“MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN” details of over 60 award categories, voting methods, selection of voting members, and voting methods revealed

■It has also been revealed that a general voting category will be established in which awards will be determined by general voting using Spotify’s voting function.

“MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN” (MAJ) is Japan’s largest international music award that is disseminated to the world.

Five major organizations in the music industry (Recording Industry Association of Japan, Japan Music Business Association, Japan Music Producers Federation, Japan Music Publishers Association, and Concert Promoters Association) are working together to form a new organization. Details of the more than 60 award categories and voting methods for this award, as well as the selection and voting methods for a total of 5,000 voting members, mainly artists and music-related people, have been announced.

Furthermore, it has been revealed that a general voting category will be created, in which awards will be determined by public voting using Spotify’s voting function.

[Award category]
“MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN” has created over 60 categories, including six major categories such as Best Song Award and Best Artist Award. Details have been decided for 23 song categories, 7 foreign song categories, 5 album categories, 12 artist categories, and 3 alliance categories.

In the song category, we have a wide variety of music genre categories such as J-Pop, rock, hip-hop, idol culture, and anime, as well as special categories such as revival, vocaloid culture, and music videos. In addition, two awards will be created in which general music fans can participate, and votes will be solicited through Spotify.

In addition, in the album category, awards will be given not only to the best album, but also to jazz albums, classical albums, theatrical accompaniment/OST albums, game soundtracks, and other albums in genres that color music culture. In the artist category, “MAJ Timeless Echo” will be created to honor artists who have contributed and been active in the Japanese music industry for a long time.

Collection period: February 5, 2024 (Monday) to January 26, 2025 (Sunday)
*Excluding some departments

[6 major divisions]
◇Song of the Year
This award honors songs that are considered to be of outstanding musical creativity and artistry.

An award original chart was created that combined the top 100 weekly points of the six Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 indicators (radio, CD, download, streaming, MV, karaoke) and Top User Generated Songs, and each period was divided into two months. The best song will be determined using the songs that charted during the period as entry works.
*Songs by domestic and foreign artists are eligible.

◇Best Album Award (Album of the Year)
This award honors albums that are considered to be of outstanding musical creativity and artistry.

An award original chart will be created by adding up the top 100 weekly points of Billboard JAPAN Hot Albums CDs, download data, and streaming data from GfK, with each period being two months, and the albums that entered the chart in each period will be entered as entries. , to determine the best album.
*Applies to albums by domestic and foreign artists.

◇Artist of the Year
This award honors artists who are considered to be of outstanding musical creativity and artistry.

The best artist will be decided based on the entered artist for either the Best Song Award or the Best Album Award.
*For domestic and international artists

◇Best New Artist Award (New Artist of the Year)
This award honors new artists who are considered to have outstanding musical creativity and artistry.

The best new artist will be selected from among the songs entered for the Best Song Award based on the Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs rules.
[Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs extraction rules]
・Excludes artists who were in the top 20 of and the top 10 of within the last 6 months (26 weeks)
・Excludes artists who have charted in the Heatseekers’ top 20 for at least 4 months (17 weeks) out of the most recent 6 months (26 weeks)
*Units and projects in which the above excluded artists participate are excluded. However, artists who work under completely different names are not excluded.

◇Top Global Hit From Japan
Award honoring domestic songs that have become hits around the world

The top five songs on the global chart created by extracting Japanese songs from the global viewing data (streaming, downloads, music videos) compiled by Luminate and excluding the number of views in Japan will be selected as Top Global Hit From Japan. decide
*For artists who have multiple songs nominated, only the highest-ranked song will be considered, and 5 artists and 5 songs will be nominated.
*Aggregation period: February 2, 2024 (Friday) to January 30, 2025 (Thursday)

◇Best Song Asia
Award honoring Asian songs that are hits in Asia

The Best Asian Song Award will be determined by entering the top three songs in the annual charts of 2024 from each Asian country/region excluding Japan.
Target countries: The first MAJ included countries and regions in East Asia and Southeast Asia (Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan).

