The Recording Academy® Announces Official Sponsors for 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards®

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Recording Academy® (www.grammy.com) proudly announced its official sponsors for this year's 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards®. Acura, Delta Air Lines, Diet Pepsi, Harman, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, HP, MasterCard, PEOPLE, Waste Management, and Westwood One Radio are all supporters of this year's GRAMMY Awards and GRAMMY® Week events.

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"A significant part of our continued success comes from the company we keep," said Evan Greene, Chief Marketing Officer of The Recording Academy. "Through our world-class alliances with some of today's most relevant and prominent brands, we are able to engage and excite more people than ever before with dynamic, innovative GRAMMY marketing programs."

Acura has supported MusiCares®, The Recording Academy's affiliated charitable foundation, in the past as an event sponsor of the annual Person of the Year tribute. This year Acura has taken a bigger role in GRAMMY Week by becoming the "official vehicle" of the GRAMMY Awards and will have vehicles displayed at a variety of GRAMMY events.

Delta Air Lines returns for the fourth year as the "official airline sponsor" of The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Awards. Delta flights during January and February spotlight in-flight GRAMMY programming consisting of two dedicated GRAMMY radio channels featuring GRAMMY-winning country artists, including recent GRAMMY Salute To Country Music honoree Loretta Lynn. There is also a channel dedicated to this year's MusiCares Person of the Year honoree Barbra Streisand as well as a feature in SKY, the airline's national lifestyle publication. Delta gave SKY magazine readers the opportunity to attend this year's GRAMMY Awards and official GRAMMY Celebration after-party through a national sweepstakes. Throughout the year Delta will continue to include GRAMMY-inspired programming on entertainment equipped flights, furthering the brand's support and association with music and its makers.

Diet Pepsi is debuting a sleek, new look as this year's "official beverage partner" of the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The taller, sassier new Diet Pepsi Skinny Can, available to consumers nationwide in March, makes its debut at various GRAMMY Week events and parties. Diet Pepsi Skinny brings music lovers the "skinny" on GRAMMY events and celebrations, as one of the supporters of the GRAMMY Awards Community Blog program. The Community Blog program features 11 music bloggers from across the country sharing their views and GRAMMY Week experiences with their respective audiences. The Community Bloggers' postings can be found at www.grammy.com/blogs. Follow Diet Pepsi Skinny on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dietpepsi.

Harman returns for a third year as an "official sound partner" of the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards and title sponsor of the exclusive re-GRAMMY Gala,  produced by Clive Davis and The Recording Academy. Harman Chairman Dinesh Paliwal will host VIPs at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Harman will highlight its newest products at GRAMMY Week events — allowing the music industry to interact with their state-of-the-art  home, automotive and professional audio products. Harman's brands AKG Acoustics GmbH and JBL Professional have been recognized by The Recording Academy with the Technical GRAMMY Awards for excellence in technology innovation.

A long-time Academy and GRAMMY partner for more than 20 years, Hilton Hotels & Resorts once again gave its employees and customers the opportunity to attend this year's GRAMMY Awards. The flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide hosted a "rock star" giveaway for its employees across the globe — giving them the opportunity to submit videos showing why they are a rock star for a chance to attend Music's Biggest Night®. HHonors members also were given the opportunity to bid their Hilton Honors points for a once-in-a-lifetime full travel package to Los Angeles to attend the GRAMMY Awards and other GRAMMY Week events. Hilton will donate the cash equivalent of the highest bids to the GRAMMY Foundation®. GRAMMY presenters and performers will receive instant Hilton Honors Diamond Elite status, 50,000 HHonors bonus points, and deluxe products from eforea: spa at Hilton, the brand's new innovative global spa concept.  

This year The Recording Academy is pleased to bring HP onboard as an official GRAMMY Awards sponsor. HP will support key GRAMMY Week events, including title sponsorship of the Pre-GRAMMY Gala, the official GRAMMY Celebration after-party, and MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute. At this year's GRAMMY Celebration after-party, HP will provide listening stations with computers featuring Beats Audio — a superior audio system designed by Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and HP that lets you hear music the way the recording artists intended. HP also will activate online contests to let fans celebrate their passion for music by attending this year's show.  Throughout GRAMMY weekend, HP will provide an inside look into the action on Twitter at @HP_PC and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HPPlay.

MasterCard has returned for the third consecutive year as the "official financial services and payment sponsor" of the GRAMMYs. MasterCard will support key GRAMMY Week events, including title sponsorship of the MusiCares Person of the Year fundraising gala and star-studded Pre-GRAMMY Gala. MasterCard will once again bring "priceless winners" from around the world to Music's Biggest Night and give them a truly priceless experience with a variety of festivities. The winners' experiences will be shared through MasterCard's social media properties leading up to and throughout the event. MasterCard also will support the official GRAMMY Celebration After Party for the second year by presenting the event's Jazz Lounge with a special feature: members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will headline, offering party attendees a relaxing retreat within the grand party. This partnership is an extension of a broader relationship between MasterCard and The Recording Academy which encompasses several events throughout the year.

Long-time partner PEOPLE magazine returns as the "official print media partner" of The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Awards for the seventh consecutive year. In addition to PEOPLE's extensive coverage of all GRAMMY Week events, a special GRAMMY wrap-up issue will be available for readers the week of Feb. 18, providing everyone that attended or watched on TV all the exciting coverage, including interviews from their People.com spot on the red carpet.

Returning for a third year is Waste Management, the "official recycling partner" of The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Awards. Waste Management continues to support The Recording Academy throughout the year — raising and reinforcing member and consumer awareness regarding the importance of responsibly recycling electronics and engaging in consistent recycling behaviors at home, at work, and "on the go." This year, Waste Management will begin building awareness around closed-looped recycling initiatives, which effectively increase diversion efforts throughout the music industry, by co-presenting, Show Me The Green Light: A Conversation About Greening the Music Industry — a thought-provoking summit that takes place on Friday during GRAMMY Week. In addition, Waste Management will provide guests visiting their RECYCLING ROCKS™ lounge at the GRAMMY Celebration with the opportunity to win great live music prizes and learn more about electronics recycling and helping the music play on at www.thinkgreen.com.

Westwood One Radio Network will produce its annual "Backstage at the GRAMMYs" radio remotes, bringing in radio stations from across America, as well as radio stations from various countries around the globe, to broadcast live from GRAMMY rehearsals. Westwood One will help promote this year's telecast and various GRAMMY Week events throughout its network programming.

The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show will be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, including three days of GRAMMY Live coverage on GRAMMY.com at www.grammy.com/live and YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

For more information on GRAMMY Awards sponsors, please log on to: www.acura.com, www.dietpepsi.com, www.delta.com, www.harman.com, www.hilton.com, www.hp.com, www.mastercard.com, www.people.com,  www.wm.com and  www.westwoodone.com.

About The Recording Academy

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization's social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/thegrammys, a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/thegrammys, and a YouTube channel subscriber at www.youtube.com/thegrammys.

SOURCE The Recording Academy