Kpop stans need to understand that the U.S. is the world’s #1 BIGGEST music market, and the Grammys is an AMERICAN award show, so naturally, the vast majority of the nominees and winners throughout its history are from the United States.
Keep in mind that the Recording Academy is made up of 13K+ voting members who are all active music industry professionals. The fact that Kpop acts have historically been ignored by the Grammys is a testament that Kpop is still a niche in the West. This is why it’s so crucial for Grammy-hopefuls to penetrate the Western music market to have a fair shot at getting considered for nomination.
Notice how ALL the Best New Artist nominees are English-speaking artists who are either American (Alex Warren, Addison Rae, Leon Thomas, The Marias, Sombr, KATSEYE as a group) or British (Olivia Dean, Lola Young). There’s this misconception among Kpop stans that KATSEYE would be pigeon-holed as a “Kpop act” and thus would be compared to other Kpop groups. But the fact is, they are a U.S.-based girl group who resonates well with the Western pop industry, so it is no surprise that they are taken more seriously by the Grammys. Similarly, Kpop Demon Hunters is a huge American production, and ROSÉ’s APT is a global hit sung in primarily English, pushed by Atlantic Records and in collaboration with Bruno Mars, who is a well-known Grammy award-winning singer in the West. Thus, they have a major advantage in the Western industry.
For everyone screaming “PAYOLA”… Please know that the Recording Academy guidelines explicitly prohibits buying votes or bribing voters, so no, artists cannot buy their way into a Grammy nomination. But artists CAN invest in marketing campaigns and lobbying to raise awareness about their works, which is a perfectly valid and common practice!
So, bottom line: the BNA nomination for KATSEYE is totally understandable and well-deserved, as they’ve certainly had a big breakout in pop culture this year! I would say that the Best Pop/Group Performance nomination is a bit surprising, but if we look at the chart success of Gabriela: it’s been charting on the BB Hot 100 for 15 weeks now and has never left the BB Global 200 since its debut — this shows longevity and impact both in the U.S. and globally. Moreover, APT and Golden have proven longevity and success in topping all the most prestigious music charts, so their respective nominations need no explanation, as they’ve had an undeniable impact on the music scene worldwide, both in and outside of the Kpop scene.
I hope this post can give more insight into how the Grammys work concerning Kpop and clear up some misunderstandings. Let’s please be respectful to all fandoms and especially the hardworking artists. 🫶
submitted by /u/spaghetticakepop
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