Harvey Mason Jr. has been named the Recording Academy’s new President and CEO, according to a press release. Mason has been in the position unpaid since 2020 after former director Deborah Dugan was removed. Prior to his preliminary tenure, Mason was chairman of the academy’s board of directors. He will give up this duty when he takes up his new role as President and CEO on June 1st.
“There’s nothing like having the trust and respect of your colleagues and colleagues,” Mason said in a press release. He continued:
I am honored to have been appointed to lead the Admissions Academy on our transformative journey. Although I didn’t initially expect to be in this position, I remain deeply invested in the success of the organization and motivated to help us achieve our greatest ambitions. I will humbly serve with an unwavering commitment to building a more inclusive, responsive, and relevant academy.
Dugan was officially released in March 2020. She was taken on administrative leave on January 17 of this year for unspecified misconduct. She then filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in January 2020, making explosive allegations of sexual harassment, racism and multiple cases of corruption and conflicts of interest within the academy.
Dugan’s allegations in her EEOC complaint included that former Recording Academy director Neil Portnow raped a woman who Portnow described as “ridiculous” after performing at Carnegie Hall. Dugan replaced Portnow as the Recording Academy’s CEO in August 2019, making it the Academy’s first President and CEO. He was pressured to step down after commenting in 2018 that women need to be “reinforced” in the music industry.
Mason’s tenure as Interim President and CEO focused on improving the transparency of the Grammy Awards, changing the voting process and increasing diversity within the Recording Academy. Since taking on the role, the Recording Academy has launched a new Songwriters & Composers Wing and the Black Music Collective, implemented the final recommendations of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, and appointed the first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. Under Mason’s leadership, MusiCares raised and distributed over $ 24 million to help artists in trouble during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are very pleased that Harvey remains at the top and continues to steer the organization at this crucial time,” said John Burk and Leslie Ann Jones, co-chairs of the search committee, in a joint statement. “As we delved into our extensive search, it became clear that Harvey was the best person for the job. We are very impressed with the remarkable work he has done during his tenure and look forward to the further development of the Academy under his effective, results-oriented leadership. “
