The CEO of the Grammys, Harvey Mason Jr, has responded to BTS’s decision not to participate in the 2027 Awards due to the introduction of a new ‘Asian Pop’ category. This was widely seen as a response to the announcement in June of five new categories, including ‘Best Asian Pop Performance’. The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia. There have been separate awards for Latin music going back to the first Awards in the late 1950s and a Best African Music Performance category was added in 2024. But there has never been a ‘Best European Music Performance’ and perhaps this is BTS’s point.