Billboard China, Billboard Korea, Tencent Music K-Artists winners

Tencent Music, Billboard China, and Billboard Korea have officially announced the winners of the first-ever cross-market fan voting project, which recognizes outstanding K-pop artists across four categories.

Based on the combined results from both Chinese and Korean voting channels, the final winners are:

Boy group: SEVENTEEN《Thunder》

Girl group: i-dle 《나는 건니까 (Fate)》

Male Solo: THE8 《Cold Love》

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

This project combines editorial curation with fan participation. Candidates were selected based on recommendations from Billboard Korea’s editorial team and their performance on Tencent Music Korea Charts, with the final results determined by fan voting. This award recognizes artists who have demonstrated both strong chart performance and broad fan support.

The campaign featured four categories: Boy Group, Girl Group, Solo Male, and Solo Female, focusing on both group and solo artists from across the K-Pop world.

On the Tencent Music Chart and Billboard China voting channels, EXO topped the boy group category with “Crown,” while idol group “Fate” topped the girl group category. THE8 won first place in the male solo category with “Cold Love,” and NINGNING won first place in the female solo category with “Ketchup And Lemonade (NINGNING Solo).”

The final winner was determined by combining the results of the Chinese and Korean voting channels. Voting in both markets resulted in the same winner in the male solo and female solo categories. On the Korean voting channel, BTS’s “Body to Body” topped the boy group category, while BLACKPINK’s “JUMP” led the girl group vote.

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

The first 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 Billboard’s broader efforts to explore new ways to connect music fans in different markets through its global network.