to prove ourselves.”
The letter goes on to address the “stringent requirements” for members of the Recording Academy to vote, saying they “reflect the distorted, unequal balance of executives and creators in our industry.” Citing a recent study from the University of Southern California, it argues there is not enough opportunity and influence granted to the music business’ minorities and action must be taken.
It reads, “We can continue to be puzzled as to why the Grammys do not fairly represent the world in which we live, or we can demand change so that all music creators and executives can flourish no matter their gender, color of their skin, background or sexual preference….
Your comments are another slap in the face to women, whether intended or not; whether taken out of context, or not. Needless to say, if you are not part of the solution, then you must accept that YOU are part of the problem. Time’s up, Neil.”The letter follows an online petition launched this week seeking Portnow’s resignation that, at time of publishing, has received more than 13,100 supporters.
After only one woman won an award for her solo work during the televised portion of the 2018 Grammy Awards — best new artist winner Alessia Cara — Portnow said backstage at the event that improving the plight of female artists “has to begin with … women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level…. [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it’s upon us — us as an industry — to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists.”
In a subsequent statement, he explained: “Last night, I was asked a question about the lack of female artist representation in certain categories of this year’s GRAMMY Awards. Regrettably, I used two words, “step up,” that, when taken out of context, do not convey my beliefs and the point I was trying to make,” he said in the statement….
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