CEO Harvey Mason jr. initially defended the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category when BTS opted out of submitting, but new conversations with stakeholders might change his mind<\/p>\n
Harvey Mason jr. at the 68th GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Christopher Polk\/Billboard<\/p>\n
When\u00a0BTS\u00a0announced their decision\u00a0to not submit their latest album,\u00a0ARIRANG, for consideration for the 2027\u00a0Grammy Awards, Recording Academy CEO\u00a0Harvey Mason jr.\u00a0defended the creation\u00a0of the awards show\u2019s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. The new award \u201cwas created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia,\u201d he said last month. Now, it seems the Recording Academy will actually be taking criticism of the category into deeper consideration ahead of the 2027 Grammys.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Mason jr. said in a statement on Friday, Aug. 14. \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t representing the music they work so hard to create, in the way they wish. As a musician myself, I take that to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cOver 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
While BTS did not explicitly call out the creation of the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, their statement regarding their refusal to participate in next year\u2019s show spoke specifically to their \u201chope that music can be heard and loved by itself rather than being divided by region or language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best Asian Pop Music Performance was added as a Grammys category in June alongside four other genre-specific categories. \u201cThis Category recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages,\u201d the description for the new addition read.<\/p>\n
Online entry for the 2027 Grammy Awards closes in just one week, on Aug. 21. First round voting will begin on Oct. 12 with the official announcement of nominees on Nov. 16. The 2027 Grammy Awards will be hosted on Feb. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n