LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Grammy Awards will look just a little bit completely different this week.
Annually, the Recording Academy hosts a large number of occasions to welcome the music trade throughout Grammy week and file labels do the identical. Nonetheless, many establishments have canceled their plans — Common Music Group, Sony, Spotify, BMG and Warner Music Group amongst them — and as an alternative are allocating sources to assist these affected by the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.
The Grammys will nonetheless happen on Sunday on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles however now will focus its consideration on serving to wildfire victims.
How will Grammy week differ in 2025?
Inside days of fires ravaging the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, the Recording Academy and its affiliated MusiCares charity launched the Los Angeles Fireplace Reduction Effort with a $1 million greenback donation. In line with a letter despatched to members on Jan. 13, because of further contributions, they’ve already distributed $2 million in emergency help.
As soon as the fund was arrange, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. stated they started specializing in reformatting what Grammy week would appear like — many conversations performed “on the road, mobile-y, virtually” as staffers had evacuated their houses.
“That course of has actually consisted of reaching out to simply hear and be taught from lots of people — state officers, native officers, the governor’s workplace, the mayor’s workplace, the fireplace division. We talked to resort managers, simply actually making an attempt to get a grasp on what was occurring at the moment. What did they undertaking was going to occur within the subsequent week to 10 days? Could be secure to have a present?”
Finally, the Recording Academy determined to condense its pre-Grammy week plans to simply 4 occasions, every that includes a fundraising aspect.
On Friday, MusiCares, a company that helps music professionals who want monetary, private or medical help, will maintain its annual Individuals of the Yr profit gala celebrating the Grateful Lifeless.
On Saturday, the Particular Advantage Awards Ceremony and Grammy nominees’ reception will nonetheless happen, adopted by Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy fundraising occasion.
Then the Grammys take the stage on Sunday.
Occasions just like the annual pre-Grammy Black Music Collective occasion, Grammy advocacy brunch, and others scheduled to happen on the immersive pop-up Grammy home have been canceled.
“We thought consolidating the events would allow us to have more impact,” Mason explains. “And we just don’t feel it was the right time to have social gatherings or places to party or schmooze and just hang out. We wanted to have our events be places that could be purposeful and impactful. Some of the party settings, we decided to fold down into our fundraising efforts.”
How has the Grammy award present been reformatted?
“Obviously, we can’t have a normal show in the midst of people’s belongings being burned or loss of life or other things like that. At the same time, canceling would not have helped,” Mason says.
“We needed to raise money. We needed to show unity and come together around music. We need to support the city of L.A. (Over) 6,500 people work on our shows and ancillary gatherings. So, once we decided to move forward, it was really a conversation with (Grammy producers) Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins and myself. And we started to think about, ‘How do we make the show have the greatest impact?’”
They determined the trail ahead was to nonetheless give out awards and host performances to provide viewers and attendees a bespoke live performance expertise. However most significantly, the present may elevate consciousness, drive donations and sources to funds that profit individuals in want.
And the conversations are ongoing. “We have some great things in the show that will definitely help to raise funds,” he assures. “It will honor some of the heroes that have been protecting our lives and our homes. It will hopefully shine a light on some people that need more help and more services.”
Do not count on a standard telethon, however he says the present will characteristic bulletins and activations within the area.
“Hopefully we’ll be talking about things that have been pledged from the sponsors or from the community,” he provides.
What number of Recording Academy members have been affected by the fires?
“We know right off the bat that we’ve got almost 3,000 requests for help from our members or people in the music community,” Mason says. “So that was just in the first few days.”
The rapid wants have been “the basics,” as he explains. “Food, water, shelter, the bare necessities to live.”
“The next phase will involve, you know, where they’re going to live, how are they going to replace maybe damaged or destroyed instruments, studios. How will they make a living? I’m sure there’ll be some mental health component that people may need assistance with. But it’s really across the board. But the early, immediate relief is around just the bare necessities.”
Has something like this occurred earlier than?
There isn’t any scarcity of pure disasters, they usually have an effect on the music neighborhood too. Mason brings up the COVID-19 pandemic as a latest instance. With MusiCares, they have been in a position to contribute “over $40 million to people who needed help.” They’ve the infrastructure to supply help rapidly.
Nonetheless, he notes, the Grammys are the primary main award present going down after the wildfires, which implies “there is no playbook for this.”
“However I’ve at all times stated all of it adjustments if the fires have been to proceed, or presumably received worse, or the winds modified. So, I at all times wish to reserve that proper. We’re not going to go blindly ahead if issues are unsafe or if it feels inappropriate,” he says.
However contemplate the fundraising, the financial and monetary impacts, and the potential of unity, “It all makes sense for us to move forward.”
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