No Grammy snub can dim BTS’ light

BTS is at the forefront of changes in the global music industry. Impeccable performances, stage productions, multi-genre discography, and next-level concert experiences —— the septet has made monumental changes in the music industry, not only in South Korea but the entire world.

Despite their massive global recognition, breaking new records globally almost every day, unlike major Western celebrities, it seems that there's still a wall that BTS isn't allowed to climb - the Grammys.

They have swept almost all the grand prizes in South Korea for the past three years and have broken into the West too. From the AMAs, BBMAs, to PCAs, there's no major music show that hasn’t recognized the septet and awarded them their much-deserved win - except for the Grammys.

BTS attended the 64th Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 4, where they were set to perform their viral hit song Butter. The same song was also nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category, officially becoming the first and only Asian group to earn this achievement.

To millions of fans' dismay, the group lost the award to Doja Cat and SZA's Kiss Me More. The two are by no means undeserving of the gong. They very much deserve it, but that also does not mean that BTS did not.

Interestingly, the Grammys are capable of awarding multiple artists in one category, as was seen with Silk Sonic and Jazmine Sullivan for the Best R&B award on the same night.

Unfortunately, the Recording Academy seems to continue to look at global music through a pigeon-holed outlook, sidelining boy/girl bands in general.

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Systemic reasons behind BTS' Grammys snub

While BTS being overlooked for the award is the hot topic right now, it must be kept it in mind that this is not a one-off event. This snub is another one in a long list of instances where the Recording Academy has overlooked well-deserving nominees for unfair reasons.

Recording Academy's publicly known ill-treatment of bands in general

Boy bands were all the rage in the 90s, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on The Block, and many more. Escaping their songs was near impossible as they dominated the charts and radio while putting up spectacular performances. Despite the rise in popularity of these boy bands, none ever won a Grammy. Acts like The Jackson 5 have also failed to move the Recording Academy to see the value in this subset of pop music.

The Recording Academy's disdain for boy bands is an open secret. They have been known not to nominate and, if nominated, never to award boy bands throughout the existence of the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.

In a conversation with Elle, Dr. Lee Gyu-Tag, associate professor of cultural studies, popular music, K-pop and media criticism at George Mason University, stated that he thinks the snub towards BTS was most likely due to the Grammys’ attitude towards pop boy and/or girl bands.

Prejudice towards boy or girl groups may come from the preconceived notion of fangirls - where young, teenage girls who love music or are attracted towards bands, are usually seen as nonsensical and manufactured.

A major reason why BTS, inarguably the biggest boy band on the planet, is also sometimes downplayed, is because of a similar mentality, despite their fans being from all walks of life - profession, age or gender.

Professor Lee Gyu-tag explained a bit more on the topic in a conversation with The Korea Times.

“Historically, it has always been tough for boy or girl bands to even get a Grammy nomination despite their popularity, because most of its organizers do not prefer their music styles. Their penchant for 'artistic integrity' seems so strong that even BTS, a group that carries massive social and cultural clout, cannot overcome that. It looks like their perspective on K-pop and K-pop stars has not yet changed as well."

He told Elle:

“BTS—and K-pop in general—has been considered not the music of quality but a sort of ‘bubblegum pop’, or music only enjoyed by some die-hard fans.”

Despite that, the Recording Academy did not fail to use BTS’ Butter as the background music for all their promotional videos. It also brought the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category back to the main show from the pre-show, putting it right at the end to garner viewership from ARMYs.

A similar sentiment was shared by Forbes’ Bryan Rolli for the group’s Grammy snub last year.

"Before the telecast even started, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” snagged the trophy, beating the Korean pop septet’s record-breaking hit. But that didn’t stop the Grammys from relentlessly hyping BTS’s live performance all night in a desperate bid to keep viewers tuned into the show."

Total National Multimedia Statistics revealed that Mnet's exclusive broadcast of the 64th Grammys had 93 thousand viewers, which increased to 147 thousand towards the end, when Best Pop Duo/Group announcements were to be made. Due to BTS’ appearance, the viewership increased tenfold.

