Harvey Mason Jr CEO

Harvey Mason Jr CEO The Recording Academy

Harvey Mason jr. serves as CEO of the Recording Academy®. He was originally named Interim President/CEO in January 2020 while serving as Chair of the Academy’s Board of Trustees, and after a global search, was named permanent CEO in June 2021.

While serving in both positions, Mason has led a transformation of the Academy that has diversified its membership; revised rules and processes to make the GRAMMY Awards® more transparent, inclusive and reflective of a wide variety of musical genres; enlarged its role as a service organization for music creators — particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic — and restructured the organization to position it for global growth and diversification. Mason is also the first Black CEO in the Academy’s history.\ \ As CEO, Mason works closely with the Academy’s Board of Trustees and senior management team, including its two new Co-Presidents, to advance the Academy’s goals and mission. He also serves as CEO of MusiCares® and is on the boards of the GRAMMY Museum®, Latin Recording Academy® and Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation®.

Under his tenure as Interim President/CEO, in addition to the accomplishments noted above, the Academy launched a new Songwriters & Composers Wing and the Black Music Collective; hired its first-ever Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer; advocated effectively for music creators in Washington, D.C., for pandemic relief; and helped MusiCares COVID-19 Relief raise and distribute more than $24 million to music creators through the crisis.\ \ Mason served as Chair on the Board of Trustees from June 2019 to May 2021. During that time, he chaired the Executive Committee, and was a member of each Standing Committee and, in an ex officio capacity, on every other committee established by the Board. He represented the Academy in all Academy business, events and functions.\ \ Mason is also the founder of Harvey Mason Media and an accomplished songwriter and producer. He penned and produced songs for industry legends and today’s biggest superstars.

Everyone from Whitney Houston to Beyoncé, Elton John to Justin Timberlake, Aretha Franklin to Ariana Grande, Britney Spears to Camila Cabello, Luther Vandross to Justin Bieber, and Michael Jackson to Chris Brown have called on Mason to deliver uniquely musical, yet radio-friendly, hit records. Simultaneously, Mason has been instrumental in producing memorable music for many of the biggest musical films and TV events from the past decade. His work in films includes Dreamgirls, the Pitch Perfect franchise, Shrek, SING, SING 2, Sparkle, and Straight Outta Compton. TV shows including “The Wiz Live!” and “Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert” also counted on Mason’s musical talent and taste. Recently, Harvey Mason Media produced the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson for MGM.\ \ In 2012, Mason received the Spirit of Excellence Award from the T.J. Martell Foundation for his philanthropic efforts. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of Arizona, where he was a standout basketball player on a team that went to the Final Four, and is on the board of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. Mason also donates his time and resources to several charitable organizations, including Ronald McDonald House, the American Cancer Society and Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.

Grammy Awards

Presented by the Recording Academy since 1958, the GRAMMYs are a celebration of excellence, the music community’s highest honor, and its only peer-based award.

The Recording Academy

The mission of the Recording Academy is to recognize excellence in the recording arts and sciences, cultivate the well-being of the music community, and ensure that music remains an indelible part of our culture. The Recording Academy is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Awards, which recognize achievements in the music industry of songs and music which are popular worldwide

Our purpose
What we work towards every single day.

As the leading community of music professionals, the recording academy’s purpose is to:

Advocate
We fight for the rights of all music creators and ensure pro-music policy at the national, state and local levels.

Celebrate
We bestow the grammy award – the single most coveted accolade in music. And we recognize the contributions of all creators throughout the year.

Educate
We inspire the next generation of music creators and professionals by providing opportunity, enrichment, and mentorship.

Serve
We purposely participate in service, to respect our shared love of music and prioritize community above self. We are a community that cares.

Values

Pursuit of our mission requires a service mindset with a duty to care. We lift up others, in the academy and in the industry. Creativity drives everything we do. It pushes us to think outside of the box. To innovate. To challenge the status quo. To keep us from falling into the “that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality. To ensure that we’re constantly evolving and improving – with a determined bias for action. We are confident enough to take on any endeavor, but also humble enough to know that there is always room for improvement.

Diversity and inclusion are fundamental because we know that like great music, success requires bringing together diverse voices. We strive to be as inclusive as the music and creators we represent. We prize the individual but we celebrate the team. Everything we do, we do with integrity. Our communication is candid and respectful. Our work is always guided by what is best for the music community. It must be grounded in candor, while fostering a respectful environment where collaboration thrives and great ideas take flight. But if you really want to understand what drives us, it’s passion. We love music and every single person, place or thing that touches it. That’s why we do it. And that’s the kind of group we want to be a part of.