Forbes criticizes Grammy's establishment of 'Best Asian Pop' category... BTS "will not submit this year"

Forbes published a critical column about the newly established ’Best Asian Pop Music Performance’ category at the Grammy Awards. The controversy arose after BTS announced that they would not submit entries to the Grammys. The seven BTS members (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, Jungkook) posted on their respective social media accounts on the 29th, stating, ″We have decided not to submit to the Grammys this year. We hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.″ RM also left a message saying, ″Thank you always to ARMY and everyone who supports us.″ Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, released a statement on the same day, saying, ″This newly established Grammy category was created to honor the depth, diversity, and remarkable growth of pop artistry coming from Asia,″ and explained, ″Submitting in a genre category does not exclude an artist from competing for major awards such as ’Album of the Year’ or ’Song of the Year.’″ Forbes acknowledged that Harvey Mason Jr.’s explanation was factual but pointed out that it did not address the issues raised by BTS. They also analyzed that the existence of a separate track coded by geography itself signals where the Academy expects Asian pop to remain. Forbes criticized, ″No one created a ’Best European Pop Music Performance’ category for artists like Dua Lipa or Ed Sheeran. The absence of a corresponding category for pop from predominantly white regions is evidence that, no matter how well-intentioned these categories are, they are not applied evenly on the map.″ Furthermore, Forbes pointed out the Grammy’s approach of trying to solve the credibility issue in only one way and emphasized that subdividing awards cannot be a fundamental solution until the nominees for ’Album of the Year,’ ’Record of the Year,’ and ’Song of the Year’ consistently reflect the diversity of the music industry. Meanwhile, the submission period for the 69th Grammy Awards began on the 7th and will close on August 21. The nominees will be announced on November 16, and the awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on February 7 next year at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, USA.