Recording Academy Task Force Announces First Initiative in Rectifying Music Industry Inequality

The Recording Academy’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion has officially announced their initiative to expand opportunity for female producers and engineers.

Billed as the Producer & Engineer Inclusion Initiative, the task force’s newly assembled team comprises 200 artists, producers, labels, agencies, management companies and industry stakeholders, recruited to represent and promote its current mission for diversity in music production.

The conception of the task force was first announced last February, with its official formation in March. The task force is led by Time’s Up co-founder and former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, Tina Tchen.

Although currently specific to producers and engineers, this core inclusion initiative aims to address a much larger issue. The Recording Academy ensures that is only the beginning of a larger strategy in addressing gender inequality in the music industry.

Tchen said in a statement:

The music industry is at a crossroads and progress won’t happen on its own. There is no magic bullet to shift a status quo that has existed for centuries, but we see this initiative as an important step. We know that change requires real commitment to intentional hiring and to providing young women with consistent training and mentorship. We aren’t here to tell anyone who to hire, but we have seen repeatedly that the simple act of making sure diverse candidates are always seen and considered makes it more likely that women will get the opportunities they previously have been denied. It’s one step everyone can take that could go a long way to catalyzing important change that is overdue in this industry.

The task force will also actively assist in connecting industry decision-makers with female producers and engineers by facilitating a website database with tools provided by She Is The Music and Women’s Audio Mission.

Among the artists currently attached to the initiative are major industry players such as Justin Bieber, Cardi B, The Chainsmokers, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, P!NK, Post Malone, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and more.

With such prominent acts and major labels attaching their names to the project, its message has ample opportunity to steep into The Recording Academy’s public image, particularly at high visibility opportunities such as the upcoming Grammys. And with record labels such as Warner Bros. Records and Universal Music Publishing Group signing on, their examples will hopefully gain traction by bleeding into the industry’s core values and hiring processes.

See the complete list of the Producer & Engineer Inclusion Initiative’s founding supporters below, and find out more here.

Producers
Josh Abraham
Alex da Kid
John Alagia
Jack Antonoff
Jeff Bhasker
BloodPop
Evan Bogart
Dave Cobb
Lauren Christy
Jennifer Decilveo
Diplo
Mike Elizondo
Eman (Emanuel Kiriakou)
Emilio Estefan
Ryan Freeland
Ludwig Göransson
Robin Hannibal
Alex Hope
Dann Huff
Jimmy Jam*
Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins
Tyler Johnson
Quincy Jones
Larry Klein
Savan Kotecha
Diana Krall
Sebastian Krys
Greg Kurstin
Luke Laird
Frank Liddell
Tucker Martine
Juan de Dios Martín
Max Martin
Shane McAnally
Blake Mills
MUNA
Linda Perry
Ron Perry
Salaam Remi
Maggie Rogers
Mark Ronson
Raphael Saadiq
Luis “Dro1dz” Salazar
Santigold
Jack Splash
Andres Torres & Mauricio Rengifo
Ryan Tedder
The Chainsmokers
TRAKGIRL*
Pharrell Williams
Dan Wilson
Dion “No I.D.” Wilson

Artists
2 Chainz
Ryan Adams
Jhene Aiko
Aminé
Kassi Ashton
Baby Goth
Kelsea Ballerini
Jon Batiste
James Bay
Becky G
Tony Bennett
Dierks Bentley
Justin Bieber
Big Sean
Bleachers
Mary J. Blige
Leon Bridges
Bishop Briggs
Brothers Osborne
Caamp
Colbie Caillat
Alessia Cara
Cardi B
Brandi Carlile
Cam*
Chance the Rapper
Kelly Clarkson
Common*
Ruth-Anne Cunningham
Andra Day*
Deer Tick
Diplo
Dispatch
Missy Elliott
Gloria Estefan
Sharon Van Etten
Ezinma
Fall Out Boy
Fat Joe
FLETCHER
Teddy Geiger
Selena Gomez
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Phil Hanseroth
Tim Hanseroth
Ryan Hurd
Lauren Jauregui
Joe Jonas
Nick Jonas
Alicia Keys
Kian
Emily King
Diana Krall
Kungs
Lady Gaga
Ray Lamontagne
John Legend
Coi Leray
Little Big Town
Jennifer Lopez
Post Malone
Shirley Manson (Garbage)
Maroon 5
Lori McKenna
Meek Mill
Shawn Mendes
Lily Meola
Metro Boomin
Julia Michaels
Nicki Minaj
Steve Moakler
Janelle Monáe
Ashley Monroe
Maren Morris
MUNA
Kacey Musgraves
Lukas Nelson
Of Monsters and Men
Old Dominion
Pearl Jam
Katy Perry
Pink
Ben Platt
Jessie Reyez
Bear Rinehart
Maggie Rogers
Rozzi
Santigold
Troye Sivan
Martin Solveig
Lennon Stella
Lindsey Stirling
Tank and the Bangas
Tegan and Sara
The Chainsmokers
The Killers
The Weeknd
Meghan Trainor
Transviolet
Gloria Trevi
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Usher
Grace VanderWaal
WALK THE MOON
Michelle Williams
Pharrell Williams
X Ambassadors
YG
Yo Gotti
Justin Young
Jeremy Zucker

Labels
Arista Records
Arista Nashville
Astralwerks
Atlantic Records
ATO Records
Beggars Group
Big Loud Records
Big Machine Label Group
Blue Note Records
Buskin Records
Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG)
Capitol Records
Capitol Records Nashville
Columbia Records
Columbia Nashville
Concord
Creative Nation
Crooked Paintings
Def Jam Recordings, Inc.
Disney Music Group (DMG)
Disruptor Records
EMI Nashville
Epic Records
Glassnote Records
Harvest Records
Interscope Geffen A&M
Island Records
KidzBop
Kill Rock Stars
MCA Nashville
Mercury Nashville
Mom+Pop
Monument Records
Motown Records
RCA Records
RCA Nashville
Republic Records
River House Artists
Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian)
Sire Records
Sony Music Latin Iberia Region
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Thirty Tigers
Tommy Boy
Triple Tigers
Universal Music Group (UMG)
Universal Music Latin Entertainment(UMLE)
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)
Verve Label Group
Virgin Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Music Group (WMG)
Warner/Chappell Music

(* – Indicates Task Force Member)