The governing body of the Grammy Awards, which is the Recording Academy, is making changes to its membership requirements.

The move comes as a result of discontent stemming from the 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony, where the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements were only given what felt like obligatory mentions instead of substantial airtime.

Neil Portnow, Recording Academy president and CEO, didn’t help the cause when he told Variety Magazine that women in the music business need to “step up.” Portnow announced later that he is stepping down from his role in July 2019.

Shortly afterward, the Academy shared a revamped membership policy for voting members in an attempt to expand the group’s diversity. Whereas the old requirements stated an aspiring member must prove that he or she has exhaustive music industry experience, the new requirements add that two professional recommendations be submitted with each application. Furthermore, applications will be vetted by a peer review panel annually, based on a “range of criteria, including craft, genre, and overall diversity,”  according to the Academy.

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