SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - The Grammy Awards will add five new categories for its 2027 ceremony, including one dedicated to Asian pop music.
The new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category will recognize Asian pop performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.
The addition comes as K-pop and other Asian pop genres have gained a larger presence in the global music market.
K-pop acts including BTS and BLACKPINK's Rosé have received Grammy nominations in recent years, though none have won a main category award. "Golden," from Netflix's animated film "K-pop Demon Hunters," became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy earlier this year, taking Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards.
The four other new categories are Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, Best Traditional Folk Album and Best Latin Song.
With the addition of the R&B collaboration category, the existing Best R&B Performance category has been renamed Best R&B Solo Performance. The addition of Best Traditional Folk Album also prompted the Recording Academy to rename Best Folk Album as Best Contemporary Folk Album.
The Recording Academy also updated several rules for the next awards cycle. The maximum number of times an artist may be submitted for Best New Artist was raised from three to four, while the threshold of new recordings required on an eligible album was lowered from 75 percent to 66 percent.
The changes were made through the academy's annual member-driven process and will apply to the 69th Grammy Awards, which will be held Feb. 7, 2027, and air on ABC, Disney+ and Hulu.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.