National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

The Recording Academy, also known as The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its makers. The Recording Academy is headquartered in Santa Monica. Neil Portnow is the current president of The Academy.

The Recording Academy, which began in 1957, is known for its Grammy Awards. In 1997, the Recording Academy launched The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., which produces the Latin GRAMMY Awards. Michael Greene was the founder and the first President of the Latin Grammys.

History

The origin of the Academy dates back to the beginning of the 1950s Hollywood Walk of Fame project. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce asked the help of major recording industry executives in compiling a list of people in the music business who should be honored by Walk of Fame stars. The music committee, made up of these executives, compiled a list, but as they worked, they realized there were many more talented industry people who would not qualify to be recognized with a Hollywood Boulevard bronze star. The founding committee members included Jesse Kaye, MGM Records; Lloyd Dunn and Richard Jones, Capitol Records; Sonny Burke and Milt Gabler, Decca Records; Dennis Farnon, RCA Records; and Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston, and Doris Day from Columbia Records. This was the start of the Academy and also of the GRAMMY Awards.

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award (originally called Gramophone Award), or Grammy, is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the music industry as that of the other performance arts: Emmy Awards (television), the Tony Awards (stage performance), and the Academy Awards (motion pictures).

The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. Following the 2011 ceremony, NARAS overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 57th Grammy Awards was held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

History

The Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. As the recording executives chosen for the Walk of Fame committee worked at compiling a list of important recording industry people who might qualify for a Walk of Fame star, they realized there were many more people who were leaders in their business who would never earn a star on Hollywood Boulevard. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating an award given by their industry similar to the Oscars and the Emmys. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. After it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it; one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, which were first given for the year 1958.

Max Martin

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Martin Karl Sandberg (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the mid-1990s after making a string of major hits for artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and NSYNC. Some of his earlier hits include "I Want It That Way" (1999), "...Baby One More Time" (1999) and "It's My Life" (2000).

His trademark during the second half of the 1990s and the early 2000s was a danceable, keyboard-laden pop sound that blended music styles such as funk and Europop. However, with Kelly Clarkson's songs "Since U Been Gone" (2004) and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (2005), Martin stepped back into the spotlight after reinventing himself with a heavier, rock-tinged sound.

Since 1999, Martin has written and co-written 21 Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits (most of which he has also produced or co-produced) in the United States, including Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" (2008), Pink's "So What" (2008), Britney Spears's "Hold It Against Me" (2011), Maroon 5's "One More Night" (2012), Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" (2014). Martin is the songwriter with the third-most number one singles on the chart, behind only Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26).