K-pop artists gathered in Macau on September 20, 2025 CST for the '2025 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS', hosted by The Fact and organized by Fan N Star and The Square ENM. Stray Kids led the results with four awards—Honor of the Year, Record of the Year, Artist of the Year, and the TMA Popularity Award—closing the show as the night’s top winner.
The running order blended rookies and established acts. The ceremony opened with cover stages by emerging teams: Hearts2Hearts performed 'Red Flavor', CLOSE YOUR EYES took on 'HOT', KiiiKiii delivered 'DDU-DU DDU-DU', and AHOF covered 'Dynamite'. Collaboration stages followed later in the program. Leeseo of IVE and Kyujin of NMIXX sang 'To. X' (originally by Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation), while Zhang Hao and Ricky of ZEROBASEONE performed '特别的人'. Main sets from headliners included aespa with 'Dirty Work', 'Whiplash', and 'Rich Man'; ZEROBASEONE premiered 'ICONIK' and 'Lovesick Game'; and recognized Artist of the Year honorees NMIXX, BOYNEXTDOOR, NCT WISH, ENHYPEN, and TWS each presented live stages.
In major categories, IVE earned two trophies—Artist of the Year and Sound of the Year—continuing a run that included attending the awards for a fourth consecutive year. aespa received three—Muse of the Year, Jury’s Special Award, and Artist of the Year—and paired those results with a tightly sequenced performance block. ZEROBASEONE were double winners and used the show to unveil new stages. ENHYPEN won Today’s Choice, a fan vote decided on site. NCT WISH marked its first 'THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS' appearance with an Artist of the Year trophy. TWS mentioned during its Artist of the Year remarks that a comeback is in the works.
Selected acceptance lines were kept concise on stage. After ENHYPEN received Today’s Choice, Sunghoon thanked ENGENE and noted the group’s approaching fifth anniversary. Later in the broadcast, Seungmin of Stray Kids thanked STAY and said the team would move straight into preparing its next round of activities after recently wrapping promotions.
Broadcast duties were handled by Jun Hyun Moo and Seohyun of Girls’ Generation, who introduced categories and performers throughout the night. Yoo Jae Pil hosted the red-carpet arrivals prior to the main program.
Winners — 2025 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS
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Honor of the Year — Stray Kids
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Muse of the Year — aespa
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Sound of the Year — IVE
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Record of the Year — Stray Kids
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Icon of the Year — ENHYPEN
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World Best Performer — ZEROBASEONE
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World Best Wave — BOYNEXTDOOR
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Artist of the Year — Stray Kids, aespa, ENHYPEN, IVE, NMIXX, BOYNEXTDOOR, ZEROBASEONE, TWS, NCT WISH
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Global Hot Trend — NEXZ, MEOVV
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Next Leader — Hearts2Hearts, KiiiKiii, ALLDAY PROJECT
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Hottest — CLOSE YOUR EYES, AHOF
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TMA Popularity Award — Stray Kids
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Today’s Choice — ENHYPEN
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Jury’s Special Award — aespa
SEE ALSO: aespa wins with “Rich Man” on ‘Inkigayo’ + performances from AxMxP, izna, and more!
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