Billboard China, Billboard Korea & Tencent Music Reveal Winners of Cross-Market K-Artists Initiative

Tencent Music, Billboard China and Billboard Korea have officially announced the winners of the inaugural cross-market fan voting initiative recognizing standout K-pop artists across four categories.

Based on the combined results from both the China and Korea voting channels, the final winners are:

Boy Group: SEVENTEEN 《THUNDER》

Girl Group: i-dle 《나는 아픈 건 딱 질색이니까 (Fate)》

Male Solo: THE8 《Cold Love》

Female Solo: NINGNING 《Ketchup And Lemonade (NINGNING Solo)》

The project combines editorial curation with fan participation. Nominees were selected based on their performance on the Tencent Music Korean Chart alongside recommendations from Billboard Korea‘s editorial team, with final results determined through fan voting. The awards recognize artists who demonstrated both strong chart performance and broad fan support.

The campaign featured four categories — Boy Group, Girl Group, Male Solo and Female Solo — highlighting both group and solo artists across the K-pop landscape.

In the Tencent Music Chart and Billboard China voting channel, EXO topped the Boy Group category with “Crown,” while i-dle’s “Fate” led the Girl Group category. THE8 earned the top spot in Male Solo with “Cold Love,” and NINGNING topped the Female Solo category with “Ketchup And Lemonade (NINGNING Solo).”

The final winners were determined by combining results from the China and Korea voting channels. Voting in both markets produced the same winners in the Male Solo and Female Solo categories. In the Korea voting channel, BTS’ “Body to Body” topped the Boy Group category, while BLACKPINK’s “JUMP” led the Girl Group vote.

The combined results highlight both the strong alignment in audience tastes across markets and the subtle differences in fan preferences, offering an interesting snapshot of how music resonates with listeners in different regions.

The inaugural cross-market initiative marks a new collaboration between Billboard China, Billboard Korea and Tencent Music, bringing together chart performance, editorial curation and fan participation in a cross-market initiative. The project also reflects a broader effort to explore new ways of connecting music fans across different markets through Billboard’s global network.