Day 2 of MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN, the largest international music awards in the country set for May 21 and 22 at Rohm Theater Kyoto, will be broadcast live on NHK, and both days will be streamed worldwide on YouTube (excluding some regions), it was announced Thursday (Jan. 16) Japan time.

In addition to the previously announced awards recognizing a wide variety of works in eight categories and 50 divisions, prizes have been added in new categories including the “Co-creation categories” linked to companies involved in music.

Toyota Group has been confirmed as a top partner, Kinoshita Group and NTT DOCOMO, Inc. as gold partners, and Kyoto University of the Arts (Uryuzan Gakuen) as a silver partner. Prize partners set to establish their own divisions in the co-creation categories include XING Inc., DAIICHIKOSHO Co., Ltd., JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers), Spotify Japan, and USEN Corporation. In addition, TimeTree, Inc., IRIS Inc. (TOKYO PRIME), LIVE BOARD, Inc., and LY Corporation will be media partners, JTB Corp., Space Shower Networks, Inc., and RecoChoku, Co., Ltd. will be project partners, and companies related to the music industry will support the awards as music industry partners.

In the newly established co-creation categories awarded in collaboration with prize partner companies involved in the music industry, the best song will be chosen from among those enjoyed by general listeners on karaoke and cable broadcasting. Furthermore, the award for “Best Viral Song” celebrating songs that became popular after going viral on TikTok, and the “Radio Special Award” chosen by radio directors and radio DJs in collaboration with radio stations nationwide, have also been announced.

Details of the general voting (Listeners’ Choice) categories, where general listeners can participate in the selection process through Spotify’s voting function, have been revealed as well. Along with the two previously announced awards decided by general vote from Spotify users from both within and outside Japan — Best of Listeners’ Choice: Domestic Song powered by Spotify and Best of Listeners’ Choice: Global Song powered by Spotify — the nominees for the Top Global Hit From Japan category, one of the six main categories that celebrates domestic songs that have become hits around the world, will be selected through votes from Spotify users outside of Japan.

Co-creation categories

Karaoke Special Award: Karaoke of the Year powered by DAM & JOYSOUND: An award honoring songs sung the most at karaoke. The top 30 songs sung the most on DAM and JOYSOUND during the target period will be eligible, and the song sung the most on DAM and JOYSOUND during the Karaoke Special Award tallying period after the nominees have been announced will be chosen as the best work. (Two divisions, J-Pop and Enka / Kayōkyoku, are planned.)

Request Special Award: Oshikatsu Request of the Year powered by USEN: An award honoring the song that received the most requests on the USEN Oshikatsu Request Ranking. The song that received the most requests on the year-end USEN Oshikatsu Request Ranking will be awarded as best work.

Creators Special Award: Song of the Year for Creators presented by JASRAC: An award honoring the creator of the song that received the largest distribution of royalties from JASRAC. This award will be given to the creator of the song from among those entrusted to JASRAC for copyright management which received the largest distribution of royalties for 2024.

Song category

Best Viral Song: This award celebrates songs that went on to attract general attention after having gone viral through their use in videos and posts on TikTok. The best song will be selected from the top 50 songs chosen based on an original chart that combines the number of times they were used on TikTok and the total number of views on videos using the songs.

Alliance category

Radio Special Award: An award honoring songs that radio directors and radio DJs think are musically creative and artistic. The directors and DJs of music programs on 53 FM radio stations will each recommend up to three songs, and the top ten with the most nominations will be eligible. All the directors and DJs of the radio stations that recommended the songs will vote to decide the best work.

General voting categories

Best of Listeners’ Choice: Domestic Song powered by Spotify: An award given to the best song decided by general vote from Spotify users from both within and outside Japan.

Best of Listeners’ Choice: Global Song powered by Spotify: An award given to the best global song decided by general vote from Spotify users from both within and outside Japan. 

MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025 KYOTO 

Date of Ceremony: Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22, 2025

MAJ Week: From Saturday, May 17 to Friday, May 23, 2025

Venue: ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

The event on May 22 will be broadcast live on NHK.

Events on both days will be streamed globally on YouTube (some regions excluded).