In the two weeks since Steve Stoute published his open letter o’ Grammy complaints, the Grammys’ governing body, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, has stayed conspicuously quiet on the subject. You may have thought the Academy was sitting back smugly in a dramatically expansive, expensively decorated corner office somewhere, smoking a cigar while callously enjoying the monopolistic advantage they hold in the field of music-industry awards and the fact that they could really just ignore Stoute if they felt like it. But no! The Recording Academy took that time to carefully craft a response that would quell all criticism, immediately boosting the Grammys’ credibility to sky-high levels while retroactively validating every decision the Grammys has ever made. It’s pretty short, though. Here it is:
The voices of artists and our creative community are at the heart of the missions of the Recording Academy and indeed the music industry itself. Expanding constructive and positive ways to continue to actively incorporate generational and artistic diversity in The Academy’s development and good work serves those important missions. The participation of new and culturally diverse voices has and continues to be a goal which benefits our members, the creative community, and music fans everywhere. To that end, we have come together in a collaborative manner to discuss how the Recording Academy can continue to evolve in an ever-changing cultural environment. We invite others who share this agenda to join us in these discussions.
Oh no! Take that, Stoute! Wait, wait, sorry: This is a completely reasonable message that says nothing. Stoute now says he’s in discussion with the Academy directly about the nominating process, but they’re probably just shutting him up with some of Esperanza Spalding’s leftover payoff cash. Okay, never mind, everyone go back about your business as before.
Recording Academy Responds to a Critic [ArtsBeat/NYT]