Grammy Awards Introduce New Categories for Asian Pop and Latin Music

The Grammy Awards will add five new categories, including best Asian pop music performance and best Latin song, following significant wins from Bad Bunny and KPop Demon Hunters.

The Grammy Awards are set to expand their offerings by introducing five new categories, which include best Asian pop music performance and best Latin song. This decision follows notable achievements in recent years, particularly the success of Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who made history by becoming the first artist to win the prestigious album of the year award for a Spanish-language record. Additionally, the KPop anthem "Golden" from the movie KPop Demon Hunters also broke ground at the U.S. ceremony earlier this year.

Harvey Mason Jr., the chief executive of the Grammys, emphasized that the expansion of categories aims to create a more inclusive environment that better represents a wider array of music creators, artists, writers, and producers. He mentioned that the changes were driven by feedback from the music community, which expressed a desire for more opportunities to celebrate diverse and emerging music genres.

To qualify for the new best Latin song award, tracks must be predominantly in the Spanish language. The category for Asian pop music will encompass a variety of genres, including K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop, allowing for a broad range of musical styles to be recognized.

Bad Bunny, who was recognized as the most-played artist globally in 2025 by Spotify, also won the best música urbana album award for his album "Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos)" along with the best global music performance at the Grammy Awards in February. Furthermore, the song "Golden," performed by the fictional band Huntr/x from the movie KPop Demon Hunters, became the first K-Pop track to win the Grammy for best song for visual media, highlighting the increasing cultural and commercial influence of Korean pop music.

In addition to the new categories for Latin and Asian pop music, the Grammys will also introduce awards for best R&B collaboration or duo/group performance, best traditional pop vocal performance, and best traditional folk album. The existing R&B performance category will now focus solely on solo acts, while the folk album award will be redefined to concentrate on contemporary folk music.

Changes have also been made to the eligibility criteria for the best new artist category, increasing the number of times a performer can be nominated from three to four. This adjustment allows emerging artists such as Ravyn Lenae and Ella Langley, who have already been considered in three previous years, the opportunity to be nominated again.

These new categories and updated rules will be implemented at the Grammy Awards ceremony scheduled for next year.