学文网The idea to create a Recording Academy （唱片协会）began in early 1957. A visionary（有眼光的） group of music professionals and label （唱片公司） executives1 in Los Angeles recognized the need to create an organization that would represent the creative(有创造力的) people in the recording arts and sciences.The founding members of the Recording Academy wanted to recognize and cele- brate the artistic achievement of not only talented (有才华的) musicians and singers but also important, behind-the- scenes(幕后的) contributors2 such as producers and engineers.
Conceived(认为) as a way to create a real recording industry community and address3 some of these concerns, the Recording Academy was born and the Grammy Awards process began.The Grammys are the only peer-presented(行业授予的) award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales(唱片销量)or chart position（排行榜名次）. The award is a small statue4. It is shaped like the early record player called a gramophone(留声机). The word "Grammy" is a short way of saying gramophone.
As we continue our journey into the bold(活跃的) future of the 21st century,the Recording Academy looks forward to(期待) the new opportunities of a growing organization. Over the last decade particularly, the Academy has expanded its goals from the important work of recognizing the best in music through the Grammy Awards to establishing itself as the preeminent (杰出的) arts advocacy5 and outreach (扩大的活动范围) organization in the country.The Academy's mission statement is simple,but represents the heart and soul of the organization's efforts: to positively impact (影响) the lives of musicians,industry members and our society at large(全面地).
注释：
1、executive n.管理人员，主管业务的人
2、contributor n.贡献者
3、address vt.对付，处理
4、statue n. 雕像，塑像
5、advocacy n. 拥护，提倡
创建唱片协会的想法始于1957年初，一些有眼光的音乐专业人士和洛杉矶唱片业人士认为，有必要建立一个组织来代表唱片艺术和技术方面那些有创造力的人。唱片协会的创始成员要评选和表彰的不仅仅是那些有才华的音乐家和歌唱家们的艺术成就，同样还有那些重要的幕后工作者所做出的贡献，像音乐制作人和工程师们。
作为创建一个真正的唱片行业组织，并探讨相关问题的一种方式，唱片协会诞生了，同时也开始了格莱美音乐奖的评选过程。格莱美在唱片行业里是惟一奖励艺术成就、技术进步和综合成就的业内奖项，而不是根据唱片销量和排行榜名次来评选的奖项。奖品是一个小雕塑，造型酷似早期的电唱机，也叫留声机。“格莱美”是留声机一词的缩略形式。
当我们步人前景充满活力的21世纪时，唱片协会期待着进一步发展的新机遇。特别是在过去10年中，协会把它的目标从通过格莱美音乐奖评选最优秀的音乐人的重要工作，调整为把自己发展成为一个国内杰出的艺术倡导者和推广组织。协会的使命宣言很简单，但是它代表了这个组织奋斗的中心和灵魂；积极全面地影响音乐家、音乐界人士和整个社会人们的生活。