Grammy boss says he is saddened by BTS’s Grammy withdrawal
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Grammy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr said he was saddened but respected BTS’s decision not to submit music for the 2027 Grammy Awards. He said the Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category was intended to broaden recognition for artists from Asian markets, not to separate or sideline K-pop, and stressed that genre entrants can still compete for the main awards.
All seven BTS members posted identical Instagram statements saying they wanted their music judged without being divided by region or language. The decision came just over a month after the new category was announced; it covers Asian pop, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of Asian languages. BTS has previously received Grammy nominations but has never won, while other prominent artists have also boycotted or withdrawn from the awards over perceived unfair treatment.
- BTS will not submit for the 2027 Grammys.
- Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr respects the decision.
- Academy says Asian Pop category expands recognition.
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Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason jr has spoken about BTS pulling their music from Grammy consideration for the 2027 awards, a decision announced by all seven band members – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – on Instagram. The move follows the Academy's introduction, about a month earlier, of a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, which some saw as sidelining K-pop acts into a separate lane rather than the main awards.
BTS are one of the biggest acts in global pop music and have been nominated for Grammys before without ever winning, a point of frustration for many of their fans. Mason has defended the new category as a way of broadening recognition rather than dividing artists, noting that acts entered in genre categories can still compete for the top general awards.
Artists withdrawing from the Grammys is not unprecedented – stars such as Drake, Jay-Z and the Weeknd have done the same in the past, sometimes for years, before later returning. The episode raises broader questions about how the Grammys categorise and recognise music from outside the traditional US and UK mainstream.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the Recording Academy's approach argue that a dedicated Best Asian Pop Music Performance category is a genuine act of inclusion rather than exclusion, created because a fast-growing body of Asian pop work was often overlooked entirely by General Field voters. They note that nothing bars artists in genre categories from also competing for Record, Album or Song of the Year, so the new award simply adds a further chance at recognition without removing existing eligibility. On this view, genre categories exist throughout the Grammys precisely to ensure specialised artistry is judged by voters familiar with its craft, and expanding that model to Asian pop mirrors the respect long extended to other genres.
The case against
Those sympathetic to BTS's decision argue that however well-intentioned, a separate Asian Pop category risks functioning as a soft ceiling, implicitly signalling that K-pop and similar acts belong in a regional box rather than being judged purely on musical merit alongside global peers. They point out that BTS achieved enormous worldwide commercial and cultural impact yet were never rewarded with a top Grammy, and see the timing of the new category, arriving without their input, as reinforcing rather than resolving that sense of being sidelined. For artists who want their work to be heard simply as music, opting out is framed as a principled stand against being defined first by region or language rather than artistic quality.
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Originally published by Variety as “Grammy Chief ‘Saddened to Hear’ That BTS Won’t Submit for 2027 Awards”.