SANTA MONICA, Calif. — C. Michael Greene makes no apologies.
The head of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences knows he has plenty of detractors; they call him a bully and accuse him of transforming the nonprofit music organization into a dictatorship.
But Greene says it's his aggressive style over the past 16 years that has boosted earnings from the Grammy Awards program from $700,000 to nearly $32 million per year, and expanded the academy's membership from about 3,200 to more than 20,000 music professionals.
He admits to some hot-headedness but argues that's part of being a strong businessman.
"I will not allow anybody, I don't care who it is, to do anything that breaks precedent with what this organization stands for," he says, flashing a devilish smile during an interview in his office. "And when they do, I'm the meanest sore-toothed, saber-toothed tiger in the world."
He adds, "I'm not here to make myself look good."
Greene is influential in determining what the organization will stand for on issues such as copyright protection, Internet piracy and artists' rights, which can place him at odds with legislators, record company executives and music fans — even though he may be aligned with the same people on other issues.
Many people in the music industry were reluctant to speak publicly about Greene for this article.
He has overseen the birth of the Latin Grammys and the MusiCares charity, which raises money for aging, poor musicians and drug-abuse treatment. He also started the Grammy Foundation, dedicated to preserving deteriorating recordings and creating music education programs for children, such as the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning.
And Greene is credited with expanding the breadth of the Grammy Awards to include rap, alternative and heavy-metal. Under his stewardship, the Grammy list has grown from 68 categories in 1986 to 101 this year.
Many people ask why he doesn't trim some of the categories, such as polka or rock gospel.
"We have a lot of categories, but it's a big music world," Greene says.
He says he encourages the organization to consider more cutting-edge performers like Radiohead and Eminem for top prizes.
Public Enemy rapper Chuck D, who once wrote the lyric "who gives a (expletive) about a (expletive) Grammy?" said on his Web site recently that he changed his mind about the show after Greene became president in 1988, calling him "a great guy" who cares about urban music.
"The point was making sure rap was respected," Chuck D wrote.
Over the years, however, the 52-year-old Greene has collected a list of colorful foes including Dick Clark, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and many Cuban-Americans in Florida.