Recording Academy May Revamp New Asian Pop Grammy Category After BTS Submissions Protest
The Recording Academy is in talks with members of the Asian pop community about possibly re-conceiving its new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category for the 2027 Grammy Awards, according to Billboard.
The category was one of five new Grammy awards announced on June 16. As described on the Academy's Grammy Award Update Center page, it covers singles or tracks — vocal only — and recognises artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances. In a grammy.com interview that day, CEO Harvey Mason Jr. called it a globally focused category meant to celebrate more voices across the Asian music industry.
The pushback came quickly. On July 29, BTS announced they would not enter their recordings for the Grammys that year, in protest against the new category. The group's objection echoed broader fan concerns that a single "Asian pop" slot lumped together vastly different music traditions rather than celebrating them distinctly. The Recording Academy addressed those worries on its official Instagram account the same day, saying the category was meant to "expand, not" divide the community.
Mason responded to BTS's decision on July 30, telling the Associated Press that the category was created to celebrate the diversity of art coming out of Asia and that the intent was not to divide. "The new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category was created to celebrate more voices across the Asian music industry, not to divide it," he said, according to NY1.
On Friday, August 14, Mason issued a statement acknowledging that some artists feel the new category does not represent their music as they wish. He and other Grammy organisation leaders have held ongoing dialogue with community members representing K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, India and more — including musicians, labels, managers and HYBE, the South Korean entertainment company whose roster includes BTS.
The Academy is now convening its full Board and Awards & Nominations Committee to work with Asian pop community members on advising how the category should function. The stated aim is to honour the music "respectfully and accurately in this first awards cycle" and to determine how best to honour it in the future, Billboard reported. The Academy also said the Board and committee will evaluate whether to update its process for developing new categories and awards in general.
The clock is tight. First-round Grammy voting begins on October 12, with nominations announced on November 16. Any structural changes to the category would need to land before those dates to affect the 2027 cycle — or the category could debut as announced and be revised afterwards.
For the artists, labels and managers across Asia's music industries who have spent years pushing for Grammy recognition, the question is whether a single category can hold the range of what they make — or whether the Academy will need to rethink the framework entirely before the first trophy is handed out.
