At GRAMMY House NYC, Women Shape The Future Of Music

The Recording Academy's first-ever GRAMMY House NYC was abuzz with musicians and music industry professionals eager to connect.

The two-day event brought together a wide range of artists and industry professionals for panel discussions, performances and networking opportunities.

On June 13, the first order of business at the inviting SECOND event space was an enlightening panel on Women Shaping the Future of Music, presented by the Recording Academy's Women in the Mix — a part of the Academy's DREAM (Diversity Reimagined by Engaging All Musicmakers) Initiative, a collection of resource groups spotlighting the cultural contributions of music industry professionals. (Read our 2024 GRAMMY Impact Report to learn more about how the Recording Academy supports and uplifts women artists and creators on a year-round basis.)

The panel was followed by a delightfully theatrical three-song performance from Canadian singer Goldie Boutilier, who reminded attendees that women can do it all with heart, style and flair. "To be in the room with the most powerful women in the music industry, I'm just so grateful," she reflected in a touching, personal note from the stage.

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GRAMMY-nominated children's artist and bassist Divinity Roxx hosted the deeply personal and inspiring conversation between R&B songstress JoJo and music executive Phylicia Fant, who advocated for and worked with JoJo from the early days of her career, when she was VP of Publicity at Universal Music.

JoJo, who was 14 when she put out her eponymous debut album, and Fant, then 24, had plenty of wisdom to share about thriving as a woman in music. Fant, now the Global Head of Music Industry & Culture Collaborations at Amazon Music, has broken plenty of barriers as a Black woman in the industry.

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"As a publicist, it meant a lot to break an artist," Fant said early on in the conversation. "I saw her like a little sister, so I said I'm going to protect her. It was an immediate connection … I could see she already had a dedication to the craft at 12."

"It speaks to how important it is having women in the room," Roxx underscored. Her point would be reinforced again and again during the chat.

Read on to learn five major takeaways from the cheer-inducing Women Shaping the Future of Music panel.

To Be A Trailblazer, You Have To Be True To Yourself

"It's really exciting that girls of this generation — Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish are the first three that come to mind — are really carving their own way forward. They're not falling into the tropes of what my generation was told that you need to be as a female artist," JoJo said.  "That energy is addicting. They're demanding more for themselves, and they're saying, 'These are my boundaries, and these are my expectations.'"

Reflecting further on women driving cultural change, the "Too Little Too Late" singer underscored important conversations in recent years around artists owning their masters (ala Taylor Swift famously rerecording her back catalog, which JoJo also did in 2018) and making sure their record deals are beneficial to them and not just the label.

"In ownership — owning your catalog and your publishing and crafting, tailoring a deal that makes sense for you — we're seeing there's not one way to do it, and that's really important that we see examples of that," she noted.

JoJo is a trailblazer herself, finding mainstream success and breaking records right out of the bat as a teenager, while also finding a long and winding career in music, acting and beyond. Her debut single "Leave (Get Out)" hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the top spot on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, making her the youngest solo artist to do so at 13. She had talent and drive from a young age, and needed the space to grow and shine, versus being limited by her past successes or someone else's idea of what works for her.

"She's 13, breaking records, you're seeing a triple threat in front of you. And how are you making sure this person isn't being boxed in?" Fant reflects on fostering JoJo's early growth. "She's unstoppable. That's the conversation, that's the narrative. What rooms can you be in to become the global icon she is today?"

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Diversity Is Essential

The room was packed with a crowd of women representing a diverse range of ages, backgrounds, and roles within the music industry.

"If we are going to make sure that music is represented fully and completely, we have to keep these rooms this beautiful and diverse," Fant said to a raucous audience applause.

"[As women,] we have to protect each other and we have to pull each other to the side when things aren't going as planned, because if we leave those rooms, we don't get to have these voices, this vulnerability, the things that make us special."

The successful industry executive sees organizations like the Recording Academy, Girls Make Beats and She Is the Music as vital in representing and promoting diversity in music. The first step of representation is showing up yourself and making your voice heard. 

Read More: 5 Women-Led Organizations Diversifying The Music Industry: Femme House, Gender Amplified, Girls Rock Camp & More

"I've been a Recording Academy member since I was 23. That's the first thing my boss said: 'If you really care about the musical journey, you have to join the Academy.' So, I've watched the evolution of it, with leaders like Ruby Marchand and Tammy Hurt being put in these places. I've seen the incorporation of people of color and women in these roles. And [Academy CEO] Harvey [Mason jr.] saying, 'Hey, we need to make sure that everyone is being included.'"

