Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. has issued a statement in response to BTS’s decision not to enter the 2027 awards, which the K-Pop superstars announced on Wednesday, in an effort to clarify that the launch of a Best Asian Pop category was not intended to sideline K-Pop artists.

“I’m saddened to hear that BTS has decided not to participate in the Grammy process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,” Mason wrote.

“I want to clarify something that seems to get lost in the conversation. The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop art coming out of Asia. The spirit of this new category is to shine a spotlight on these important artists. More categories means more artists’ work is recognized. It’s never about dividing, but rather expanding who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.

“I also want to be very clear: submitting music in a genre category like Asian pop, jazz, or country does not preclude an artist from also submitting and being considered in general field categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year,” he continued. “Those categories remain open to any eligible recording, regardless of genre. Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the general field are not mutually exclusive. An artist can absolutely pursue both.”

All seven members (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) posted the same statement on their individual Instagram accounts.

“We have decided not to submit for Grammy consideration this year. We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than divided by region or language. We are grateful to Army and everyone who has always supported us.”

The announcement comes just over a month after the Recording Academy introduced a new Best Asian Pop Performance category. “This category recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating in or widely recognized in Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with significant use of one or more Asian languages. Awards are presented to performing artists,” the Academy’s category description reads.

BTS has been nominated for Grammys before, including in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video categories, but has never won. All seven members have been voting members of the Recording Academy since 2019.