BTS' Jimin, RM, BLACKPINK's Rosé, TXT, and more win big at the 34th Seoul Music Awards: Complete winners list & highlights

On June 21, 2025, the 34th Seoul Music Awards event took place at the Inspire Arena in South Korea. The annual show is being brought together by Y Global Music along with Sports Seoul. Known as one of the most prestigious music honors in the country, this event highlights standout names and significant milestones in the Korean music industry.

This year's show adhered to its usual layout, awarding titles such as the top honor (Daesang), best album, best song, rising star, and main artist awards (Bonsang), as well as other categories that encompass genre-specific hits. The picks were chosen via audience input through polls. Below is a summary of the event, along with its key highlights.

Everything you need to know about the 34th Seoul Music Awards

34th Seoul Music Awards' highlights

The 2025 Seoul Music Awards brought together a stellar lineup of performers, live sets, and on-screen talent. Hosting duties were handled by Miyeon of i-dle, WINNER's Kang Seung-yoon, and Soobin from TXT, who teamed up to lead the night.

The show featured a stacked roster of performances across genres and generations. TXT, i-dle, and NCT's Doyoung hit the stage, joined by rookie unit NCT WISH, veteran group BTOB, and rising names like ZEROBASEONE and ILLIT.

Added to the mix were Hearts2Hearts, CRAVITY, P1Harmony, SAY MY NAME, and FIFTY FIFTY. Newcomers KickFlip, wave to earth, QWER, KiiiKiii. Solo act Hwang Karam also took to the stage to perform.

Trot singer Youngtak brought in a different genre of music to balance the ensemble. Besides the performances, the ceremony saw actors from both dramas and flicks stepping up to deliver trophies. The presenter lineup featured:

• Kang Yoo-seok
• Kim Sung-chul
• Nam Gyu-ri
• Park Joo-hyun
• Byeon Woo-seok
• Cynthia
• Ong Seong-woo
• Jang Gyu-ri
• Jang Yul
• Jung Eun-chae

Winners of the 34th Seoul Music Awards

The 34th Seoul Music Awards recognized distinct categories, which are listed below:

• Rising Star: VVUP
• Discover Of The Year: Say My Name
• Best New Artist: KiiiKiii, Kickflip, Hearts2Hearts
• Best Performance: CRAVITY, FIFTY FIFTY
• Best Band: wave to earth
• Best R&B/Hip Hop: BTS' RM
• Best Group: ILLIT, NCT WISH
• Best Soloist: Doyoung
• Best Album: TXT, ZEROBASEONE
• Best Song: TXT (Deja Vu)
• Hallyu Special Award: Jimin
• Special K-pop Award: BTOB
• Trot Award: Young Tak
• Ballad Award: Hwang Ga Ram
• OST Award: Young Tak
• Popularity Award: Lee Chan-won
• K-pop World Choice: BABYMONSTER, Young Tak
• World Best Artist: ROSÉ, aespa
• Daesang: i-idle
• Bonsang: ILLIT, NCT, WISH, QWER, P1Harmony, IVE, aespa, ENHYPEN, PLAVE, NCT’s Doyoung, i-dle, Young Tak, ZEROBASEONE, TXT, BLACKPINK’s Rosé, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, NCT DREAM, G-dragon

In Korea, the 34th Seoul Music Awards Daesang, hosted by NAVER TV, was streamed on their official channel and theNaver Entertainment channel. Meanwhile, international viewers watched it on BIGC.

Edited by Maithreyi S