Fant added that she has also seen more women executives in the past two decades, and applauded the work of Girls Make Beats and She Is The Music. Such organizations are working "to be seen as faces, producers, songwriters, and then having more control of the narrative of how we make records and put them out to the world," Fant asserted. "To me, that is why these moments [like today] matter."

Change Powers Creativity & Longevity

While something may have been core to your artistry, career or identity at one point, it's very possible its value, freshness, or benefit may expire. Some record executives and fans want artists to keep rehashing their biggest hits, but change and experimentation are the key ingredients to creativity and longevity.

"What I have learned over time is the artists who sustain themselves are people like [JoJo] who understand the pivot. Who understand that we have a song, but I'm more than this song," Fant explained.

For JoJo, that's meant allowing her sound, lyrical content and image to evolve over time, to exploring acting on TV and Broadway, and, recently, writing her memoir Above the Influence.

"I found a lot of freedom in pivoting and finding a way to feel diversified … Life is meant to be multifaceted," JoJo stated. "When I'm not crunching myself into this thing that I thought I needed to be, then there's more freedom and expansion in that."

The throughline is being and discovering herself in the process: "I'm pretty vulnerable and I found my strength in that."

Give Girls & Women The Space To Grow & Thrive

While it's important to have a strong moral compass and a support system to help keep you safe and grounded as you navigate your career (especially one that involves fame), it's important to remember that it's OK to change your mind. Just because someone said something questionable once in an interview doesn't mean they can't genuinely learn and grow, and creatives should support each other in doing so.

JoJo came of age as a pop star and, just like everyone else, had to give herself time to figure out who she really was. "My values and beliefs were still being formed when I first walked into this experience of being in the music industry, so I tried on a lot of other people's values and beliefs, and none of them quite fit, because they weren't mine," she reflected.

While that is a normal part of growing up and forming one's identity, young women in the public eye often face more scrutiny for their decisions than their male counterparts. "I needed to experiment with different things and say, 'Do I believe this? Should I live this way? Am I willing to do this or compromise in this way? What do I stand for?'" JoJo recalled. "I had to really bang my head up against a few walls and be really uncomfortable and then be numb and lose myself to discover a sense of self, because it can be challenging navigating this industry. "

Fant told the all-too-familiar story of one of the artists she was working with having to fight for her image, to dress how she wanted, while the label wanted her to dress "sexier" to be more marketable. Fant used data to defend her point and the artist. "As women, we have to have facts … Be prepared when you're going to go to these rooms and having these arguments, because you will have these arguments. Just come with the facts that they cannot push back."

When Roxx asked them to reflect on an intimidating time they had to use their voice as the only women in the room, JoJo had a poignant answer right away. She told the story of her label presenting her with a collaboration with a successful male artist who had a history of abuse toward women. Sometimes the answer really is simple. She said no. "I slept well that night," she said with a smile.

Building & Nurturing Long-Term Relationships Will Get You Far

A career isn't just about where you go, it's about who you bring with you. When an audience member asked for advice on getting through hard times, Fant pointed to the power of friendship. "You collect 'friendlies' over time," Phylicia says with a smile. "They'll show up for you because you show up for them."

For Fant, it's not about meeting someone once at an event and emailing them when you need a connection. She's built a long-term career for herself in the music industry with care, time and dedication. Relationships similarly need to be nourished to blossom over time.

"It's important to have mentorship," she asserts. "[But] mentorship is earned. It's not one phone call, it's not 'I saw you at an event,' it's over time … It takes time to nurture anything, so please pour into your mentorship relationship. Make sure that it's authentic for you, because you get the best out of that when you really start to know each other."

For JoJo, deciding to devote more time to her loved ones in recent years instead of primarily focusing on her career has been deeply nourishing and has helped her feel more vitalized as a human and artist.

"Nurturing our friendships, our friendships that feel like family, our actual blood family if we have relationships with them, and romantic relationships, all of that is really, really important," Jojo said. "It's something I never prioritized until the past few years, and it's given me a new lease on life that allows me to put that energy into my work as a recording artist, which is still my main identity. My greatest joy is to put out music and nurture the relationship that I have with my fans."

GRAMMY House NYC partners include United Airlines, A2IM (American Association of Independent Music), M·A·C Cosmetics, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), Chef Laurent Tourondel's event venue SECOND, and VOSS Water.