RAC ’EM—COALITION BECOMES PART OF RECORDING ACADEMY

The Recording Artists' Coalition and the Recording Academy have joined forces. From now on, RAC will exist as a program of the Recording Academy, rather than as a separate nonprofit organization, with a particular focus on lobbying in Congress as part of the Academy’s Grammys on the Hill initiative. The announcement was made by Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow and—wouldn’t you know—RAC board member Irving Azoff.

Said Portnow: "In a constantly changing music industry landscape, protection of music creators is more important now than ever. RAC and the Academy's advocacy department have worked together closely over the years on behalf of music professionals, and it makes perfect sense at this time to combine our efforts in the service of creators' rights."

Added Azoff: "RAC's mission is critical to the well-being of artists, and we know it will continue to be well served by Neil's and the Academy's unwavering commitment to artists' rights. Instead of functioning as two separate organizations with very similar missions, this alliance will allow us to streamline our operations and put our resources solely into advancing creators' rights."

The alliance will be effective immediately to coincide with the beginning of the 111th Congress and the Obama administration. The first objective of the Grammys on the Hill/RAC program will be to educate new and returning policy makers about the critical issues facing music creators and the need to ensure fair compensation for all music creators on all platforms.

RAC was founded in 2000 by Don Henley and Sheryl Crow to address legislative issues that affect the recording artist community. On behalf of its membership of more than 150 recording artists, RAC has addressed issues such as artist contract reform, media consolidation and artist compensation. Henley, Crow, and RAC board members Jay Cooper and Simon Renshaw have testified on Capitol Hill on behalf of artists, and the organization has been at the forefront of numerous policy and regulatory matters affecting music creators.