The Asian Pop Music Awards (APMA) have announced their 2025 nominations, with soloists like BTS’s Jin and BLACKPINK’s Jennie leading a list packed with top K-pop artists. The announcement came on December 2, a few days later than first planned due to a tragic event. While the full winner list is still to come, the nominations show strong competition between major groups and popular solo work from idols.
Full List of APMA 2025 Nominations for K-pop Artists
The APMA nominations cover many music categories, from top albums to technical awards for production. Major groups and solo stars earned multiple spots on the list.
For Best Album of the Year, group projects like SEVENTEEN’s ‘HAPPY BURSTDAY’ and RIIZE’s ‘ODYSSEY’ are nominated alongside solo albums. Key solo nominees are Rosé’s ‘rosie’, Jennie’s ‘Ruby’, and G-Dragon’s ‘Übermensch’.
The Record of the Year category features Stray Kids with their track ‘CEREMONY’ and aespa with ‘Dirty Work’. BTS’s Jin is also nominated in this category for his solo song ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’.
In the Song of the Year group, nominations include BLACKPINK for ‘JUMP’ and solo songs from Jennie (‘like JENNIE’) and Rosé (‘number one girl’). G-Dragon’s ‘DRAMA’ and Jisoo’s ‘Earthquake’ are also nominated.
Key Nominations for Solo Artists and Major Collaborations
Solo artists from top groups are competing strongly in individual categories. The Best Male Artist nominees include Jin, G-Dragon, Jackson Wang, and KAI. For Best Female Artist, the list features Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, Minnie, and Rosé.
The Best Collaboration category highlights several major cross-genre and group projects. Nominated works include Jennie’s team-up with Dua Lipa on ‘Handlebars’ and Jisoo’s collaboration with ZAYN on ‘EYES CLOSED’. Other notable nominations are j-hope’s track with GloRilla, ‘Killin’ It Girl’, and G-Dragon’s song with Anderson .Paak, ‘TOO BAD’.
Recognition for New Artists and Technical Music Categories
The awards also spotlight new talent and the people behind the music. The Best New Artist category includes groups like CORTIS, Hearts2Hearts, and izna.
Technical categories show the work of songwriters and producers. For Best Lyricist, nominees include G-Dragon (with Diane Warren and CHOICE37), Jennie (with a team including Tayla Parx and ZICO), and Rosé (with Evan Blair and Michael Pollack). In Best Producer, nominees recognized for their work with their teams include G-Dragon, Jackson Wang, Jennie, and Stray Kids’ production team led by VERSACHOI and Bang Chan.
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Award Schedule Change and Global Artist Nominees
The release of the nomination list was delayed. It was first set for November 29 but was moved to December 2. Organizers changed the schedule because of a fatal fire at Tai Po’s Hong Fuk Estate in Hong Kong on November 26.
While focused on Asian pop music, the APMA also includes a Global Artist Award. That category features international stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber. The award show is run by the ASIA VVV ENTERTAINMENT GROUP in Hong Kong and the UK VVV MUSIC GROUP in London.
The exact date for the 2025 Asian Pop Music Awards ceremony has not been shared yet. A separate major year-end K-pop award show, the 2025 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), already took place in Hong Kong on November 28 and 29. At that event, top winners included Enhypen, IVE, Stray Kids, and G-Dragon.
