The Grammy Awards are expanding again, adding five new categories and revising several rules for the 2027 ceremony. The updates will debut at the next Grammys broadcast, set for Feb. 7, 2027, across ABC, Disney+, and Hulu, as the Recording Academy looks to keep pace with today’s evolving music scene.
According to the Academy, the new categories and rule changes stem directly from its voting membership, which submits fresh proposals each year to better reflect shifts across the industry.
“2027 is going to be an amazing year for the Grammy Awards, and one that reflects the extraordinary growth we’re seeing across music,” Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said. He added that the member-driven changes highlight the range of genres, creative disciplines, and artists shaping the business today, and said the Academy is eager to roll out the updates as it honors the people pushing music forward.
See below for the five new Categories.
Best Asian Pop Music Performance
This new award will recognize artistic excellence in Asian pop performances that originate in, or are widely embraced within, Asian markets. The category includes styles such as K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop, and requires meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. The honor will go to the performing artist or artists.
Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance
This category is designed to spotlight standout contemporary R&B recordings by established duos or groups, as well as collaborative performances involving solo acts, duos, and groups. The award will be presented to the performing artist or artists.
The addition of that new R&B field also brings a change to an existing award: Best R&B Performance has been updated and renamed Best R&B Solo Performance.
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance
This Category recognizes excellence in singles and tracks that consist of a type and style of song and/or performance that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music. Awards are presented to the performing artist(s).
Best Traditional Folk Album
This Category recognizes excellence in albums of traditional folk recordings. Awards are presented to artist(s), producer(s), engineer(s)/mixer(s), and songwriter(s) of new songs, if other than artist(s), of greater than 50% playing time on the album.
With the addition of this new category, the Best Folk Album Category has been revised and renamed Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Best Latin Song
This Category recognizes the achievement of songwriters for newly written Latin songs predominantly in the Spanish language (at least 51% of the lyrics). Awards are presented to the songwriter(s) of new material.
See below for updates to the voting process.
Ballot Plus
Ballot Plus is an opt-in alternative to the 10/3 voting structure that allows Voting Members with expertise across multiple genres to vote in up to 15 peer-related Categories, regardless of field, based on their verified professional credits and contributions.
Voting Members who opt in must submit credits by a specified deadline. Participation in Ballot Plus is subject to verification of credits. Voting Members who do not opt-in, miss the selection window, or do not meet the verification requirements will receive the standard 10/3 voting ballot. Voting Members will receive more information about Ballot Plus in the coming months.
See below for definition, eligibility and criteria updates.
Best New Artist
Category description language and guidelines have been refined and a maximum number of times an artist may be submitted increased from three to four. These updates provide greater clarity around an artist’s impact during the eligibility period and more flexibility in the number of times an artist can submit, reflecting the evolving nature of artist development.
Album Eligibility
The threshold of new recordings required on an eligible album is lowered from 75% to 66% to reduce the exclusion of entries that are widely recognized throughout the music industry as new albums.
Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album
Internet-only releases are eligible in Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album if the additional materials and album notes are part of the commercial download, ensuring albums released solely in digital form remain eligible for consideration.
Songwriters and Composers Recognition Expansion
Songwriters and Composers of new material on the winning albums in most genre album Categories will now receive Grammy statuettes and Achievement Certificates in parity with the recognition currently afforded to Producers and Engineers in those categories.
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