Harvey Mason Jr. grew up steeped in music. His father, Harvey Mason Sr., was half of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters rhythm section and played on countless sessions through the '70s and '80s. After a brief detour through college basketball, Harvey Mason Jr. built his own life in music, starting where a lot of careers do: writing jingles. From there he assembled a production and songwriting résumé that includes Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Beyoncé, along with film work spanning Dreamgirls, Straight Outta Compton, Pitch Perfect, and the recent Michael Jackson biopic.

Then, in January 2020, his path took an unexpected turn. The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, installed him as interim and eventually full-time CEO. He stepped into the job at a moment of institutional crisis and set about remaking it from the inside: expanding membership, eliminating secret voting committees, and pushing the organization to be more diverse, transparent, and reflective of modern music.

On today's episode, Justin Richmond sits down with Harvey Mason Jr. to trace that arc, from ASU to jingle sessions to the studio where Michael Jackson made Invincible, and on to running one of the music industry's most powerful institutions.

Harvey Mason Jr. grew up steeped in music. His father, Harvey Mason Sr., was half of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters rhythm section and played on countless sessions through the '70s and '80s. After a brief detour through college basketball, Harvey Mason Jr. built his own life in music, starting where a lot of careers do: writing jingles. From there he assembled a production and songwriting r&eacute;sum&eacute; that includes Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Beyonc&eacute;, along with film work spanning Dreamgirls, Straight Outta Compton, Pitch Perfect, and the recent Michael Jackson biopic.
Then, in January 2020, his path took an unexpected turn. The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, installed him as interim and eventually full-time CEO. He stepped into the job at a moment of institutional crisis and set about remaking it from the inside: expanding membership, eliminating secret voting committees, and pushing the organization to be more diverse, transparent, and reflective of modern music.
On today's episode, Justin Richmond sits down with Harvey Mason Jr. to trace that arc, from ASU to jingle sessions to the studio where Michael Jackson made Invincible, and on to running one of the music industry's most powerful institutions.

Music and storytelling meet on Broken Record, where artists across genres and generations sit down to explore the joy, chaos, and vulnerability of creating—and what it means to devote a life to music. From legendary icons to groundbreaking new voices, each episode captures artists in conversation sharing the inspirations and experiences that shape their craft.

Music and storytelling meet on Broken Record, where artists across genres and generations sit down to explore the joy, chaos, and vulnerability of creating&mdash;and what it means to devote a life to music. From legendary icons to groundbreaking new voices, each episode captures artists in conversation sharing the inspirations and experiences that shape their craft.

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Harvey Mason Jr.

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/9df2c522-fbe4-4243-bc30-b494012b9f24/transcript