The Recording Academy is considering changes to its newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance Grammy category after BTS, widely seen as likely leading contenders, said they would not submit their music this year. The move matters because it highlights concerns from Asian music artists that the category’s current design may not represent their work fairly and could affect their recognition in broader Grammy awards.

Chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. said Grammy leaders had held discussions with representatives from K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and Indian music communities over the previous two weeks. The review comes shortly before the submission deadline and ahead of first-round voting on 12 October; critics have questioned the category’s language rules and worried it could marginalise Asian artists from general-field consideration, although Mason said genre and general-field recognition are not mutually exclusive.