BTS spoke, and — it seems — the Record Academy has been listening.
A new statement from the head of the organization behind the Grammy Awards gently addresses the wave of controversy it courted with the announcement of a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. The comments come more than two weeks after arguably the biggest Asian pop music act, BTS, announced that they were opting to not participate in the category.
“The Grammy organization exists to serve all music people, and part of that is working to ensure that no voice or community gets overlooked or misunderstood,” Record Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., said in a statement. “It’s clear from our numerous conversations with many stakeholders over the past two weeks that, regardless of our intent and desire to be even more inclusive, there are some artists in this space who feel that this category isn’t representing the music they work so hard to create, in the way they wish. As a musician myself, I take that to heart.”
Like most sentences that include the word “stakeholders,” the statement is light on specifics, but the comment from Mason confirms that the general dissatisfaction among fans and artists in the Asian pop community about the creation and rollout of the category has been heard.
So what is likely to come of the conversations, which (we cannot emphasize enough) were “numerous” and with “stakeholders”? A few possible ideas…
The Grammys can just bag it
In the world of award shows, mistakes are made — especially with the diminishing returns of linear television rating — and sometimes, a course correction is called for. In 2019, the Oscars were going to be hosted by Kevin Hart and present some of the awards off of the telecast. Neither of those things happened!
The simplest short-term solution to the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category controversy would be to say “Never mind!” Walk back the announcement, fall on the sword, and hope that a swift-ish response to backlash is enough to bring some fans (and a certain group named BTS) back into the fold.
But getting rid of the category, however, wouldn’t fix the issue that caused this whole predicament in the first place, the Grammys‘ ignoring of globally popular Asian pop groups, which brings us to the next point.
The Academy expands further with specific attention paid to new Asian members
The Recording Academy isn’t light on members. More than 10,000 people are eligible to vote on the Grammys each year, and in 2026, the body extended invitations to 4,000 potential new members. And while improving diversity has been an expressed interest for the expansion of the Academy, the perceived need for an Asian Pop Music Performance category is really a need more votes for those contenders within the general field. Fixing that would mean not just a more racially diverse Academy, but a younger one as well.
The can gets kicked.
There is no more time-tested solution for an organization dealing with a problem than “handling it later.” At the moment, the Recording Academy has on their hands a new awards category that’s been essentially invalidated by its top contender. The situation doesn’t just hurt the Grammys, but also the potential victors. If the Academy follows through with handing out Best Asian Pop Music Performance, the winner could be perceived as having an asterisk next to their win. Perhaps the most likely outcome for the category is a big pause button and a vague promise to fix it in the future… once the stakeholders are consulted.
