The Recording Academy just took a musical ride through Capitol Hill — and lawmakers were listening.
At GRAMMYs On The Hill 2024, which just wrapped, GRAMMY winners and nominees and music professionals visited lawmakers to advocate for legislation advancing music creators' rights.
The Recording Academy's annual GRAMMYs on the Hill is the signature music event in Washington, D.C. Therein, music creators and congressional members convened to celebrate our progress in the music space, illuminate the issues the music community is currently facing, and advocate for concrete change.
GRAMMYs on the Hill 2024 comprised three marquee events: the annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards on Tuesday, April 30, which this year honored nine-time GRAMMY winner Sheryl Crow and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); the annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day on Wednesday, May 1, Capitol Hill's largest and most prestigious legislative event for music; and the inaugural GRAMMYs on the Hill Future Forum on Friday, May 3, which explored the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the music community.
In 2024, the Recording Academy is focused on two critical issues affecting the music industry and fans the world over: AI fraud and live event ticketing reform. A number of key pieces of legislation are being furthered toward these efforts, including the No AI FRAUD Act in the House of Representatives and the Senate's No FAKES Act discussion draft — which aims to safeguard the image and likeness of artists everywhere.
The Fans First Act and the TICKET Act represent the most comprehensive set of reforms to strengthen the live event ticketing marketplace and continue to protect fans, artists, and independent small businesses.
With that in mind, here were some inspiring quotes from the biggest annual week in music advocacy!
"What I love about music, of course, is that it is a universal language that connects people to each other. It has no borders or boundaries, and it's an important way for us with our differences to find common ground. We need more of that here in Washington, D.C."\
— Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
"Everything in life boils down to the human experience. We can't allow anything to get in the way of connecting with each other. We've seen what disconnect feels like, and I'm going to say we have not, as one race, the human race, we have not yet seen how truly powerful it can be when we stay connected."\
—Michael Trotter Jr., The War and Treaty
"Music is powerful, not just when we listen to it passively, but also – and especially – when we participate in it. There's something innate within us that responds to music. Music forges connection and community in a unique way that nothing else can. Music is a gift that taps into and reveals something about our shared humanity and that collective communal experience is something that AI can never replicate or replace.\
—Todd Dupler, Chief Advocacy & Public Policy Officer, Recording Academy
"Now that music is back — concerts are back big time — [we need to prioritize] the important job of working across the aisle to bring common sense rules to online ticketing, all in price disclosures, so people know what they're getting, a ban on these speculative tickets when people don't even have a ticket and they're pretending that they're selling ones, strengthening the protections against bots and ensuring all fans have access to reliable show and safety information no matter where they bought their tickets.\
—Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
"In this room, we know that music brings people together. It can be a powerful force and a source of common ground. That's why the mission of the Recording Academy is not only to celebrate the music we all love, but to lift up and protect the people behind the music too. Music is irreplaceable, which means the people behind the music are irreplaceable."\
—Harvey Mason jr., CEO, The Recording Academy
"If you cannot understand that music is a physical thing that connects all of us, through the thing that is in all of us, which is spirit and soul. It is the energy that moves your body. It is the energy that keeps a tree alive. It is what some people will call God. For me, inspiration, God, energy, it is all the same thing because it exists everywhere on the planet, but it does not exist in a computer."\
—Sheryl Crow
The 2024 GRAMMYs On The Hill Awards were sponsored by City National Bank and benefited the GRAMMY Museum.
