After BTS despatched shockwaves by way of the music trade with their withdrawal from the 69th Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy’s CEO has responded.
On Wednesday, shortly after the Okay-pop eliminated themselves from consideration in obvious protest over the newly added Finest Asian Pop Music Efficiency class, Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. stated he was “saddened” however, “I perceive and respect the choice.
“I’m saddened to listen to that BTS has chosen to not take part within the Grammy Awards course of this 12 months, however as a music creator, I perceive and respect their choice,” he stated in a press release.
“I do need to make clear one thing that appears to be getting misplaced within the dialog,” added Mason. “The Asian Pop class was created to rejoice the depth, variety and extraordinary progress of pop artistry popping out of Asia. The spirit of this new class is to shine a devoted highlight on these essential artists. Extra classes imply extra artists’ work is acknowledged. It’s by no means to divide, however to broaden who’s acknowledged by our 15,000 Grammy voters.”
Mason additionally clarified that submitting music to any style class doesn’t exclude an artist from submitting to basic classes like Document of the Yr, Album of the Yr and Track of the Yr. “These classes stay open to any eligible recording, no matter style. Recognition in a style class and recognition within the Common Area should not mutually unique. An artist can completely pursue each,” he defined.
“The Grammy group is right here to serve music and all of the individuals who make it,” Mason continued. “As we proceed to broaden the attain, our membership and our awards, no matter geography or language, I need to emphasize that we are going to proceed to hearken to the worldwide music group and work to honor and rejoice all of the artists whose music strikes the world.”
Earlier on Wednesday, BTS members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook posted in a joint assertion, “We have now determined to not submit for Grammy consideration this 12 months. We hope our music could be heard and liked for what it’s, reasonably than being divided by area or language. We thank Military and everybody who has at all times stood by us.”
The choice comes after the Recording Academy introduced a number of new classes final month, together with the Finest Asian Pop Music Efficiency, which is designed to acknowledge creative excellence in “performances originating from or widely known inside Asian markets, together with however not restricted to Okay-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with significant use of a number of Asian languages.”
In March, BTS launched their tenth studio album Arirang, the group’s first in six years, after pausing to finish their mandator 18-month South Korea army service.
