Music is truly an universal language. One need not understand the lyrics to appreciate and be moved by the music.
Every culture in the world has its own unique musical language that for many years was denied to world music fans due to digital music services limiting listeners to their home regions.
The Recording Academy is looking to change all of that.
The Academy is pairing up with various musical entities on the African continent and in the Middle East to expand their support for musical creators via education, culture, and advocacy.
Currently the Academy is working with artists and officials from Kenya, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana, and the Ivory coast.
With collaborative agreements in hand, the Recording Academy will provide music creators at every level with a musical platform and advocate for the artists when needed, empower creators via training and online learning helping to provide specially tailored programs for music creators, help to celebrate the nation’s musical heritage with original content, advocate for legislation to protect artists intellectual property, aiding to develop and strengthen the creative economy, and publishing reports on the music markets.
Over the past two years Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr have travelled in the areas listening to music and obtaining insight from the governments and artists themselves. Mason spoke on the initiatives via a statement saying, “this is exciting because music is one of humanity’s greatest natural resources. It is critical that the people who dedicate themselves to creating music have support, resources, and opportunities; no matter where they are form.”
Panos Panay added, “the Recording Academy is dedicated to supporting music creators around the world. Our expansion efforts into these fast-growing regions reflect our commitment to fostering a truly global music community, where creators at every stage of their careers and from every corner of the world have the resources and support they need to survive.”
The new initiative comes at a time when the Academy is celebrating 25 years of the Latin Grammys, the first ever international awards presentation with the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards presented in Seville, Spain, and the new introduction of the first African Music Grammy Award. The Recording Academy has also paired with the United States State Department to help promote peace through musical endeavours.