The Billboard Global Power Players 2026 Awards Ceremony took place June 12 at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. It’s only the second time the awards have been held as a live event, following last year’s London ceremony, and the first ever staged in Asia. The evening was presented as part of the broader MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2026 WEEK.
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The evening’s master of ceremonies was mikako, who is fluent in English, German, Korean and Japanese; she conducted the proceedings in English and Japanese across roughly 30 minutes of tributes to the executives shaping the global music business.
Billboard CEO Mike Van opened the ceremony, offering context on the Global Power Players franchise, now nearly a decade old and spanning 15 international Billboard editions across five continents. He noted that the Tokyo edition was made possible through partnerships with Billboard JAPAN and CEIPA (Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association). Billboard Co-Chief Content Officer Jason Lipshutz followed, introducing the evening’s three special awards.
