Multiple Female Music Executives Write Scathing Letter to Recording Academy On Monday, the New York Times received a copy of the letter, which called the Academy "woefully out of touch" after only one woman won a solo award at this year's Grammy Awards. Female executives from Universal Music Group, Atlantic Records, Epic Records, Sony Music and Roc Nation all signed the letter. The letter also touches on Academy President Neil Portnow's comments, in which he said female artists need to "step up". “Neil Portnow’s comments are not a reflection of being ‘inarticulate’ in a single interview" "They are, unfortunately, emblematic of a much larger issue with the [National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences] organization as a whole on the broader set of inclusion issues across all demographics.”