First-round voting for the 2027 Grammy Awards is underway, putting the power to determine this year's nominees in the hands of the Recording Academy's voting members.
Ahead of the vote, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. came to Nashville to meet with country music artists and industry executives, including leadership at the Country Music Association. In an exclusive interview with The Tennessean at the Conrad Nashville in Midtown, Mason Jr. talked about country music's growing influence, the new best traditional country album category, AI and the Grammy voting process.
"The reason for this trip was to come in and meet with different members of the community to really understand what's happening here better and get a sense of how our organization
can serve this community accurately and represent the incredible music and talent that's coming out of this place every day," he said, emphasizing how important Nashville is to the nation's broader music industry. "We just got back from a great meeting with the CMA."
Mason Jr. said that he doesn't view the CMA as a competing organization. To the contrary, he said he is working to establish a "really strong relationship" with Brittany Schaffer, the incoming CEO.
"I'm looking forward to an even closer relationship because I think our goals are very much aligned," he said. "Country music is definitely having such a powerful moment with so many great artists. I know there's probably an appetite for it to expand into other parts of the world, which I know is happening, and you're seeing that growth. I know that country music would love to continue to be more and more widely considered in our process and all processes of celebration or awards. And so I can see that happening, I hope, from our time spent here."
Beyond country music, he also noted that Americana and folk music is prevalent in Nashville and that they represent a crucial part of the music ecosystem. However, there's no doubt that country hits like "Choosin' Texas" are reaching new heights and reaching international audiences in new ways. Tanzania and Nigeria are now both home to country music festivals in Africa, in addition to several new country festivals popping up across Europe and Australia over the past few years. In response to the country music boom, The Recording Academy added a new category to the 68th Grammy Awards in 2026, a traditional country category.
With the growing number of artists creating genre-bending country tunes, often leaning into pop or hip-hop influences, the traditional category offers a specific place for honoring the next generation of artists dedicated to the legacy of roots music.
"The overwhelming response has been positive. The idea of the category was to make sure we were honoring more music in the way people wanted to be honored," Mason Jr. said. "The members decide what the categories are. The Grammy group or the administrator, me, we don't decide these things. It's a community of music people that are in the genres. So the country community comes to us and says, 'Hey, we feel like we're being lumped together in disparate genres, and we don't want that any longer. Here's the definition we want. Here's the separation we want. Will you please approve it?'"
The process also included the organization's board and a broader community vote. He said that there are a "healthy" number of submissions to the new category in its second season.
"We hope that the community feels like it's been respected and heard appropriately. But the good thing about our organization, and what I'm really proud of, is how we adjust and pivot and move," Mason Jr. said.
Across genres, the most controversial topic in the music industry continues to be the use of AI in songwriting and production. While Mason Jr. said that he is "unsure about what's to come in the future, because it's moving so fast," the organization's current stance is "we stand for human creativity and protecting human creators and copyrights, as well as intellectual property rights."
The Recording Academy currently allows music containing AI components to be considered for a Grammy Award as long as that the work includes a substantive human authorship contribution. What level of human authorship is required is still unclear. However, Mason Jr. said that the organization will be likely to revisit the AI policy next year, not this season.
In the meantime, the Academy continues to support advocacy spearheaded by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), which focuses on an effort to get artists paid when copyrighted material is used to train AI models or create AI-generated works, while also backing the the NO FAKES Act. That bipartisan federal bill would establish a federal right to protect one's voice and likeness from being used in unauthorized AI deepfakes.
"We're fighting every day in D.C. and even on the state level to protect our people. But we also realize that AI is a tool that's being used, and we have to acknowledge that and be aware of it so that we can advocate for human creators," Mason Jr. said. "But we just don't know what the heck is going to happen around the next corner and what the next challenge is going to be that we have to face."
He added that every year the organization evaluates all polices, but that "AI is going to be one that, I think, is going to deserve a lot of conversation."
Part of the reason he visited Nashville, he said, is to show "reverence and respect" for the songwriters and creatives that drive the industry forward. Creatives are the primary type of member with voting rights, not general professionals, and keeping human creativity at the heart of the music organization remains a top priority.
"I like to think that the Grammys are something that is respected, but that takes work and that has to be earned. It has to be re-earned," Mason Jr. said. "The direction of our organization and the music that we honor is directly correlated to our membership. Voting is open and, much like a Senate race or a presidential campaign, the community needs to get out and vote to have their voice heard."
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why The Recording Academy is increasing the focus on country music | Exclusive
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