The Grammys Are Reconsidering the Category BTS Just Boycotted. The Deadline Is in Four Days.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said Friday the organization is rethinking its two-month-old Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, weeks after BTS became the highest-profile act to refuse to submit for it. "Regardless of our intent, it has become clear that some artists feel this category does not properly represent the music they have worked so hard to create," Mason said in a statement, adding that he takes those concerns seriously "as a music creator" himself.
The Academy is now convening its full Board of Trustees and Awards & Nominations Committee, after what Billboard reported were two weeks of meetings between Mason and industry figures across K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and Indian pop. HYBE, BTS's label, was among the groups consulted, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. None of it changes the calendar: online entry for the 69th Grammy Awards closes August 21, first-round voting opens October 12, and nominees are announced November 16.
The category didn't exist two months ago. The Recording Academy introduced Best Asian Pop Music Performance on June 16 as one of five new categories, framing it as recognition for pop music from or associated with Asian markets. BTS answered on July 29, when all seven members posted individually that they would withhold "Arirang" from Grammy consideration entirely. "I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language," their joint message read. Mason called the decision "saddening" at the time, while maintaining that "recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive."
A Variety source described Academy volunteers connected to the category as having faced online harassment over a decision the outlet says they weren't actually responsible for - the category was created through the Academy's standard annual proposal process, not by any individual committee. Mason's Friday statement leaned on the Academy's own recent track record to argue it can still fix this: "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."
Nothing about the category has formally changed. BTS cannot retroactively enter "Arirang" even if the Academy reverses course this week - the group didn't submit anything for this cycle, meaning 2027 nomination is off the table regardless of what the Board decides. What's still open is everyone else: Stray Kids, TWICE, and other major acts have yet to say whether they're submitting, and the Academy now has four days to decide whether the category they'd be entering still exists in its current form.
