The Recording Academy has responded to BTS' decision to opt out of the Grammy Awards.
The global K-pop group announced Wednesday, July 29, that it would not submit its first new album in six years, "ARIRANG," for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards in February 2027.
The group cited dissatisfaction with the Recording Academy's new category for Best Asian Pop Music Performance, saying, "I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language."
The new category was announced on June 16 and meant to award music from South Korea, Japan, China and elsewhere in the region, "including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages."
"I am saddened to hear
that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision," Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement posted on Instagram Wednesday evening.
Mason Jr. said he wanted to clarify the backlash that the new Asian Pop category has received, adding there is "something that seems to be getting lost in the conversation."
"The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia," he wrote. "More categories mean more artists' work is recognized. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters."
He emphasized that categories like Asian Pop, Jazz or Country are not meant to exclude artists from the major and general categories like Album of the Year or Song of the Year.
What is the criticism of the Grammy Awards' new Asian Pop category?
Critics have argued the new category effectively separates Asian artists into their own competition, making it easier for Grammy voters to overlook them in the general field.
"Y'all couldn't see Asians winning in main categories so [you just] created a new one," one X user wrote following the June 16 announcement.
An Instagram user responded to Mason Jr.'s statement, saying the Recording Academy "completely missed the point" BTS was making by not submitting its work for consideration.
"It seems like every year when an artist that isn’t white sweeps the Grammys y'all make a separate category for them. and you don’t see how that’s a problem?" the user wrote in the post's comment section. "Clearly these artists are talented enough to compete and WIN in these categories already, so why do you insist on alienating them further? I really hope y'all will undo these decisions."
The Asian Pop category is not the first time the Grammys have faced backlash over awarding a region of music.
In a 2023 interview with Ghana's Metro TV, Ghanaian American singer Amaarae criticized the Recording Academy for consolidating African music genres into a single category the same year the Best African Music Performance category was announced.
"The idea of an African category is great in practice, but I think it is reductive. There are too many categories to just be placed under an umbrella of African music," she said at the time. "Take a song like 'Sad Girlz,' 'Calm Down,' or 'Last Last;' these are all songs that didn’t just do well in Africa but did well globally and had humongous global impacts. So, to me, they are popular records."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grammys push back after BTS rejects new category
