# Music Awards Japan

The Music Awards Japan (abbreviated as MAJ), is a music awards by the Japanese music industry to honour musical talents from Asia, Japan and the Western regions. The awards are organized by the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA) in collaboration with the Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The inaugural award show is set to be hold on May 21 and 22, 2025, at the ROHM Theater, Kyoto.

## History

On October 22, 2024 the Music Awards Japan were officially announced. The awards were introduced to promote Japanese and Asian music on a global stage. The five major music organizations of the Japanese music industry, the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), the Japan Association of Music Enterprises [ja], the Federation of Music Producers Japan [ja], the Music Publishers Association of Japan [ja], and the All Japan Concert & Live Entertainment Promoter's Conference [ja] founded the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association which is responsible for the organisation, the marketing and the hosting of the Music Awards Japan. One of the backgrounds for the establishment of this award is to strengthen, to change and to open the Japanese music market for a global audience.
On December 2024, the six main categories have been introduced with more categories to be announced in January 2025. The inaugural award show is set to be hold on May 21 and 22, 2025 at ROHM Theater in Kyoto. On January 15, 2025, NHK announced to broadcast the second day of the award show, while both days are to be livestreamed globally on YouTube. A showcase titled Matsuri '25: Japanese Music Experience was announced to be held on March 16, 2025, at Peacock Theater, Los Angeles with Ado, Atarashii Gakko! and Yoasobi performing. This is first global showcase to be held prior to the awards to raise awareness of Japanese music artists and the music prize itself.
In the week of the award show the MAJ Music Week is set to be held including concerts, seminars and conferences.

## Background

During a press conference held at Live Entertainment Expo in Tokyo, Tatsuya Nomura, the CEO of the Federation of Music Producers Japan stated that the consumer behavior has changed drastically in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic shifting from physical purchases to digital media. Nomura added that the establishment of an award show similar to the Grammy Awards in the United States might be able to increase the international interest in Japanese music and support the expansion of the domestic music market.
Shunsuke Muramatsu, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of Japan and founding member of CEIPA, further explained that the music industry is on the verge of change which can be observed since 2019. Muramatsu stated that the declining domestic music market is a result of the shrinking population. He noted that opening of the domestic music market for a global audience is necessary.

## Nominations and awarding process

Based on metrics from Billboard Japan, Oricon, GfK Japan, Luminate, Usen, the Daiichi Kosho Company, the JASRAC and more an automated system selects artists, songs and albums which are eligible to be nominated for an award.
From this pool a panel consisting out of persons from the Japanese music industry select five nominations for each category. The winners of most categories are selected by an international jury consisting out of 5.000 people of the international music industry. At the inaugural award ceremony there are two categories where the nominations and winners are select by a public vote on Spotify.
In an interview with Real Sound, Nomura explained the details of the voting process which is held in two rounds. Eligible voting members of the first round of voting are given up to five votes each. It is possible to vote at least once for the own work or a work where the voting member was part of in another function depending on if the work has been selected by the automated system. Only voting members who participated in the first voting round are eligible for voting in the second voting.

## Ceremonies

| Year | Order | Date of ceremony | Host(s) | Venue | Network |
| 2025 | 1 | May 21–22, 2025 | TBA | ROHM Theatre Kyoto | NHK |

## Categories

Categories adapted from official website.