Global superstars BTS set the music awards world spinning yesterday when they announced that they would not be submitting their latest album, Arirang, for Grammys consideration. The decision came in the wake of the Music Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, which for some appeared engineered to get the world’s biggest K-pop act on stage at the award show.
The withdrawal from consideration and the resulting media hubbub drew a response Recording Academy head Harvey Mason Jr., who — while seemingly understanding of the decision — sought to push back at the some of the more negative perceptions of the new category.
“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,” Mason said. “I do want to clarify 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. The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists. 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.
“I also want to be very clear: submitting music in a genre category such as Asian Pop, or Jazz or Country does not exclude an artist from also submitting and being considered in the General Field categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year,” he continued. “Those categories remain open to any eligible recording, regardless of genre. Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive. An artist can absolutely pursue both.”
In attempting to thread the messaging needle, Mason hit on several of the issues that emerged from the new category’s creation and that could continue to develop going forward. As we continue to watch this story develop, here are the four burning questions about BTS, the Grammys, and the fight over Best Asian Pop Music Performance.
How do the Grammys fix the optics?
The top contenders for a new Grammys category have very publicly voiced their opinion about its legitimacy. It’s difficult to imagine Best Asian Pop Music Performance being awarded now without some historical asterisk next to the eventual winner that BTS wasn’t actually in the running. But more than that, BTS has essentially declared that if the Grammys want them to show up — and presumably boost the ratings for the show — the Record Academy is going to have to nominate them in general categories, rather than as the biggest example of a subgenre.
Will other global acts follow suit?
Thanks to BTS, there’s an optics issue on the side of the potential nominees as well. An argument could be made that anyone submitting in global categories like Best African Music Performance is not willing to draw the same line as BTS. Tyla has won in the category two years of the three that it has existed. The call by BTS could put pressure on artists like her to make a similar determination.
What would it take for BTS to break through?
One unfortunate side effect of the withdrawal over the Asian Pop Music issue is that now voters won’t have a chance to potentially nominate BTS in general categories, as the group had wished to be originally. Arirang marked a reunion for the group after the mandatory military service and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It could have been a breakthrough moment for BTS, which only has solo nominations in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video. (They were technically nominated for Album of the Year, but it was only as featured artists on Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres.) But now we’ll never know.
How will newer genres be handled going forward?
Based on its last few years of category additions and the recent statement from Mason, the Record Academy has made clear that they intend to facilitate the expansion of recognition with the Grammy Awards. They’ve done that with aggressive membership invitations — this year, extending 4,000 — and new categories, but major artists continue to balk at the chance for an award in a sub-genre, how does the winners list become more eclectic?
