While aespa and BLACKPINK’s Jennie were recognized with top honors at the 2025 Billboard Women in Music Awards, a K-pop producer is also in the running for a prestigious award.
The mastermind behind the hugely popular K-pop group IVE and the vice president of Starship Entertainment Seo Hyun Joo has been nominated for Billboard Women in Music 2025.
She has been selected for ‘Influential Woman’ under the ‘Labels & Distributors’ category for her groundbreaking work as a female K-pop producer. Her creative approach and planning skills have made her a standout in K-pop.
Seo Hyun Joo played a key role in launching IVE, one of K-pop’s most successful 4th-generation girl groups. She was intimately involved in every aspect of IVE’s creation, from casting to concept development to promotion.
Seo Hyun Joo serves as a top Executive Producer and Vice President at Starship Entertainment. She oversees everything from finding new talent to producing music and developing global strategies. Seo has played a key role in launching many successful K-pop groups, including K.Will, SISTAR, MONSTA X, WJSN, Cravity, and IVE.
In particular, she helped MONSTA X achieve international success. She played a key role in the group’s breakthrough in the US market with English albums “ALL ABOUT LUV” and “THE DREAMING”.
On the other hand, IVE has become a standout K-pop group, known for their unique sound. They have achieved huge success both in Korea and internationally. General Producer Seo Hyun Joo played a key role in IVE’s success. She led a team of songwriters and composers to create music tailored to IVE’s style.
She is a pioneering female producer who broke into the K-pop scene during its early days. She worked at SM Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE) and founded Starship in 2008. Despite being a male-dominated industry, Hyun Joo persevered and rose to the top. She gained recognition for her unique, strategic, and artist-focused approach to music production.
Now, Seo Hyun Joo is set to make a bigger impact in 2025 with Starship’s new groups, ‘KiiiKiii’ and ‘New Kids’. Her nomination for ‘Billboard Women in Music 2025’ is a major milestone for Korean women in the global music industry.
Billboard Women in Music honors women who made a big impact on the music industry. Executive Producer Seo Hyun-joo has made history as a female K-pop producer by being named to this prestigious list. This year, aespa won the “Group of the Year” award while solo artist and BLACKPINK member Jennie was recognized with the “Global Force Award”.
Meanwhile, The ‘Billboard Women in Music 2025’ ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 29 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, California.
