New Jeans Dominates the Stage: Highlights and Winners from the 2023 Melon Music Awards
Image Source: Soompi
In a glittering ceremony held at the Inspire Arena, the 2023 Melon Music Awards, organized by Kakao Entertainment, showcased the best of South Korea’s music industry. It is one of the most renowned annual music award ceremonies in South Korea alongside the Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and Mnet Asian Music Awards. This was the 15th annual event in the show’s history. The MMA is known for focusing on digital sales and allowing the public to vote for their favorite artists. This year’s winners were decided by taking into account those artists who had released their songs between November 4, 2022, and November 1, 2023.
The main event was hosted by An Yu-jin, with the pre-ceremony red carpet event was graced by Hitomi Honda, Nako Yabuki, and Ha Ji-young. Under the slogan “K-Pop Changes the World,” the Melon Music Awards celebrated the global influence of K-pop, solidifying its position as a major force in the international music scene. MMA gifted fans by inviting major K-pop icons such as Aespa, IVE, NewJeans, NCT DREAM, STAYC, ZEROBASEONE, RIIZE, BOYNEXTDOOR, and more for performing at the award ceremony.
Every year, a list of Top 10 Artists is disclosed at this award ceremony. The winners are determined 80 percent by Melon download and streaming counts and 20 percent by votes. The Top 10 artists for the Melon Music Awards 2023 were declared as Aespa, BTS, (G)-IDLE, IVE, Jungkook from BTS, LE SSERAFIM, Lim Young Woong, NCT DREAM, NewJeans, and SEVENTEEN.
A noteworthy addition to the awards this year was the introduction of a new category called “The Millions Top 10.” This award follows a concept that is similar to “The Melon Top 10”, but it specifically recognizes those albums released in the last year that achieved over a million streams on the first day of their release. A total of 30 nominees had been selected for this category. The winners included Lim Young Woong, SEVENTEEN, BSS, IVE, NCT Dream, NewJeans, Aespa, (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM, and Jungkook from BTS.
This year “New Jeans” became the most awarded group in this award ceremony, bagging away five awards in total at this year’s ceremony. They won two “Daesangs,” which translates to ‘Grand Prizes’ in Korean, in the “Artist of the Year” category and “Best Song of the Year” category for their song “Ditto.” They also won the Best Female Group for this year. They also managed to secure spots in the list of “Top 10 Artists” and “Millions Top 10.” NCT DREAM won a “Daesang” in the “Record of the Year” category and won the Best Group (Male) award. IVE again won the “Daesang” in the Album of the Year category this year for their first full-length album “I’ve IVE.”
Jungkook from BTS became the most awarded soloist at the Melon Music Awards 2023. He won the Best Male Solo Award and the Hot Trend Award. He also bagged spots in the “Millions Top 10” and the “Top 10” lists respectively. Alongside, BTS won the ‘Kakaobank Favourite Artist’ award and bagged a spot in the Top 10 Artists list.
Alongside the “Rookie of the Year” award was shared by the groups, Riize and Zerobaseone. Lee Young-ji won the award for Best Female Solo artist. Aespa won an award in the “Global Artist” category and BoyNextDoor won the “Global Rising Artist” award. The “1theK Global Icon” award went to Kiss of Life and along with this Charlie Puth was awarded the “Best Pop Artist” award this year.
Team Profile
- Freelance Journalist
- Sanchali Barua, currently pursuing her Master's in English at the University of Calcutta, is a dedicated individual with a curious mind and a profound interest in the entertainment industry. Throughout her academic journey, she has actively engaged in various writing assignments, contributing significantly to the development and refinement of her writing skills. Her passion for literature and keen involvement in the creative process reflect a commitment to exploring the diverse facets of the English language.
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