Grammys confirm introduction of five new categories for 2027 ceremony
Change is in the air for the Grammys, with five new categories set to be introduced for the 2027 ceremony.
Next year’s awards are not set to take place until February 7th, 2027, but even still, the Recording Academy has released its rules and regulations for the upcoming year, and some substantial changes have been made.
Most notably, this includes the introduction of five new categories, which include ‘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’.
The changes clearly reflect a diversifying landscape in the music industry, with the nod to Asian pop music reflecting the seismic rise of genres like K-Pop, J-Pop, and C-Pop into the modern zeitgeist.
On top of this, the introduction of ‘Best Latin Song’ comes off the back of a history-making year for the Grammys in 2026, when Bad Bunny became the first Spanish-language artist to take home ‘Album of the Year’ for Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
The new categories have also led to some changes to certain existing areas of the Grammys, with the introduction of ‘Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance’, meaning that the existing ‘Best R&B Performance’ category has been updated to ‘Best R&B Solo Performance’, for example.
Other tweaks have been made across the wider scope of the Grammys, with eligibility for the ‘Best New Artist’ category now being that an artist cannot be entered in more than four times.
In addition, the Academy has reduced the amount of original material that has to appear on a new album in order for it to qualify for awards contention, with it being reduced from 75 to 66 per cent.
In response to the new rules being released, Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr said in a statement: “2027 is going to be an amazing year for the Grammy Awards, and one that reflects the extraordinary growth we’re seeing across music.”
He added: “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.”
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