This week, The Recording Academy announced one of the biggest shake-ups to Grammys eligibility in years.
Five new categories are coming to the 2027 Grammy Awards, including a dedicated award for Asian Pop Music Performance. The update brings the count to 100 categories in total.
The rules around who can win Best New Artist are also shifting, meaning people who were previously ineligible can now be nominated.
Best New Artist
The Grammy for Best New Artist is awarded to the best breakthrough act of the year. Recent winners include Olivia Dean and Chappell Roan.
Previously, an artist could only be submitted for Best New Artist a maximum of three times. Under the new rules, that figure is increasing to four.
Nominees in this category don’t have to be new to music, just new to mainstream recognition. Officials say the expanded eligibility window reflects “the evolving nature of artist development.”
The change means U.S. country singer Ella Langley is now considered a frontrunner for next year’s Best New Artist Grammy.
Before this week, Langley was deemed ineligible as she’d already put herself forward for consideration three times.
R&B singer Ravyn Lenae is also tipped to enter the running following the rule change.
Only performers who’ve never been nominated for a Grammy are eligible for Best New Artist. This rules out Swedish popstar Zara Larsson, after “Midnight Sun” earned her a nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 2026 Grammys.
New categories
The five new Grammys categories are:
- Best Asian Pop Music Performance (Covering K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and more)
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- Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance
- Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance
- Best Traditional Folk Album
- Best Latin Song
With the new group category, Best R&B Performance has been renamed Best R&B Solo Performance. Similarly, Best Folk Album has been revised/renamed Best Contemporary Folk Album.
The new categories follow a historic 2026 Grammys ceremony, when Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny became the first artist to win the coveted album of the year prize for a Spanish-language record.
“Golden” from the movie “KPop Demon Hunters” also made history as the first ever K-Pop song to win a Grammy Award.
Grammys CEO Harvey Mason jr. said next year’s awards will reflect “the extraordinary growth we’re seeing across music”.
The changes, “speak to the breadth of today's music industry and the many genres, crafts and creators shaping it,” he added.
Other changes
To be eligible for Best Album, 75% of an album's tracks need to be brand new recordings. That threshold is dropping to 66%, meaning albums with more previously released or live tracks can now qualify.
Until now, only producers and engineers took home a statuette alongside the performer when an album won. Songwriters and composers will now get one too.
Grammy nominations for the 69th ceremony will be announced later this year.
