Recording Academy president Neil Portnow responded Monday to the #GrammysSoMale criticism that the 60th Grammy Awards were dominated by male winners, according to Variety.
“It 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,” Portnow told the outlet after social media users tweeted that the music award show lacked diversity.
Alessia Cara was the only female to win a major award at the Grammys for “Best New Artist.” Several other ladies, including SZA and Lorde were nominated for a handful of the music honors, but went home empty handed.
Bruno Mars receives his third Grammy for Album of the Year during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show on January 28, 2018, in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Timothy A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
“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,” he added.
Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich also responded saying that, “It’s not for me to talk about. I produce the TV show.”
When asked if Lorde should have won the Album of the Year Award instead of Bruno Mars, Ehrlich said “these shows are a matter of choices.”
“We have a box and it gets full,” Ehrlich added. “She had a great album. There’s no way we can really deal with everybody.”
Several female singers, including Reba McEntire, Lisa Loeb and Aimee Mann, were recognized for their talents and won awards during the pre-telecast ceremony.
