Billboard set a separate table, Grammy ignored... K-pop is in danger of falling into global ostracism

Billboard prepared a separate table, and the Grammys completely ignored it. K-pop is at risk of becoming an outcast at award ceremonies in the United States, the largest music market.

Previously, the '2023 Billboard Music Awards' (2023 BBMA) held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, USA on the morning of November 20th (Korean time) last year excluded Korean K-pop groups from all categories, while excluding K-pop in four categories. A new department was established and a separate dining table was set up.

At that time, BTS Jimin's title song 'Like Crazy' from his first solo album 'Face' was nominated for 'Top Selling Song' in all categories, and New Jeans was nominated for 'Top Billboard Global (excluding the U.S.) Artist'. However, in the end, the award was not awarded.

Instead, there were winners only in the four newly established K-pop categories. The main characters are the groups Blackpink, New Jeans, BTS Jungkook, and Stray Kids. Blackpink won 'K-Pop Touring Artist', New Jeans won 'Top Global K-Pop Artist', BTS' Jungkook won 'Top Global K-Pop Song', and Stray Kids won 'Top K-Pop Album'.

The awards and awards that were confined to the K-pop category rather than the entire category left a great disappointment. This is because while pretending to acknowledge the status of K-pop, they are actually setting a separate table. Accordingly, it is certain that K-pop artists will win the Billboard Awards every year, but one cannot help but feel that competing with American artists other than K-pop will be limited.

The Grammy Awards completely ignored K-pop. The '66th Grammy Awards' held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, USA on the afternoon of the 4th (local time) completely ignored K-pop. The Grammy Awards did not even nominate K-pop artists and excluded them. The group BTS succeeded in being nominated for three consecutive years from the 63rd to the 65th, but failed to win the award. At this 66th awards ceremony, each of the seven members of BTS submitted their own solo songs, but they were not even nominated.

The 'Grammy Awards' is the only one among the three major American pop music award ceremonies that BTS failed to surpass. They have won trophies at the ‘Billboard Music Awards’ and ‘American Music Awards’. In order to achieve the so-called 'Grand Slam', the 'Grammy Award' remains to be won.

Among domestic artists, soprano Sumi Jo won the award for best album in the classical opera category in 1993, and recording engineer Byeong-jun Hwang, CEO of Side Mirror Korea, won the award twice, including best recording technology in the classical category in 2012 and best choral performance in 2016. Then, in 2021, Korean-American violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill received the trophy for best instrumental solo in the classical category. However, no K-pop singer has ever held a Grammy trophy.

The star of this year's Grammy Awards was Taylor Swift. He set a new record for the first time in history by winning the Grammy Award's highest award, 'Album of the Year', for the fourth time with his 10th studio album 'Midnights'. On this day, Taylor Swift also took home the award for Best Pop Vocal Album and enjoyed two wins.

Accordingly, there is an assessment that Taylor Swift changed the history of pop. Taylor Swift, who is showing the most unrivaled presence as a female solo artist in the U.S. music market, is hitting a career high by setting new records in various fields, including No. 1 in U.S. album sales.

While Taylor Swift set a new record at the Grammy Awards, hip-hop singer Jay-Z drew attention by criticizing the Grammy Awards for favoring white artists. Jay-Z mentioned the boycott of himself and other artists in the past due to the 'White Grammy' and said, "I hope fair awards are made. I think things are improving a lot. Of course, there are some things that cannot be helped because the judging is subjective, but it's unfortunate." “He complained.

Jay-Z then mentioned that although his wife, singer Beyoncé, is the winner of the most Grammys, she has never won the highest award, 'Album of the Year', and emphasized, "I think some people may think that the award was taken away." Jay Z joked, "When I'm nervous, I have a habit of telling the truth," and said, "But regardless of the result, I will continue to show up. I will continue to show up until I win the award," while holding up the trophy.

The Grammys have been criticized for failing to fairly evaluate racial minorities and female artists. In particular, as the issue of racial discrimination, a long-standing problem at the Grammys, came to the fore, artists such as Frank Ocean, Drake, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber declared a boycott.

Although innovation has been attempted recently, many people believe that there is still no significant progress. Although the issue of racial discrimination has improved to some extent in the selection of candidates, it is still being pointed out that no significant change has been felt in the actual award results.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr