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Music

30th Jan 2018

Grammys president tells women in music to step up, they tell him to step off

Orlaith Condon

His comments have not been well-received.

After it was revealed that only one woman had won a major award at this year’s Grammys, many shared their disappointment in the Recording Academy for the lack of female representation.

Overall, out of the 87 awards given out on Sunday night, just 17 of them were given to women or female-led bands, with Alessia Cara’s win for Best New Artist being the only one televised.

In response to the anger, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow had these words for women in the music industry.

“It has to begin with women,” he told Variety. “Women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level to step up.

“(They need) to step up because I think they would be welcome. 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.”

Portnow’s words have resulted in one large clap back from the women in music he was referring to.

Everyone from Sheryl Crow to Katy Perry had their say on the sentiment shared by Portnow, and let’s just say – they were not impressed.

However, it was Pink’s open letter to the head of the academy that became the embodiment of what many felt.

Taking to Twitter last night, the singer shared a picture of her handwritten note, that read:

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’ – women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside.

“Women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this.

“When we celebrate and honour the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.”

The singer’s message has been shared by over 15,000 people, one of whom was Katy Perry, who said:

“Another powerful woman, leading by example. We ALL have a responsibility to call out the absurd lack of equality everywhere we see it.

“I’m proud of ALL the women making incredible art in the face of continual resistance.”