{"id":6144,"date":"2026-08-02T20:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6144"},"modified":"2026-08-02T20:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:04:59","slug":"grammys-response-to-bts-decision-to-opt-out-of-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6144","title":{"rendered":"Grammys’ response to BTS decision to opt out of competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By MARIA SHERMAN<\/strong>, Associated Press<\/p>\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. has responded to the news that K-pop powerhouse BTS will not submit their music for consideration for the 2027 Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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,\u201d Mason jr. wrote on the Grammys\u2019 official Instagram page.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, all seven BTS members \u2014 RM, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, Jung Kook and Jin \u2014 shared the same note on Instagram, stating that they would not be submitting their comeback album, \u201cARIRANG,\u201d or its songs for Grammys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language,\u201d they wrote, just over a month after the Recording Academy announced five new Grammy categories, which include best Asian pop music performance.<\/p>\n

According to the rulebook, the category recognizes releases across K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and beyond. But some fans viewed it as a racialized barrier for Asian performers.<\/p>\n

In his statement, Mason jr. stated that the new category was created in order to celebrate more voices across the Asian music industry \u2014 not to separate those artists from other awards.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMore categories mean more artists\u2019 work is recognized. It\u2019s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He added a reminder that submitting in a genre category \u2014 such as the new Asian pop award \u2014 does not exclude an artist from submitting to the general field categories like album, song and record of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive,\u201d Mason jr. said. \u201cAn artist can absolutely pursue both.\u201d<\/p>\n

BTS has never won a Grammy, though they\u2019ve been nominated for five: three times in the best pop duo\/group performance category as well as album of the year (for their contributions to Coldplay\u2019s \u201cMusic of the Spheres\u201d) and best music video for \u201cYet to Come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, no K-pop act had ever won a Grammy before this year, when \u201cGolden\u201d from the Netflix animated film \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d took home the trophy for best song for visual media. It capped a highly visible night for K-pop at the Grammys \u2014 an institution where the genre has long been undercelebrated despite its massive international following.<\/p>\n

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All seven BTS members shared the same note on Instagram announcing the decision not to submit their latest work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nGrammys’ response to BTS decision to opt out of competition - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grammys’ response to BTS decision to opt out of competition - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All seven BTS members shared the same note on Instagram announcing the decision not to submit their latest work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-02T20:04:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Grammys’ response to BTS decision to opt out of competition\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-02T20:04:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/135e070c2cb9a3f9425fabd3d881cf67.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6144\",\"name\":\"Grammys’ response to BTS decision to opt out of competition - 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