AceShowbiz - Neil Portnow, the embattled president and CEO of America's Recording Academy, is to step down next year (19) when his contract expires.

The news comes four months after Portnow came under fire for suggesting female artists needed to "step up" if they wanted to win Grammy Awards when he and show bosses were attacked for failing to honour women at the prizegiving in January.

Portnow, who has served as the head of the organisation that produces the Grammy Awards since 2002, made the comment before the ceremony and quickly responded to the backlash as stars like Pink, Kelly Clarkson, and Katy Perry criticised him.

The RIAA boss apologised, stating: "I regret that I wasn't as articulate as I should have been.

"I remain committed to doing everything I can to make our music community a better, safer, and more representative place for everyone."

A week after his ill-advised comments, he announced plans to establish an independent task force to address "where we can do more to overcome the explicit barriers and unconscious biases that impede female advancement in the music community".

But the damage was done and his remarks prompted more than a dozen female music executives to call for his resignation in a petition, which suggested Portnow was "part of the problem" in an industry that didn't properly recognise women.