In July, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. announced he would do so. sent a bold and poignant letter to Grammy voters, reminding them that “there is no place in our organization for…bias, holding grudges or careless voting.”

Months later, when the 2025 Grammy nominations are revealed, he says he’s happy with the outcome.

Beyoncé leads with 11 nominations – including all four country categories – while other women dominate with nominations, including Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Alissia even makes history as the rare woman nominated for non-classical producer of the year (a woman has never won the honor).

“The academy voters showed up, they did their thing. They have produced an incredible list of nominees and I am very proud and happy with the way they have succeeded this year,” says Mason Jr. The Hollywood Reporter. “I think back to when we didn’t have the same amount of voter participation. We didn’t have the kind of voters we have now.”

In 2019, the academy launched a new, community-driven membership model to help diversify its voting body – and now 66 percent of that electorate is made up of voters who joined in the past five years. The academy has seen a 65 percent growth in the number of voting members who are people of color, and female voting members have increased by 27 percent.

“These are the things that make all of us at the academy feel like we are on the right track. There is more balance around gender, diversity and even genre diversity, so you get some different results,” he says.

In an interview, Mason Jr. talks about Beyoncé, the controversial Best New Artist category, how Quincy Jones influenced him as a producer and the Grammys switching from CBS to ABC in 2027.

What prompted the letter you sent to Grammy voters in July?

Today was the occasion for that, and then on February 2 (2025 live show at the Grammys) was the occasion for that. We know that the results of our nominations and the outcomes for our eventual winners are determined entirely by our voters. There is a perception that maybe the academy is partially giving out this award, or people in the backroom are making these decisions or committees – it’s just not the way it is anymore. We have 13,000 voters and we wanted to make sure voters recognize the importance of them taking the time to listen, voting thoughtfully and purposefully, and getting out there and making sure they participate. Because without them we won’t get the right results. Without the right membership we will not achieve the right results.

So making sure that we could have a good conversation today instead of a bad conversation, and making sure that we get the right outcomes on February 2nd is ultimately what inspired all of us – from our membership department, our awards department, all throughout management of the academy – to ensure that we encourage, inspire and motivate our members to come out and do the work and vote.

Beyoncé was severely snubbed at the CMA Awards but won the country categories of the Grammys and even received an American Roots nomination. What’s it like to see her get that recognition?

It says a lot about our voters. With our 10-3 voting system, (a) Beyoncé’s supporter cannot simply follow her during the vote; they only have three fields to select, so when you see someone like Beyoncé or another artist getting nominations in multiple fields, you realize it’s not the same voters voting for her. They are different voters in different areas. So for me it’s really impressive. I am happy and proud that Beyoncé is breaking new records and remains the icon and legend that she is.

Is this the year Beyoncé finally wins album of the year?

Wow. You never know. I believe she has a very good one in eight chance. That’s the best answer I can give, just because voters don’t know what they’ll be attracted to. It’s tough. Beyoncé has certainly been in this category before (and she has some other great competition there). But at the end of the day, the albums in that category are nothing short of amazing to me. I love them all, and I’m so happy with where we are now. I know someone will be angry. I know seven people won’t win, and I’m looking forward to the outcome.

You worked with Beyoncé as a producer. What do you remember about those sessions?

She is extremely talented and a consummate professional, has impeccable taste and knows what she wants. Of course the voice speaks for itself, but I loved working with her. I did some early work when she was, I think 13 or 14 maybe, just getting started, the first Destiny Child record, and then again on Dream girls; she was a little further along in her career, so I saw a few different sides of her. But every time she was always great, always a pleasure to work with, and someone you knew from the start was going to do incredible things.

Obviously not everyone can be nominated, so what do you say to the artists who feel rejected?

I’d say I’m disappointed for them as a creator and for someone who I think was snubbed himself (Mason Jr. has five career nominations and zero wins). I know it can be a hard pill to swallow, but there are so many damn good records being made and now more than ever, so it’s becoming more and more competitive. We only have a certain number of nominees in each category. I wish we had more. I wish all the big creators could be nominated for all of their work, but our voting membership of creators really comes from all different genres and all different disciplines, and they have a variety of expertise and experience. So I think we leave it in their hands and that’s never easy. We never get everything right. We never get to nominate all the amazing talented people who deserve to be nominated, but it’s subjective. It’s hard, and we leave it up to the voters.

Do The biggest pop nightdoes the nomination for best musical film feel like a sweet tribute to Quincy Jones, who passed away this week?

It feels very important. It’s an incredible movie. I’ve watched it several times and it takes me back to an amazing place, and seeing legends and icons in the studio working together is something I’ll never get enough of. But I do believe it’s a fitting tribute to one of the most influential and impactful figures music has ever known, and definitely someone who impressed me more than almost anyone except my own parents, who were musicians. Without Quincy, I certainly wouldn’t be talking to you right now. Without the work – like the work he did on “We Are the World” and other great iconic records and recordings – I wouldn’t have been making music. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to think that I might be able to produce films or create film scores or soundtracks or scores, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought that I could be an executive. So I am very happy and proud that it is being recognized with a nomination this year.

The Beatles’ last song has two nominations, including record of the year. What’s it like to see that song get this reaction?

It’s exciting. They’re clearly one of the all-time great bands in music history, and I’m not so sure this will be their last song – I have a feeling they might have some more stuff in the vault somewhere waiting to be will make a run at some point. But it’s definitely exciting to get them involved in the process. I love seeing their name along with all the other cool nominees in that category. And in the general areas, for me, I really love where we’re going and what the voters did, because there’s so much breadth and depth of genres in those areas. You’ve got the Beatles in rock, you’ve got country, you’ve got alternative jazz, you’ve got hip-hop stuff, you’ve got dance-electronic. This is the fun part of music right now.

There are always discussions about the best new artist category and who qualifies and who doesn’t. For example, some people were surprised that Sabrina Carpenter qualified with her sixth album. What is your reaction to that?

It’s hard, I’ll say that. I was going to say it’s pretty simple, but it’s actually not that simple. It’s difficult and challenging because it’s a bit amorphous how you would judge the best new artist. But for me it comes down to an artist gaining national or international fame. It could be their first record, it could be their sixth record. To me, this feels like a time when our best new artists have broken through, become nationally prominent, and are doing great work. So it’s not an easy calculation to decide which artist meets those criteria and which doesn’t, but I trust our committees to do that work, and I trust that the voters are voting for the right people, and I’m very happy with the result. .

The Grammys will move to ABC in 2027 after airing on CBS since then 1973. Is that a decision you were involved in and what can we expect?

Yes. I was part of that and have been working on that for about the last, I don’t know, six months. It’s an exciting move. CBS has been a great partner, and we’re excited to do two more with them, but for us, Disney really aligned with our vision for the future and where we’re going.