Popera Tenor and Recording Academy voting member Lim Hyung-Joo had a lot to say on this matter.

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Faults with the Top Duo/Group Performance category

The Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category was created in 2012 by the merger of three previously existing categories - Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Since then, it has been choked by artist collaborations rather than actual duos or groups. With the increase in popularity of boy/girl bands once again, the category is now too crowded to rightfully celebrate excellence in music.

A major fault in what the Recording Academy classifies as a performance. For now, it seems to be a fancy word for a song that puts emphasis on vocals rather than stage performance.

However, with BTS breaking boundaries, the group is showing the world what true performance means. Keeping up with modern times where heavy emphasis is placed on not just the vocal performance but also the stage performance by artists, it is questionable as to how the winner of a performance category is still chosen, without giving due weightage to the stage performances by those acts in question.

The Recording Academy has continuously snubbed BTS from mainstream categories despite their splendid performances worldwide. BTS is the only artist gaining never-seen-before levels of engagement on and off social media, while inarguably being one of the only artists this century who can sell-out multiple shows at stadiums globally.

Yet, the septet are somehow side-lined in this category, one that needs to upgrade itself with the demands of the present times and evolve.

Despite spectacular performances on stage, BTS, unfortunately, did not seem to be the obvious winner for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award. Perhaps, to keep up with the times where global music and performance is coming more-and-more to the forefront, The Recording Academy should update what it terms as performance to mean more than just a song.

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BTS still shine brighter than any Grammy award

With the well-known prejudice against boy/girl bands in pop music and systemic failures, does BTS really need a Grammys trophy to prove their worth? Certainly not.

Despite the ill treatment of the boys by the corrupt western music industry and racist stans on Twitter, none of this will be able to take away the one thing BTS has - popularity. Julia Alexander, a senior strategy analyst at Parrot Analytics, shared the data to prove the same.

According to IFPI, the septet are the highest selling artists in the world, twice in a row. Last year, their album, Map of the Soul:7 topped five of the biggest music markets in the world. They also made history by becoming the first Asian act to win Artist of the Year at the 2021 AMAs. They have also been consistently outselling and outperforming other artists.

Another monumental win arrived in the Japanese music industry. In 2021, BTS became the first foreign best-selling artist of the year in Japan, since the inception of the Oricon year-end artist charts in 1968.

With their compilation album, BTS, The Best, they were also the first international artists to top the Oricon year-end album charts after Michael Jackson 37 years ago - an incredible feat rarely ever seen.

The group also makes sure to give fans their best in all scenarios. With extravagant concerts, there’s no wonder that the group was the highest–selling act and charted No. 1 on 2021 year-end worldwide touring data compiled by Twitter account @touringdata. The septet earned $188.5 million and ended up extending their own record as the most successful act of the 2020s.

BTS is currently one of the only acts able to consistently sell-out multiple nights at stadiums globally, pulling in high revenue from online and offline concerts even during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the septet gave a splendid Butter performance at the 64th Grammys, receiving a standing ovation from those in the audience. It was named the best performance of the night by Billboard and the 13th best all time Grammys’ performance by Rolling Stone. They were even the most talked about act on Twitter, with the majority praising them for their top-notch performance.

Back in 2018, BTS were the youngest recipients of The Order of Cultural Merit, the highest award presented in South Korea to meritorious work in cultural fields.

The group is also estimated to have added around $5 billion to the South Korean economy in 2021, as per NPR. Additionally, they are single-handedly reviving the tourism industry in South Korea by joining hands with the Korean Tourism Organization to launch online and offline campaigns promoting the country to global fans.

Moreover, one can see Grammys as just a pit stop in BTS’ journey to another meteoric rise with the upcoming Permission to Dance concert at the Allegiant Stadium. The septet’s raw power and influence will be unleashed when HYBE transforms Las Vegas into a BTS city.

Grammy or no Grammy, BTS will continue to shine bright, and they will do so with their own will and musical talent for years to come.

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Note: This article reflects the author's opinions.