Time’s Up Co-Founder Will Head Recording Academy Task Force on Diversity

In the days following the Grammy Awards in January, as the president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, came under fire for saying that women in music should “step up” to advance their careers, the academy announced the formation of a task force to examine its practices — but gave no details about who would run it, or what exactly it would do.

On Tuesday, the academy, which presents the Grammys, announced that Tina Tchen, who served as Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, would be the chairwoman of the task force, and said that the effort would “identify the various barriers and unconscious biases faced by underrepresented communities throughout the music industry and, specifically, across Recording Academy operations and policies.”

A study released before the Grammys found that, in five top categories over the last six years, only 9 percent of nominees were women. Looking at the industry more broadly, the study, conducted by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, found that for the most popular songs each year, women made up 22 percent of the performers, 12 percent of songwriters and just 2 percent of producers.

“The music industry faces numerous challenges — from combating long-held biases to making sure women are represented and respected within the community,” Tchen said in a statement. “This task force is an important initial step by the Recording Academy to demonstrate its commitment to tackling these challenges in a comprehensive way.”

Tchen is a partner in the law firm Buckley Sander, and is the head of the firm’s Chicago office. She was also one of the founding members of the Time’s Up initiative.

The academy’s announcement comes after weeks of private criticism from members, and jockeying by the major record labels to have a role in the task force.

The academy said that the task force would look at its governance, hiring practices and membership, as well as its awards and telecast. The rest of the task force, it said, would be made up of music creators, executives, academics and “experts in diversity in entertainment,” and the group is to deliver a series of recommendations “in the months ahead.”

“In this moment, the Recording Academy can do more than reflect what currently exists,” Portnow said. “We can help lead the industry into becoming the inclusive music community we want it to be — a responsibility that the board and I take seriously.”