The Recording Academy is reconsidering the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, which it introduced two months ago.
That’s according to a statement issued on Friday (August 14) by Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares.
It follows BTS‘s decision, announced on July 29, to keep all of their music out of the 2027 Grammy Awards.
The Academy unveiled the award on June 16, as one of five new categories arriving at the 69th Grammy Awards.
Just over six weeks later, all seven members of BTS – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – posted identical statements to their individual Instagram accounts.
“We have decided not to submit to the Grammys this year,” the members wrote.
“We hope music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language,” they added, in a statement translated from Korean that closed by thanking fan community ARMY.
The posts did not name the category, as MBW reported at the time, though the withdrawal kept BTS‘s comeback album ARIRANG out of contention.
Mason defended the category in response, saying in a statement posted to Instagram that he was “saddened” by the decision but understood and respected it.
“The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia,” Mason said in July.
His statement on Friday struck a different note.
“The Grammy organization exists to serve all music people, and part of that is working to ensure that no voice or community gets overlooked or misunderstood,” said Mason Jr.
“It’s clear from our numerous conversations with many stakeholders over the past two weeks that, regardless of our intent and desire to be even more inclusive, there are some artists in this space who feel that this category isn’t representing the music they work so hard to create, in the way they wish.”
“As a musician myself, I take that to heart,” added the Recording Academy chief.
“there are some artists in this space who feel that this category isn’t representing the music they work so hard to create, in the way they wish.”
Harvey Mason jr., The Recording Academy
“Over the past six years, the Academy has shown that it can act decisively and move swiftly to meet the needs of our music community.”
“The management and Board are committed to working together to keep pace with that progress and ensure the musicians we intend to honor feel truly seen and heard by our actions.”
Billboard first reported the Academy‘s reconsideration.
Mason and other Grammy leaders have been in dialogue with music communities across K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, India and more – musicians, labels, managers and HYBE among them – according to the Academy.
The organization is now convening its full Board and its Awards & Nominations Committee to take further advice on the category, it said.
Variety reported that the review also extends to the process by which the Academy introduces new categories and awards.
The same report said, citing a source, that volunteers from the Academy‘s Gold Music Alliance, an initiative for Pan-Asian creators, have been “bullied and threatened by social media users” who believed they helped create the category.
The category was in fact set through the Academy‘s annual Awards & Nominations process, the outlet added.
Any rethink would arrive against a tight clock, with the online entry window for the 2027 Grammys closing on August 21, as MBW reported.
First-round voting opens on October 12, nominations follow on November 16, and the ceremony takes place on February 7, 2027.
BTS‘s label, HYBE, clarified in July that the decision was the group’s alone.
“This is not a boycott at the company level,” a HYBE official said in a statement to Korean media, adding that other artists on its roster who wished to enter would “proceed with the submissions as scheduled.”
The company said it found the timing hard to accept, arguing the change had come just as BTS looked most likely to win a major Grammy.
Elsewhere in the industry, Eshy Gazit – founder of EG Management and Intertwine Records, and Big Hit Entertainment‘s exclusive US partner between 2016 and 2018 – argued in an op/ed for MBW that the Academy had built an award for something it cannot define.
“Look at the examples of the definition names: K-pop, J-pop, C-pop. Every one is a country with a suffix. None names a sound,” wrote Gazit, who manages Monsta X, Wonho, IVE and KiiiKiii.
Gazit contrasted that with the Latin field, which the Academy splits into several genre-based categories, while Asia is served by one.
He also argued that ARIRANG is largely in English and would have struggled to produce a qualifying entry under the Academy‘s language test.
The Academy lists the award as one for singles or tracks and requires “meaningful use of one or more Asian languages” in recordings originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets.
Awards-prediction site Gold Derby had reached a different conclusion at track level, as MBW reported, naming BTS the frontrunner for the award and noting that while English-language single SWIM would not qualify, Korean-language tracks from ARIRANG would.
The Academy has not said what changes it will make, or whether any would land before the 69th Grammys.
With BTS out, Gold Derby has listed acts including ATEEZ, Stray Kids, Hearts2Hearts, HYBE‘s CORTIS and the Philippines’ BINI among contenders for the inaugural award.Music Business Worldwide