[How to select award recipients and other categories]
In categories other than the artist category, award recipients are not only artists, but also creators, producers, recording engineers, mixing engineers, mastering engineers, players, directors, managers, and A&Rs involved in songwriting, composition, and arrangement. The aim is to create an award that honors all people involved in music, not just artists.

In addition, for categories other than the six main categories, individually established entry work selection methods will be used. Entries will also be selected from works that have not yet entered the Best Song Award.

[Voting members]
Voting members include artists, creators, managers, record company staff, engineers, MV directors, concert promoters, music publishers, copyright management organizations/businesses, music distribution companies, dealers, distributors, and music critics. More than 5,000 music industry professionals were selected from various fields, including music professionals, writers, media, overseas music award judges, overseas creators, overseas promoters, and overseas music distributors. More than half of the participants are expected to be artists and creators involved in the submitted works.

(1) Main artists involved in works entered in song categories and best album awards
(2) Creators involved in writing/composing/arranging the works entered in the song category
(3) Artists who have contributed and been active in the Japanese music industry, listed based on historical Oricon chart data.
(4) International Voting Members
(Overseas music award judges, overseas creators, overseas promoters, overseas music distributors, etc.)
(5) Domestic music industry personnel
(Music producers, managers, record company staff, engineers, music video directors, concert promoters, music publishers, copyright management organizations/businesses, music distribution companies, dealers, distributors, music critics, writers, media, etc.)
(6) Best domestic hip-hop song/artist award, best domestic R&B/soul song/artist award, best dance/electronic song award, best vocaloid culture song award, best DJ award, etc. Industry stakeholders listed by MAJ collaborating organizations in the sector
*For (6), vote only for the relevant category.

*In selecting artists and creators as voting members, we utilize data from Oricon, Billboard Japan, GfK/NIQ Japan, Luminate, and other sources.

[How to vote]
◼Voting criteria
Songs/artists that you think have excellent musical creativity and artistry

◼Voting period
Primary voting: Thursday, March 13, 2025 – Monday, March 31, 2025
Final voting: Thursday, April 17, 2025 – Wednesday, April 30, 2025

[Voting rules]
◇For four of the six main categories, “Best Song Award,” “Best Artist Award,” “Best Album Award,” and “Best New Artist Award,” all domestic voting members will vote in the first round, and the final All domestic and international voting members shall vote.
◇Of the six main categories, the “Best Asian Song Award” will be voted on by all domestic and international voting members in both the first and final voting.
◇For “Top Global Hit from Japan”, there will be no primary voting, and all International Voting Members will vote only in the final voting.
◇For other categories, domestic voting members will vote voluntarily.
◇In the first round of voting, a minimum of 2 votes and a maximum of 5 votes will be given from among the entered works/artists.

*After the primary votes are tallied, the top 5 works/artists with the total number of votes will be the nominated works/artists.
*In the song/foreign song category, if one artist has multiple songs nominated, the number of nominated songs will be increased until there are 5 artists.
*In the final voting, up to three works/artists will be ranked and voted for from among the nominated works/artists (1st place: 4 points, 2nd place: 2 points, 3rd place: 1 point). It is up to you how many places you vote.
*Artists can also vote for their own works/themselves (however, multiple votes for the same song or artist are not allowed).

[About the general voting category]
As a category in which general listeners can participate, we have created a general voting category in which awards will be determined from votes collected through Spotify. From among the entries, 30 nominated works and 1 winning work will be determined through Spotify’s voting function.

◼Listener’s Choice: Best Global Song of the Year powered by Spotify
This is an award in which Spotify’s domestic and international users vote to determine the “Best Global Song” from among domestic songs that have become hits around the world.

◼Listener’s Choice: Best Song of the Year powered by Spotify
An award in which Spotify’s domestic and international users conduct a public vote to determine the “best song.”

[“MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025 KYOTO” event overview]
Award ceremony date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 and Thursday, May 22, 2025
*MAJ Week: May 17, 2025 (Sat) – May 23, 2025 (Fri)
Venue: ROHM Theater Kyoto
Broadcast: Scheduled to be broadcast live on a terrestrial broadcasting station
Distribution: Scheduled to be distributed worldwide on YouTube *Excluding some areas