Grammy Awards Confirm New Categories, Rule Changes

Major changes are coming to the 2027 Grammy Awards. 

As per Rolling Stone, the Grammys have added five new categories, which will come into effect next year. 

The new categories are Best Asian Pop Music Performance, Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, Best Traditional Folk Album, and Best Latin Song.

Best Asian Pop Music Performance, presented to the performing artist(s), “recognises artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognised within Asian markets with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.” It means K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop artists could all feature. 

Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, presented to the performing artist(s), “recognises excellence in contemporary R&B performances for works by established duos or groups, as well as collaborative works between solo artists, duos, and groups." As a result of this addition, the Best R&B Performance Category has been renamed Best R&B Solo Performance.

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, presented to the performing artist(s), “recognises excellence in singles and tracks that consist of a type and style of song and/or performance that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music.”

Best Traditional Folk Album “recognises excellence in albums of traditional folk recordings," and “will be presented to artist(s), producer(s), engineer(s)/mixer(s), and songwriter(s) of new songs.” This addition means the Best Folk Album Category has been renamed Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Best Latin Song, meanwhile, presented to the songwriter, recognises the achievement of “newly-written Latin songs predominantly in Spanish,” for at least 51 percent of the lyrics.

Several other rule changes have also been confirmed, including criteria and eligibility updates to the Best New Artist, Best Album Notes, and Best Historical Album categories

The awards have also amended the album eligibility to denote that the threshold of new recordings required on an eligible album has been lowered from 75% to 66% “to reduce the exclusion of entries that are widely recognised throughout the music industry as new albums.” 

Check out the complete rules here.

“2027 is going to be an amazing year for the Grammy Awards, and one that reflects the extraordinary growth we’re seeing across music,” Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. shared in a statement. 

“The changes advanced by our Recording Academy members speak to the breadth of today’s music industry and the many genres, crafts, and creators shaping it. We’re excited to see these updates come to life in the year ahead as we celebrate the music people who are driving music forward.”