The K-pop group Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) has abruptly withdrawn its entry from the “Grammy Awards,” the United States’ most prestigious pop-music awards show, taking a direct stand against a Western-centered awards paradigm.
“There are no borders in music”… BTS withdraws Grammy entry
On the 29th, BTS leader RM formally announced through the group’s official social networking service (SNS) that it will not submit any work to the 69th U.S. Grammy Awards, scheduled to be held next February.
BTS said, “We hope that music won’t be confined by regional or language barriers and can be delivered fully as itself and loved,” and expressed gratitude to the fans who showed support. The boycott declaration is interpreted as a strong protest against the Recording Academy, the organizer of the Grammys, which recently launched a new category targeting Asian-language music such as Korean, Chinese and Japanese entries: “Best Asian Pop Music Performance.”
Calls itself a shield for younger artists… Global pop music industry watches closely
In some corners of the pop music industry, criticism has continued that while the Grammys cite an expanded scope for Asian pop as justification, the reality is that it seeks to sideline K-pop, which wields enormous influence in the global music market, from the main awards categories and isolate it into a separate league.
In particular, BTS was in a situation where expectations for entry into major awards categories were higher than ever, after its recently released regular album “ARIRANG” topped the main Billboard chart in the United States. Even so, observers say the reason these artists made the decision to boycott is that they stepped away from their own privileges as a precedent to prevent younger musicians working based on Korean-language lyrics from being confined to the limits of the “Asian category,” sparking a hot response across the world’s music scene.
