Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. has issued a lengthy response after BTS announced they wouldn’t be submitting their music for Grammy consideration this year, giving his support to the group over their decision while also addressing critique toward the organization’s newly-created best Asian pop music performance 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 Jr. wrote. “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.”
BTS first announced their decision on Tuesday night, sharing posts on Instagram where they said they “hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”
The move came just over a month after the Recording Academy first introduced its new Asian pop category, which, per the Academy, “recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. Awards are presented to the performing artist(s).”
