Lisa Goich-Andreadis and Jeriel Johnson spent a combined 20 years at the Recording Academy. Now, they’re using their knowledge of Grammy rules and their connections in the music community to try to boost clients’ chances of receiving nominations and awards. They started doing this work together in July 2024 and officially launched the Awards Agency LLC in March of this year.
They report that they had 32 clients leading up to the 68th Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, and that those clients received a combined 27 Grammy nominations and six wins.
Both partners say that the transition from working for the Academy to working for their own awards consulting firm has required them to adjust their thinking. At the Academy, a core value is being scrupulously non-partisan. Now, by definition, they are taking sides.
“The first year I was very uncomfortable doing it,” Goich-Andreadis acknowledges, “because I was [at the Academy] 13 years, 14 [awards] seasons, but now I’m used to it, because we have a rhythm, our business plan is very solid and we really found our space.”
Goich-Andreadis oversaw the jazz and comedy genres when she was at the Academy, as well as the Special Merit Awards and the Grammy Hall of Fame. Johnson oversaw the hip-hop, R&B and reggae genres, was executive director for the Academy’s Washington D.C. chapter and was a co-founder of the Black Music Collective.
