Japan’s largest international music awards, “MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN”, establishes category to recognize outstanding Vocaloid songs

Dwango Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) is pleased to announce that the “Best Vocaloid Culture Song Award” will be created at the MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN (sponsored by the Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association), Japan’s largest international music awards, to be held on Thursday, May 22, 2025, to recognize outstanding Vocaloid songs from the “The VOCALOID Collection” (hereinafter referred to as “Vocal Collection”) ranking project sponsored by Dwango and Billboard JAPAN’s music chart “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS.”

This award is a new international music award organized by the Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association, a general incorporated association established in October 2024 by five major music organizations (the Recording Industry Association of Japan, the Japan Association of Music Businesses, the Federation of Japanese Music Producers, the Japan Music Publishers Association, and the Concert Promoters Association of Japan) with the aim of promoting Japanese music to the world, paving the way for the future of music, and encouraging overseas artists to enter the Japanese market. There are more than 60 categories in total, including six major categories such as Best Song and Best Artist, and a total of 5,000 people in the music industry, mainly artists, will participate in the voting.

The newly established “Best Vocaloid Culture Song Award” is an award that celebrates “Vocaloid Culture Songs” that are musically creative and artistically excellent. The nominees are a total of 30 songs selected from the “Vocaloid Collection Rankings,” a user-submitted Vocaloid song project implemented by Vocaloid Collection (the top 10 songs from the TOP 100 rankings from each of the Vocaloid Collection Winter and Summer, and the top 5 songs from the Rookie Rankings), and the top 70 songs selected from the “Nico Nico VOCALOID SONGS” chart, which measures the popularity of Vocaloid songs posted on Nico Nico Douga, a music chart on the music chart “Billboard JAPAN.” A total of more than 200 people, including Vocaloid producers, creators, companies, platforms, and distribution companies with deep ties to Vocaloid culture, voted, narrowing the 100 nominees down to 5 songs, and the winning songs will be decided through a final vote.

*Normally, a total of 30 songs are selected from the two Vocaloid Collections, Winter and Summer, but since Vocaloid Collection 2024 Summer has been canceled this time, the top 30 songs will be specially selected from the Vocaloid Collection 2025 Winter event.

[Vocaloid Culture Special Voting Members] Excerpts (titles omitted / in alphabetical order)

Animate, R11R, EMP, Inks2Enter, interfm, Internet, Village Vanguard, Xing, A-Sketch, STPR, FM802, MTV, otto, KAI-YOU, KADOKAWA, COVER, Cloud Nine, Crypton Future Media, Shinko Music, Sony Music Labels, Daiichikosho, Taito, Tower Records, TV Asahi Music, Toys Factory, TOKYO FM, TOKYO LOGIC, Tohoku Zunko & Zundamon PJ, Dwango, Natalie, NexTone, ByteDance, 1st PLACE, Butai Entertainment, Bushiroad Music, Flying Dog, plug+, VOCALOMAKETS, Pony Canyon, Yamaha, YouTube, Real Sound

[MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN Event Summary]
■Award Ceremony: Wednesday, May 21st and Thursday, May 22nd, 2025 *MAJ Week: Saturday, May 17th to Friday, May 23rd, 2025

■ Venue: ROHM Theatre Kyoto

■Broadcast: Live broadcast scheduled on NHK

■Distribution: Scheduled to be distributed worldwide on YouTube *Excluding some regions

■Official website: https://www.musicawardsjapan.com/

■Official SNS: https://x.com/MAJ_official_x

■Organizer: Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA)

Cooperation: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (in negotiation), Agency for Cultural Affairs

[Overview of “The VOCALOID Collection ~2025 Winter~”]
■Event name: “The VOCALOID Collection ~2025 Winter~”

■Date and time: Friday, February 21, 2025, 19:00 – Monday, February 24, 2025, 17:00

■Official SNS: https://twitter.com/the_voca_colle

■Official website: https://vocaloid-collection.jp/

「VOCALOID（ボーカロイド）」ならびに「ボカロ」はヤマハ株式会社の登録商標です。