The Grammy Awards will add Asian Pop and a Latin song category to its lineup, the BBC reports, expanding the field structure for upcoming ceremonies.

The additions mark another round of structural change for the Recording Academy's general and genre-specific races. Two dedicated tracks now exist for recordings that previously competed in broader Pop and Latin groupings, with implications for both submission strategy and voting blocs.

How does the Academy add a category?

The Recording Academy's Awards and Nominations Committee reviews category proposals submitted by members and affiliated industry groups. Recommendations move to the Board of Trustees, which votes on rule changes. New categories generally take effect for the following year's awards cycle and appear in the annual Rules and Guidelines book.

The committee works on multi-year cycles, vetting proposals against criteria including distinct genre identity, sufficient submission volume, and clear differentiation from existing categories.

Why these two categories now?

Asian Pop addresses a long-noted gap in the existing Pop field, where language and market barriers have historically complicated nomination bids for non-English-language pop recordings. The category sits alongside Pop, Dance Pop, and Dance/Electronic Music, but with a narrower genre mandate.

The Latin song addition responds to ongoing advocacy from Latin music industry organizations to expand Spanish-language categories beyond the existing Latin Pop, Latin Urban, and Latin Rock or Alternative. The Latin music field has been one of the fastest-growing segments of recorded music in recent years.

What does this change in the race?

Campaign teams will need to build separate submission packages for the new categories. The two additions redistribute eligible recordings currently sitting in broader Pop and Latin fields, splitting voting blocs along genre lines.

Latin Pop voters who previously weighed ballads alongside reggaetón entries will now choose among genre-specific peers in the new Latin song category. Asian pop artists gain a clearer path to a nomination, since the new field removes the language barrier that has historically complicated Pop-category bids.

The shift may also affect Album of the Year. Albums containing multiple Asian Pop or Latin song-eligible tracks could face a strategic decision about which category to compete in at the general-field level.

What stays the same?

The Big Four — Album, Record, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist — remain unchanged. The Recording Academy has historically kept the headline categories stable while expanding genre-specific fields.

The existing eight-nominee cap for the Big Four also carries over. Genre-specific fields, including the two new categories, will operate under the Academy's standard five-nominee structure.

What remains unclear?

The Academy has not disclosed how the new categories fit into the existing submission fee structure, nor how many entries they attracted during recent submission windows. Awards Review will update this story as more details emerge.