All articles tagged with #asian pop music performance
BTS opted not to submit its new album ARIRANG for the 69th Grammy Awards in protest of the Recording Academy's newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. The Academy defended the category as a means to expand recognition without excluding artists from major categories, while critics argue it isolates Asian music from main awards. The decision signals ongoing debate about how Asian pop should be recognized at the Grammys.
South Korean group BTS has announced they will not submit their music for Grammy consideration this year, in apparent protest of the Recording Academy’s newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category designed to recognize works from Asian markets and languages. The move comes after BTS members posted on Instagram expressing that they want their music heard for what it is, without regional or language division. The group, long anticipated to receive multiple nominations for Arirang and its lead single Swim, had even been expected to perform at the ceremony. BTS is currently on a world tour and recently performed at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show at MetLife Stadium.
The Recording Academy announced major changes for the 69th Grammy Awards: the number of categories will rise to 100 (from 78); five new categories are added—Best Asian Pop Music Performance, Best Latin Song, Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Traditional Folk Album. Eligibility rules are also relaxed, including increasing the maximum times an artist may be entered in Best New Artist from three to four, introducing Ballot Plus (an opt-in option allowing voting in up to 15 categories across genres), lowering the requirement that an album be mostly new recordings from 75% to 66%, expanding songwriter/composer recognition in album categories, and allowing internet-only releases to be eligible for Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album.