Grammy's 'Asian Pop' category backfires as BTS boycott spreads to K-pop's Big 4

The fallout from BTS's Grammy boycott is growing. Following Stray Kids' decision to withdraw from the ceremony, artists from all four of South Korea's major entertainment agencies have now joined the protest.

According to The Grammy Guru, a Grammy Awards analysis site, artists signed to BTS's agency Hybe as well as YG, JYP and SM Entertainment — the country's four biggest labels — did not submit entries for the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category at the 69th Grammy Awards, as confirmed Thursday.

The mass withdrawal was a foreseeable consequence of the Recording Academy's decision to push ahead with the new Asian Pop category.

The Grammys introduced the category in June, framing it as a way to spotlight Asian music by grouping works from South Korea, China, Japan and other Asian countries into a separate award. The move drew immediate criticism, with many arguing it reflected a Western-centric bias and, in practice, served to block K-pop acts from competing in the general field categories — Album of the Year, Record of the Year and others.

BTS responded in July by announcing it would not submit entries, saying it hoped "music would be loved purely as music, rather than being divided by region or language."

As the controversy grew, the Grammys signaled it might revise the category, but the Recording Academy ultimately held its ground, claiming that support for the new category outweighed opposition.

Stray Kids, widely considered the frontrunner for the Asian Pop award, announced earlier this month that it would not submit entries and would skip the ceremony. Artists from all four of K-pop's major agencies have since followed suit.

The Grammy Awards, founded in 1959, is one of the United States' premier music honors alongside the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Despite its long history, the ceremony has consistently drawn criticism for giving insufficient recognition to non-English-language music and non-white artists.

The 69th Grammy Awards are scheduled to be held Feb. 7 next year at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.