Grammys CEO on 2025 nominations, Beyoncé, Beatles and Quincy Jones

In July, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. sent a bold and powerful letter to Grammy voters reminding them that “there is no place in our organization for… bias, resentment or careless voting.”

Months later, when the 2025 Grammy nominations are announced, he says he's happy with the result.

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 goes down in history as the rare woman to be nominated for Non-Classical Producer of the Year (a woman has never won this award).

“The Academy voters came, they did their thing. They have put together an incredible nomination list and I am really proud and pleased with their results this year,” said Mason Jr. told The Hollywood Reporter. “I remember the times when we didn’t have the same turnout. We didn’t have the kind of voters we have now.”

In 2019, the Academy introduced a new community-driven membership model to help diversify its electoral body – and now 66 percent of that electorate are voters who joined in the last five years. The Academy saw a 65 percent increase in voting members who are people of color, and the number of female voting members 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 in terms of gender, diversity and even genre diversity, so you will get different results,” he says.

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

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

This led to today, and then February 2nd [2025 Grammys live show] caused this. We know that the results of our nominations and the outcomes of our ultimate winners are determined solely by our voters. You get the impression that maybe there's the academy giving out this award, or people in the backroom making these decisions, or committees – that's just not the case anymore. We have 13,000 voters and we wanted to make sure voters recognized how important it is that they take the time to listen, vote thoughtfully and intentionally, go out and make sure they participate. Because without them we won’t achieve the right results. Without the right membership we won't get the right results.

Ultimately, it inspired all of us to make sure we were able to have a good conversation today instead of a bad one, and to make sure we get the right results on February 2nd – from our membership department to our awards department to everyone in the across the academy’s management – ​​to ensure we encourage, inspire and motivate our members to get to work and vote.

Beyoncé received a major rejection at the CMA Awards but won the Grammys country categories and even received an American Roots nomination. What is it like to see her receive this recognition?

It says a lot about our voters. With our 10-3 voting system [a] Beyoncé's supporter is unable to simply follow her in the election; You can only select three areas. So when you see someone like Beyoncé or another artist getting nominations in multiple areas, you realize that the same voters aren't voting for them. They are different voters in different areas. For me it is really impressive. I am happy and proud that Beyoncé is breaking new records and continuing to be the icon and legend that she is.

Will Beyoncé finally win album of the year this year?

Wow. You never know. I think she has a really good one in eight chance. That's the best answer I can give, just because voters don't know what they're drawn to. It's difficult. Beyoncé has definitely been in this category before, [and she has] there is another great competition there. But at the end of the day, the albums in this category are absolutely great to me. I love them all and am so happy with where we are. I know someone will be angry. I know seven people won't win and I'm looking forward to the result.

You worked with Beyoncé as a producer – what do you remember from those sessions?

Extremely talented and an absolute professional, she has impeccable taste and knows what she wants. Obviously the voice speaks for itself, but I loved working with her. I did some early work when she was, I think 13 or 14, at the very beginning, Destiny Child's first record, and then again dream girl; She was a little further along in her career, so I saw a few different sides to her. But every time she was great, it was always a pleasure to work with her and you knew from the start that she would do incredible things.

Of course, not everyone can be nominated. So what do you say to artists who feel snubbed?

I would say I'm disappointed in them as creators and someone who I believe has been snubbed himself (Mason Jr. has five career nominations and zero wins). I know it can be hard to swallow, but there are so many damn good records being made, more than ever before, so it's getting more and more competitive. We only have a certain number of nominees in each category. I wish we had more. I wish all great creators could be nominated for all of their work, but our creator voting members really, truly come from all different genres and all different disciplines and they have different expertise and experiences. So I think we leave it up to them and it's never easy. We never do everything right. We never get all the great talent nominated that deserve to be nominated, but that's subjective. It is difficult and we leave it to the voters.

Does The biggest night in popDoes the Best Musical Film nomination feel like a sweet tribute to Quincy Jones, who passed away this week?

It feels really important. It's an incredible film. I've watched it several times and it takes me back to a great place. Seeing legends and icons collaborating in the studio is something I never get tired of. But I think it's a worthy tribute to one of the most influential and influential figures music has ever known, and absolutely someone who influenced me more than almost anyone other than my own parents, who were musicians. If it weren't for Quincy, I definitely 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 made music. I wouldn't have had the courage to think that I might be able to produce films, do film scores, soundtracks, or film scores, and I certainly wouldn't have thought that I could be an executive. That's why I'm really happy and proud that it's 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 this song get this kind of response?

It's exciting. Obviously 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 have more stuff in the vault somewhere that will come through at some point. But it's absolutely exciting to include them in the process. I love seeing her name along with all the other cool nominees in this category. And in the general areas, I really love where we're going and what voters have done because there's so much breadth and depth of genres in those areas. There's the Beatles in rock, there's country, there's alternative jazz, there's some hip-hop stuff, there's dance electronic. That's the cool thing about music right now.

There are always debates about the best new artist category and who qualifies and who doesn't. For example, some people were surprised that Sabrina Carpenter's sixth album was eligible. What is your answer to that?

It's difficult, that's what I'm saying. I wanted to say it's pretty simple, but it's actually not that simple. It's difficult and challenging because judging the best new artist is somewhat unclear. But for me it depends on when an artist achieves national or international fame. It could be their first record, it could be their sixth record. To me, it feels like a time when our best new artists have broken through, become nationally known and are doing great work. So it's not easy to decide which artist meets these criteria and which doesn't, but I trust our committees that do this work and I trust that the voters are voting for the right people, and I'm real with the result satisfied .

In 2027, the Grammys will move to ABC, having since aired on CBS 1973. Was this a decision you were involved in and what can we expect?

Yes. I was part of it and I've been working on it for about the last, I don't know, six months or so. It's an exciting step. CBS was a great partner and we're excited to do two more with them, but for us, Disney really aligned with our future vision and goal.