Grammy Chief Harvey Mason Jr. Celebrates Big Female Nominations but Calls Morgan Wallen’s Shutout ‘Disappointing’
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music This year’s Grammy noms are a refreshingly diverse look at the past year of music, with a huge number of female artists and racially and musically diverse nominees in the leading categories (see the full list of 2024 Grammy nominations here).
Yet as the past few years in particular have shown, leading the Recording Academy, the Grammys’ parent organization, is no day at the beach — having to build consensuses and move the organization forward while making sure it accurately reflects current trends in music and business, in an art form that is almost entirely subjective.
Harvey Mason Jr., a veteran songwriter-producer-drummer who has led the organization for nearly four years, has tackled many of the Academy’s challenges head-on and made many changes along the way — and as he’s the first to admit, there’s always plenty more to do.
Variety caught up with him during a lightning round of interviews to discuss this year’s nominations and what they mean. When there’s been a big look for female artists in past nominations, it’s usually been one dominant artist in a single year — Taylor, Beyonce, Adele, Brandi Carlile.
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