The Recording Academy will proceed with its new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category at the 2027 Grammy Awards. The decision comes despite criticism from some members of the Asian music community.
K-Pop supergroup BTS also decided not to submit its recordings this year.
The Recording Academy confirmed that the category will remain on the ballot. The organisation reached the decision after weeks of discussions with artists, executives and industry leaders from across the Asian music community.
First-round voting will begin on October 12. The Academy will announce the nominees on November 16.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said the organisation heard both criticism and support during its consultations. However, he said the strongest response supported keeping the category.
Recording Academy acknowledges mixed reactions
“Over the past several weeks the Academy has been conducting listening sessions and have been in dialogue with leaders of the Asian music community,” Mason said in a statement released on Thursday.
“The journey has been rewarding and inspiring. Our organization is at its best when we engage deeply with music people and go the extra mile to understand their lived experiences.”
Mason acknowledged that some members of the community opposed the category. Others, he said, had concerns based on what the Academy described as inaccurate information.
“In this case, we heard candid feedback from people in our community who don’t support the continuation of this category,” he said.
The Academy also heard from people who wanted more information about the new award. Mason said those discussions helped address some concerns.
“By far, the loudest feedback we heard was from people who were enthusiastic supporters of the category,” he added.
The Academy also reported a strong number of submissions. It cited those submissions and community feedback as signs of broad support.
“We understand this conclusion will not satisfy everyone, and that never feels good,” Mason said.
“But at the same time, we are confident it’s the right conclusion for the music community overall.”
BTS pulls out
The Academy announced the new category on June 16. It also announced four other new categories and several rule changes for the 2027 Grammys.
Seven weeks later, BTS said it would not submit recordings for this year’s ceremony. The group made the decision as a protest against the new category.
“We have decided not to submit to the Grammys this year,” a translation of the group members’ individual messages read.
“I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language. Thank you to ARMY and everyone who is always with us.”
The Academy then held discussions with members and leaders of the Asian pop community. Those discussions included representatives from K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and music from India.
On August 14, Mason said the Grammy organisation understood concerns about the new category. Some artists worried that it might not represent their music in the way they wanted.
“As a musician myself, I take that to heart,” he said at the time.
After those discussions, the Academy decided to proceed with the category for its first awards cycle. It will still review the category during its annual process.
Category rules clarified
Some critics worried that the new category could stop Asian artists from competing in the Grammys’ General Field categories.
Those categories include Best Album, Best Record, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
The Academy said that concern is unfounded. It noted that artists from all genres can compete in the General Field.
However, an individual recording can enter only one performance category.
For example, a recording submitted for Best Asian Pop Music Performance cannot also enter Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. However, the same artist can compete in multiple performance categories with different recordings.
The Academy reviewed submissions for the 69th annual Grammy Awards. It said K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and other forms of Asian pop can qualify for categories beyond the new award.
The new award recognises artistic excellence in Asian pop performances. Eligible recordings can include contemporary popular music from, or widely recognised within, Asian markets.
Recordings must feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. However, recordings performed entirely in English can still qualify for other appropriate categories.
The Academy also said musical style determines eligibility. The ethnicity or nationality of the performers does not determine eligibility.
Recognition or boxing minorities?
The Grammys have been under fire many times for allegedly boxing some artists, especially minorities, into specific categories.
An example is the “Urban” Grammy categories, which some Black artists say are the Grammys’ way of excluding them from main categories.
Tyler, the Creator, who won the 2020 Best Rap Album Grammy for his experimental project “IGOR,” said half of him felt like the nomination was a “backhanded slap.”
The Recording Academy later retired the use of “Urban” in its categories in 2020.
Then, in February 2025, Beyoncé won Best Country Album for “Cowboy Carter,” becoming the first Black woman to do so.
The album talks about the country genre, especially race and how Black musicians are often excluded from discussions about it despite being heavily interconnected in its history.
Four months after Beyoncé’s win, the Recording Academy announced that the Best Country category would be split into two starting in 2026: Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album.
The institution described traditional country music as “country recordings that adhere to the more traditional sound structures of the country genre, including rhythm and singing style, lyrical content, as well as traditional country instrumentation.”
Meanwhile, the contemporary country music category is for recognising “country music that remains reminiscent and relevant to the legacy of country music’s culture, while also engaging in more contemporary music forms.”
The decision drew mixed reactions, given its timing following Beyoncé’s historic win.
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