HYBE Corporation has built one of the most sprawling entertainment empires in K-pop, a network of specialized labels that operate with creative independence while sharing the parent company’s resources, global platforms, and strategic muscle. Yet at the latest award ceremony, the spotlight fell almost exclusively on artists from its original flagship label.
Big Hit Music — the label that launched BTS and later TXT — swept a striking share of the top honors at KMA 2026 (KM Chart Awards), held July 25 at Hwajung Gymnasium on the Korea University campus in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The event, hosted by KM Chart and KM Chart World and organized by the KMA Organizing Committee and UPICK, was broadcast live on HelloLive and Japan’s AbemaTV, with a delayed airing on MBC M.
According to coverage of the ceremony, the four Grand Prizes (Daesangs) went to:
- Artist of the Year: Tomorrow X Together (TXT)
- Album of the Year: BTS’s fifth studio album ARIRANG
- Song of the Year: Hwasa’s “Good Goodbye”
- Record of the Year: CORTIS’s second mini-album GREENGREEN
BTS, TXT, and the rookie group CORTIS are all signed to Big Hit Music. CORTIS, a five-member boy band (James, Juhoon, Martin, Seonghyeon, and Keonho), debuted in August 2025 as Big Hit Music’s first new group in six years since TXT. Their rapid rise to a Grand Prize underscored the label’s continued ability to develop major acts.
HYBE’s structure is deliberately multi-label. After rebranding from Big Hit Entertainment in 2021, the company spun its original music operations into Big Hit Music while acquiring or launching other imprints. These include Belift Lab (home to ENHYPEN and ILLIT), Source Music (LE SSERAFIM), Pledis Entertainment (SEVENTEEN, TWS and related units), KOZ Entertainment (BOYNEXTDOOR), and ADOR (NewJeans), among others. Each label maintains its own management and artistic identity under the broader HYBE umbrella.
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| Illit in January 2026 at Damiana Event |
That diversity was less visible in the night’s highest awards. While the broader “Ultimate 12” nominees and category winners included acts from other companies (P1Harmony for Best Male Group, Hearts to Hearts for Best Female Group, rookies Longshot and AlphaDriveOne, and fan-voted honors for artists such as Winter, Eunice, and Young Tak), the Daesangs themselves heavily featured Big Hit Music’s roster. TXT also claimed multiple Fans’ Choice awards, including Best Popular Song and Best Popular Male Group, with member Yeonjun taking Best Popular Male Solo Singer.
The ceremony itself was structured around three thematic chapters — “Before Sunrise,” “Chasing Dreams,” and “Rise Together” — intended to highlight growth across generations of K-pop artists. Performers ranged from HiFi Unicorn and rising acts such as MODISE, NU’BEAT, BB-UP, AlphaDriveOne, 82Major, Kickflip, and P1Harmony to established names including Yeonjun, Hearts to Hearts, CORTIS, and TXT. Actors Kang Tae-oh and Won Ji-an made their debut as MCs for a K-pop awards show, while Byun Woo-seok presented a Grand Prize.
A relatively young awards show with growing reach
KMA is a newer entrant among Korea’s music awards circuit. It began in 2024 under the name Universal Superstar Awards (USA) before rebranding as the KM Chart Awards. Hosted by the KM Chart platform, it aims to recognize chart performance, sales, music-show appearances, and fan votes on a global stage. By its third edition in 2026, the show had secured international streaming partners and positioned itself as a showcase for both established stars and the next wave of acts.
Its significance lies less in decades of tradition (unlike longer-running events such as the Korean Music Awards, which date to 2004 and emphasize critical judgment) and more in its explicit embrace of chart data and fan participation alongside industry presence. The 2026 edition’s three-hour runtime, multi-platform broadcast, and mix of legacy artists with rookies reflected an industry still expanding its global footprint while celebrating domestic momentum.
For HYBE, the results offered a dual narrative. The company has spent years cultivating a portfolio of distinct labels to reduce reliance on any single act and to cover different market segments. Yet the concentration of top prizes among Big Hit Music artists — BTS’s highly anticipated ARIRANG, TXT’s Artist of the Year dominance, and CORTIS’s early breakthrough — demonstrated that the original label remains the clearest engine of prestige awards success even as the wider HYBE family continues to grow.
The night closed as a snapshot of K-pop’s present: a major corporate group with many specialized arms, and one of those arms still claiming the largest share of the biggest trophies.