"BTS's Grammy Boycott is a Justified Rejection"... New York Times Op-Ed Draws Attention

An opinion piece published in The New York Times (NYT) regarding BTS's decision to forgo Grammy consideration is drawing widespread attention.

Dan Charnas, a professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University, published an op-ed in the NYT on the 9th (local time) titled "Pop Music Is the Problem," presenting arguments in support of BTS's decision.

Previously, BTS voluntarily withdrew their hit album "Arirang" from Grammy consideration in protest of the Recording Academy's newly established "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" category. The group stated through a release, "We hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language."

Professor Charnas evaluated this as "an extraordinary rebuttal to the Grammys from a group that has long aimed for mainstream American stardom." He noted that BTS and many fans view the new category as an attempt to prevent the growing influence of K-pop groups from overshadowing the main categories (such as Record, Album, Song of the Year, and general Pop Performance fields). This stands in direct contrast to the Academy's claim that the category was created to recognize the growth of Asian popular music.

Pointing out that the Recording Academy has expanded its award categories from 28 in 1959 to 100 today, Professor Charnas argued that much of this growth is "a product of the recording industry's historical racial segregation, which separated Black and white artists into distinct genres and markets even when performing musically similar songs." He cited examples such as the country music category being split into Traditional and Contemporary just months after Beyoncé became the first Black woman to win Best Country Album, alongside the creation of the Asian pop category following major wins for tracks from "KPop Demon Hunters."

He went on to write, "The largest Asian entertainment companies may not want to fight this system, as they have many new artists they need to debut." However, he added, "BTS is likely the biggest global artist since Michael Jackson, and may be the only Korean musical group with the freedom and influence to provoke such change."

Professor Charnas also emphasized, "The Recording Academy should stop creating new award categories based specifically on race, nationality, and language. If pop performance awards or pop playlists cannot be defined musically or aesthetically, perhaps they shouldn't exist in the middle of it all."

Meanwhile, debates continue within and outside the American music industry following BTS's voluntary withdrawal of their Grammy submissions.

 

(Photo: Yonhap News) (Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon, SBS Entertainment News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.