​​For years our partnership with the Recording Academy was built on advocating for diversity, credit and inclusion. Various social campaigns, films and activations supported initiatives including She Is Music, Women In the Mix and Behind the Record.

Yet still they faced the same criticism on Grammys night for passing over minority and female voices for the biggest awards. And the criticism was getting louder every year. Hashtags like #Grammysowhite and public snubs and feuds with the likes of Kanye, The Weeknd and more were hurting the viewership and brand relevancy.

Behind the scenes sweeping changes were taking place at the Recording Academy and it was time to take that message to the Grammys stage.

For the first time in 66 years, we changed the color of The Grammys’ iconic statue to black to signify the sweeping changes going on at the Recording Academy itself. We created not just a new category, but a new award — The Global Impact Award is now the most rare and coveted award. It’s voted on by the Black Music Collective and goes to an artist for not just an amazing year but a lifetime of impact.

The core audience is the music industry itself. Not just artists but producers, engineers and everyone in between. But it quickly fans out to music fans everywhere. Grammys viewers and music lovers who are looking for a better reflection of themselves in the winners and nominees.

This award launched on live TV at the 65th Grammys telecast and was given out to Dr. Dre. with Jay Z winning the second ever award at the 66th Grammys this past February.

The two telecasts and resulting earned media and social impressions and PR resulted in over 1.9 billion overall impressions. Over 90% positive net sentiment (negative largely related to Dre/Jay Z haters, and not the award itself).

This is now the most rare and coveted Grammy. It now gives a platform and a voice to artists who have paved the way for others and changed music forever. It gives young artists something to aspire to and has finally begun to change the perception of the Grammys as old white and out of touch.