The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that five new categories will be added to the Grammy Awards beginning with the 69th ceremony, set to air live on ABC, Disney+ and Hulu on February 7, 2027. The most prominent addition is best Asian pop music performance, the first Grammy category dedicated to Asian pop music.
According to ABC News, the new category will recognize artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop recordings that feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.
The four other new categories are best Latin song, best traditional pop vocal performance, best R&B collaboration or duo/group performance, and best traditional folk album.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement that "2027 is going to be an amazing year for the Grammy Awards, and one that reflects the extraordinary growth we're seeing across music." He added that "the changes advanced by our Academy members speak to the breadth of today's music industry and the many genres, crafts and creators shaping it."
The new best Latin song category creates a dedicated space within the Latin field to honor songwriting. Best traditional pop vocal performance is intended for recordings that do not fit within contemporary pop categories. The addition of best traditional folk album creates a separate category for traditional folk recordings, and as a result, best folk album has been renamed best contemporary folk album. The existing best R&B performance category will now be called best solo R&B performance following the creation of the new collaboration category.
The Academy also announced several changes to voting and eligibility rules. A new opt-in option called Ballot Plus will allow eligible voting members with expertise across multiple genres to vote in up to 15 peer-related categories based on their verified professional credits. Eligibility requirements for best new artist have been revised to increase the maximum number of times an artist may be submitted from three to four.
The percentage of new recordings required for an album to qualify for Grammy consideration has been lowered from 75% to 66%. The Academy said the change better reflects how albums are released in today's music industry.
Songwriters and composers of new material on winning albums in most genre album categories will now receive Grammy statuettes and achievement certificates, bringing their recognition in line with producers and engineers.
