Neil Portnow

During the course of his career, Neil Portnow has become a leading figure in the music and recording industry, liaising with music makers, corporate executives, political figures and worldwide brands. He has served as President of The Recording Academy® (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences®) since December 2002, and was named President/CEO in September 2007.

As President/CEO, Portnow works closely with The Academy's Board of Trustees and its Chair, local Academy Chapter boards and officers, as well as The Academy's senior management team to advance the Academy's goals and mission — including the creative and strategic vision and operations of The Academy and its related entities (the GRAMMY Awards®, the Producers & Engineers Wing®, The Latin Recording Academy®). He also serves as President/CEO of The Academy's charitable affiliates, MusiCares® and the GRAMMY Foundation®, and he is Chair of the Board of The GRAMMY Museum® at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles. He represents The Academy to its constituents, to its partners, and to music fans, and serves as an industry leader on issues relating to the music industry — including participation in national caucuses, conferences, roundtables and keynotes; and key domestic and international industry-related organizations. And in keeping with The Academy's position as an advocate for its constituents, Portnow develops and manages strategic advocacy positions at the national, state and local levels — both governmental and within music and its related industries.

Throughout his tenure, Portnow has made notable accomplishments that have enhanced the organization's overall mission of improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Highlights include:

*Creating a GRAMMYs on the Hill lobbying day as a companion to the esteemed GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards event, both of which represent the most significant and unified music industry presence in Washington D.C.; establishing a strategic alliance with the Recording Artists' Coalition (RAC), thereby combining the efforts of both The Academy and RAC to amplify artists' rights on Capitol Hill; and developing and implementing the first-ever CEO Summit meeting, which continues to be a semi-annual gathering that includes leadership representation from music industry organizations, resulting in new, unprecedented cooperation and collaboration between the various creative and business constituencies.

* Launching MusiCares' 20th Anniversary Giving Campaign, with an initial overall fundraising goal of $15 million, further ensuring music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical, and personal need; and launching the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund in 2005 and Nashville Flood Relief fund in 2010 — when Hurricane Katrina and floods devastated the lives of people in the Gulf Coast region and Nashville respectively — bringing necessary and immediate assistance and support to music people in need.

*Expanding the GRAMMY Foundation's celebrated 10-day intensive GRAMMY Camp program from Los Angeles to New York City and Nashville, thus continuing the Foundation's ongoing mission of keeping music education alive and developing future generations of music professionals.

*Leading efforts to open the GRAMMY Museum in Dec. 2008, in partnership with AEG. The one-of-a-kind "21st Century Museum" — which features interactive, permanent and traveling exhibits with four floors of dynamic and engaging multimedia presentations — continues to experience great success within the music industry and with music fans from around the world.

Under Portnow's leadership, the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast has enjoyed consistent and significant ratings increases for the last four years. The nearly 50 percent spike in viewership for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards was the highest year-over-year ratings increase since the invention of people meters in the late '80s, and the show was the second most watched GRAMMY telecast ever. Recently, he spearheaded negotiations with The Academy's longstanding broadcast partner CBS, keeping the annual GRAMMY telecast on the network through 2021. He also expanded this partnership to include the continued annual broadcast of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" (a one-hour special that sets the stage for the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast), as well as a series of new GRAMMY specials. Additionally, Portnow has expanded The Academy's international outreach as the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast is now seen in more than 190 countries. He also was instrumental in facilitating the annual Latin GRAMMY Awards' move to Spanish-language network Univision, where the telecast has enjoyed great success and significant ratings increases — ultimately leading The Latin Recording Academy to remain with its longtime broadcast partner, keeping the Latin GRAMMY Awards on Univision through 2018 and extending the partnership to include new Latin GRAMMY specials.

Born in Manhattan, New York, Portnow is a professional musician who has played with various bands and has worked as a studio sideman, playing bass and guitar. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from George Washington University, where he served as Cultural Affairs Director booking concerts for the university, and later was elected to an unprecedented two-year term as Student Body President.

In 1971, Portnow formed his own firm, Portnow-Miller Company, Inc., where he served as President. His client list included RCA Records, The Entertainment Company, Babylon Records, and Playboy Records. Portnow's services incorporated radio promotion, marketing and creative services, music publishing, and record production.

The Screen Gems Publishing Group, later acquired by EMI, named him Manager, Talent Acquisitions and Development in 1972. He established the record production division for the company, working with the industry's premier producers, arrangers, musicians and songs from writer/artists including Fleetwood Mac, Carole King, Melissa Manchester, and Cat Stevens. Portnow also negotiated domestic and international agreements in both recording and music publishing areas.

A staff producer for RCA Records, Portnow was promoted to the post of Executive Producer in 1977. He was transferred from New York to West Coast operations in the newly created position of Division Vice President, Artist and Repertoire. He was responsible for negotiations that included a distribution arrangement for Elton John's Rocket Records.

In April 1979, he became the Senior Vice President for 20th Century Fox Records, and was promoted to President the following January. Portnow was responsible for the artistic and financial turnaround of the company. The industry regained respect for the label, crediting the label's and Portnow's success to the development of key new artists (including three gold albums and a gold single from GRAMMY winner Stephanie Mills).

In March 1982, Portnow was named Vice President, Artists and Repertoire, West Coast for Arista Records by Clive Davis. As the principal West Coast executive, he was responsible for all West Coast activity and he functioned as General Manager for the company. He also worked on the stunning debut album for Whitney Houston in addition to projects involving many of Arista's top acts such as Barry Manilow, Billy Ocean, the Thompson Twins and Dionne Warwick.

In February of 1985, Portnow was appointed Vice President, Artists and Repertoire, for EMI America Records where he was responsible for all A&R activity worldwide. In addition to supervising all new artist acquisitions, Portnow worked with artists including David Bowie, Sheena Easton, Corey Hart, Nona Hendryx and Evelyn "Champagne" King. He was instrumental in establishing a black music department, played a major role in the signing of superstar Robert Palmer, and brought platinum and gold album recording artists the Pet Shop Boys and Najee to the American company.

In 1987, he was named Music Supervisor for Frank Mancuso Jr.'s production of Permanent Record for Paramount Pictures. Music from the film was on the Epic Records soundtrack album, which included the first film underscore as well as songs by Joe Strummer. Throughout his career, Portnow has been involved in many soundtrack projects including such smashes as Ghostbusters, 9 To 5, The Stunt Man, The World's Greatest Lover, and the 1986 hit About Last Night.

Just prior to becoming President of The Recording Academy, Portnow served as Senior Vice President, West Coast Operations for the Zomba Group of Companies, which included Jive Records, Volcano, Verity and
Silvertone Records, Zomba Music Publishing, as well as Zomba's Film and Television Music operations. Zomba, the world's largest and leading independent music company, was sold to Bertlesman in late 2002 for a historic $2.7 billion.

Portnow also served an unprecedented three-year term as President of the Music and Entertainment Industry chapter of the City Of Hope from 2000 – 2002, raising significant funds for the world-renowned cancer treatment and research center. In October 2003, the City Of Hope presented Portnow with its top philanthropy honor, The Spirit of Life Award, at a gala event that raised more than $2.3 million to benefit research and treatment efforts.