Recording Academy Elevates Susan Stewart To VP Of Songwriters & Composers Wing

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Susan Stewart

The Recording Academy has promoted Susan Stewart to Vice President of its Songwriters & Composers Wing (S&C Wing), the division she built from the ground up.

Stewart joined the Recording Academy in 2005. In 2020, she was instrumental in launching the S&C Wing, which was first announced on the 63rd Grammy Awards telecast, to support songwriters and composers across every genre and career stage. In her new role, she manages all aspects of the Wing, working with its co-chairs, Steering Committee and Leadership Council to create recognition and education opportunities for writers. She also works with the Academy’s Advocacy team on legislation that protects songwriters’ and composers’ crafts, with the Awards team on celebrating writers throughout the Awards process, and with all 12 Recording Academy Chapters to bring the Wing’s mission to local communities.

Under Stewart’s leadership, the S&C Wing has grown to represent nearly half of the Academy’s voting membership and has presented more than 100 local and national initiatives. She helped establish the Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical Grammy Award category and launched the first-ever Grammy Week celebration honoring those nominees. The Wing has also established co-chairs across all 12 Chapters and created a global educational event with The Latin Recording Academy that premiered in nine countries.

Before the S&C Wing, Stewart managed operations and fiscal planning for the Academy’s South region, partnering with its Atlanta, Florida, Memphis and Nashville Chapters. She spent years deeply embedded in the Nashville music community, including as Associate Executive Director at the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), where she also directed the Tin Pan South Songwriter’s Festival. She came up through a studio production background and an A&R position at EMI Records.

Stewart has received NSAI’s Maggie Cavender Award of Service, was a 2017 recipient of the Nashville Business Journal’s Women in Music City Award, and was a 2020 Women Who Rock honoree. She previously mentored music industry students at Belmont University and serves on the W.O. Smith Music School Advisory Board. She is a Leadership Music alumna and a member of the Academy of Country Music, Americana Music Association, Country Music Association, Gospel Music Association, NSAI, Source and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Stewart holds a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Virginia Tech.

LB Cantrell
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