Pop Music Is the Problem

Mr. Charnas is the author of “Dilla Time” and a professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University.

The Korean supergroup BTS has pulled its blockbuster album “Arirang” from Grammy Awards consideration, in protest of the new Asian Pop Music Performance category. The move is a remarkable rebuke to the Grammys from a band that has long aimed for American mainstream stardom. In a statement, the group said: “We hope music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided into region or language.”

BTS and many of its fans see the new category as an attempt by the Recording Academy to keep the growing power and popularity of K-pop groups from overwhelming the prestige categories —........

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