Grammys CEO of 2025 Nominations, Beyoncé, Beatles and Quincy Jones

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

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

Beyoncé leads with 11 nominations — including sweeping 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 produced an incredible list of nominees and I’m really proud and pleased with the way they turned out this year,” Mason jr. narrator The Hollywood Reporter. “I remember back to the time when we didn’t have the same amount of voter turnout. We didn’t have the type 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 are voters who joined in the past five years. The Academy has seen a 65 percent growth in voting members who are of color, and female voting members have increased by 27 percent.

“These are the things that make all of us in the academy feel like we’re moving in the right direction. There’s more balance around gender, diversity and even genre diversity, so you’re going to get some different results,” says he.

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 moving from CBS to ABC in 2027.

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

This today led to it and February 2nd (2025 Grammys live show) prompted it. We know that the results of our nominations and the results of our ultimate winners are driven solely by our voters. There’s a perception that maybe there’s the academy that gives this award halfway through, or people in the back room that make these decisions or committees—that’s just not the case anymore. We have 13,000 voters, and we wanted to make sure that voters recognize the importance of taking the time to listen, being thoughtful and deliberate in voting, and getting out and making sure they participate. Because without them we won’t get the right results. Without the right membership, we won’t get the right results.

So making sure we were able to have a good conversation today instead of a bad one and making sure we get the right results on February 2 is ultimately what inspired us all – from our membership department, our awards department, everyone throughout the management of the academy — to make sure that we encourage, inspire and motivate our members to get out and do the work and vote.

Beyoncé was soundly snubbed at the CMA Awards but swept the Grammy country categories and even earned a nomination for American Roots. What is it like to see her get that recognition?

That says a lot about our voters. With our 10-3 voting system, (a) supporter of Beyoncé is not able to just follow her around the ballot; they only have three fields they can choose from, so when you see someone like Beyoncé or another artist nominated across multiple fields, you realize it’s not the same voters voting for her. There are different voters in different areas. So for me it’s really impressive. I’m happy and proud that Beyoncé is breaking new records and continuing to be 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, only because the voters, you don’t know what they’re going to turn to. It’s tough. Beyoncé has definitely been in the category before, (and she has) another big competition there. But at the end of the day, the albums in that category are absolutely amazing to me. I love them all and I’m so happy where we are. I know someone is going to be mad. I know seven people won’t win and I’m looking forward to seeing the outcome.

You’ve 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. The voice obviously speaks for itself, but I loved working with her. I did some early work when she was, I think maybe 13 or 14, right at the beginning, Destiny Child’s first 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 amazing, always a joy to work with and someone who you knew from the start would do incredible things.

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

I will say that I’m disappointed for them as a creator and a person who I think was snubbed (Mason Jr. has five career nominations and zero wins). I know it can be a tough pill to swallow, but there are so many good records being made and more now 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 the great creators could be nominated for all their work, but our voting membership of creators really, really comes from all the different genres and all the different disciplines, and they have a wide range of expertise and experience. So I think we leave it in their hands and it’s never easy. We never get everything right. We’ll never get all the amazingly talented people nominated who deserve to be nominated, but that’s subjective. It is difficult and we leave it in the hands of the voters.

do The biggest night in pops nomination for Best Musical feels like a sweet tribute to Quincy Jones, who died this week?

It feels really important. It’s an incredible movie. I’ve watched it several times and it takes me back to a great place and seeing the legends and icons of the studio working together is something I never tire of seeing. But I think it’s a fitting tribute to one of the most influential and influential figures music has ever known, and definitely someone who influenced me more than almost anyone other than my own parents, who were musicians. If it wasn’t for Quincy, I definitely wouldn’t be talking to you right now. If it wasn’t for the work – like the work he did on “We Are the World” and other great iconic records and recordings – I wouldn’t be making any music. I wouldn’t have had the audacity to think that I might be able to produce films or make film scores or soundtracks or scores, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought that I could be an executive. So I am really happy and proud that it is being recognized this year with a nomination.

The Beatles’ last song has two nominations, including record of the year. What’s it like to see that song get this 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 feel like they might have a few more things in the box somewhere that do one run at a time. But it is absolutely exciting to have them 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 some hip-hop stuff, you’re dance-electronic. This is the cool part 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 was eligible for her sixth album. What is your answer to that?

It is difficult, I will say that. I was going to say it’s pretty simple, but it’s actually not that simple. It’s hard and it’s challenging because it’s kind of amorphous how you would rate Best New Artist. But for me it’s about when an artist rises to national or international prominence. 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 and become nationally prominent and are doing great work. So it’s not an easy calculation to determine which artist fits that criteria and which doesn’t, but I trust our committee to do that job, and I trust the voters to vote for the right people, and I am really happy with the result. .

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

Yes. I was a part of it and have been working on it for about the last, I don’t know, half a year or so. 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 fit our vision for the future and where we’re going.