Statement from Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy(R) Regarding...

Statement from Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy(R) Regarding the 50th Annual GRAMMY(R) Awards:

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--The following is a statement from Neil Portnow, President/CEO of
The Recording Academy:

"Today the producers of the 50th Annual GRAMMY(R) Awards requested
an interim agreement from the WGA for the telecast on February 10. The
Recording Academy(R) remains hopeful that there will be a quick and
positive response.

"The Academy is similarly pleased and gratified that AFTRA and
AFM, the two unions that have long been the only ones with
jurisdiction and representation of the musical talent on the show,
stand alongside us in our efforts to present the 50th Annual GRAMMY
Awards at a level that millions of music fans around the world expect
and deserve.

"This whole-hearted support recognizes the vital importance and
meaning of the GRAMMY Awards and the critical work of The Recording
Academy by the two unions that represent the great musical and
creative talent within our industry. It also is an important
validation of the solidarity of the music community behind both The
Academy and the GRAMMY Awards.

"The Academy owns all rights to the GRAMMY Awards telecast but
does not produce the show and is not a signatory with the WGA. We,
however, fully support the offer of the producer, Cossette
Productions, to immediately execute an interim agreement under the
same terms as those arrangements signed by the WGA with David
Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants (airing on the same network as
the GRAMMY telecast) as well as other companies. Executing such an
agreement would both allow the talented writers for the show to be
compensated fairly for their valuable services and allow us to
demonstrate support for the creative community of writers in a
tangible and meaningful way.

"On January 8, 2008, I met with WGA President Patric Verrone to
outline these and other facts. During that meeting, I explained that
the music industry had for more than a decade been fighting to obtain
fair and just compensation for the original digital content of its
members and thus, of course, supported the WGA in its efforts to
obtain like results for its own members. I outlined in great detail
the scope, reach, and vital importance of GRAMMY Week and the 50th
Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast not only to The Recording Academy, but
to the worldwide music industry and creative community as a whole. I
explained how those in the music and creative industry depend upon the
annual proceeds from the GRAMMY Awards telecast to fund a whole
variety of worthwhile programs such as our MusiCares(R) Foundation,
which literally saves lives and offers millions of dollars of aid to
music people in need, our GRAMMY Foundation(R)'s programs to advance
the importance and role of music and the arts in our schools and in
society, and our efforts in Washington, D.C. to advocate for the
rights and needs of our music community. In short, no awards show
touches more lives of those in need than the GRAMMYs.

"We also want to underscore that the GRAMMY Awards telecast is
now, and will always be, a union show. More than 700 proud union
members work for months to create the music industry's gold standard
of awards shows. That includes approximately 250 AFM members, 150
AFTRA members, and 2 WGA members.

"GRAMMY Week represents the most significant worldwide music event
of the year. And we are in a different industry than the motion
picture and television business; I am quite certain that most are
aware of the extremely difficult and challenging conditions facing our
industry's creators and companies, unparalleled in our history. This
year, more than ever, GRAMMY Week and the milestone of a 50th GRAMMY
Awards, along with the 50th Anniversary of the founding of The
Recording Academy, are a centerpiece and beacon of hope, optimism, and
represent literally multi-millions of dollars in sales, promotion, and
marketing for our musicians and as such, take on far more significance
than simply three and one-half hours of television programming.

"In closing, let me reiterate our desire to bring this matter to a
positive resolution working with the WGA. And to slightly alter a
famous saying in our world, 'The Show will go on.' We will take
whatever action is necessary to ensure that a program so vital to our
industry, artists, charitable beneficiaries, and the great city of Los
Angeles is held as planned. Accordingly, all preparations by The
Academy for our milestone 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards remain in
full-swing."

The Recording Academy
Barb Dehgan
310-392-3777
or
Sitrick and Company
Mike Sitrick/Jim Bates
310-788-2850

Copyright Business Wire 2008