← Bloomberg Talks
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- [00:03]
Interviewer 1
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. Joining us right now is the CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr. Harvey, great to see you again here. Obviously, a lot of excitement given some of the nominees, who, of course, really stole a lot of the attention over the last year or so. Before we get to that, though, Harvey, I do just want to kind of start off about the importance of the Grammys, not just as a television event, but also as a live event, specifically a live event in Los Angeles one year removed. Removed from those devastating fires. And whether you're. This is going to be sort of back to normal, if you will, this year relative to what you put on.
- [00:40]
Harvey Mason Jr.
Last year, I won't say back to normal because I don't think any of these shows are normal. The size and scale and scope of the artists and the staging and all the things that happen to put the show together is always unique and exciting. Last year was extra challenging, but we've not been short in challenges. We had Covid. We've had other issues. We've had fires. We've had rains. So this show will be different. It will be focused on the music and celebrating music. I'm really proud about last year's show, though, to be honest. We raised almost $25 million from music people who needed help around the fires and their loss. That money has all been distributed short of just a very small amount. So proud of what we were able to do last year. Excited about this year's show. It's me very different and fun.
- [01:19]
Interviewer 1
How important is. Are the Grammys to the artists themselves? I mean, I mean, obviously most of the people who win are, you know, they're already wildly successful, which is usually why they won. But do artists sort of really get a big boost, you know, by carrying home those awards after the night's over?
- [01:35]
Harvey Mason Jr.
Just a nomination, to be honest, can create a really large boost for them on their streaming numbers, for the touring numbers. We've done some different economic studies, and the numbers range, so I won't. I won't say a figure, but the fact is, is the attention, the notice and the excitement around different artists is evident, and it's definitely extending their opportunity to do other performances, monetize their streaming. And it's not just the stars, to be honest. You mentioned all the famous people. You see Kendrick lamar there. It's 95 categories across multiple genres. We're honoring hundreds of people that are, and it's subjective, but they're being deemed the best in their class for any given year. All those people, classical, jazz, rock, pop, Reggae, jazz. We have awards for all of them and they're all receiving the awards. They're all getting the benefit of receiving the awards and getting the respect of their peers in the community. And that's the difference. These are peer to peer voted awards.
- [02:28]
Interviewer 2
Well, you know, you mentioned that there's a lot of newcomers and certainly I want to get to those. But let's talk about some of those stars. Kendrick Lamar leading the nominations. I believe he has nine nominations in total. Lady Gaga also of course a household name here. So there's a lot of familiar faces when it comes to, you know, the leaderboard when it, at least when it comes to the nominations, definitely.
- [02:51]
Harvey Mason Jr.
And that's what makes it so exciting. You're seeing a lot of really great diversity in the general field category, as you mentioned, a couple of them, but with Bad Bunny and others, there's a wide range of different styles of music. You also have great fresh newcomers. We have some icons, legends today, superstars. That's a beautiful combination that's going to make for a great show.
- [03:09]
Interviewer 2
And you know, you think about some of the newcomers here. Just going through the list, I see Addison Rae there, cat's eye, somber. I also see the Maria's here. So when it comes to, you know, the best new artists nominees, how does this field compare to maybe years past?
- [03:27]
Harvey Mason Jr.
I think it's incredibly exciting. Again, you have different types of music and you have different types of artists. To me that's going to be a spectacular thing to see on our show and who, whoever wins this category will be so well deserving. But the other nominees I think are incredible stars going into the future.
- [03:42]
Interviewer 1
You have a partnership obviously with CBS and Paramount with regards to the broadcast and streaming of this. I am curious, Harvey, as you look long term, I mean, the Oscars just struck a deal that I think was a 2029 or something. They're going to be permanently going through YouTube for the live broadcast. Do you see envision that most of the award shows are going to follow that same same path?
- [04:03]
Harvey Mason Jr.
Hard to predict. Everybody has their own journey, their own vision of what they think is best for their show. For us, we've just agreed to a new partnership with abc, Disney and Disney plus that will start after this show. So our very next show, I do think there's an opportunity to reach more people in different platforms and everybody's going to be looking to do it in the way that their audiences are looking to be served. We want to go to where music lovers and fans of music are consuming their content and we'll continue to look at that. Where everyone else decides to go, it's hard to say. But we are going to be at ABC Disney for the next 10 years.
- [04:35]
Interviewer 2
All right, Harvey, really great to get some time with you. That is Harvey Mason, Jr. He is the CEO of the recording Academy.