MMA 2021: Nominees, judging criteria, voting details and more

The Melon Music Awards, MMA 2021, is another legendary year-end K-pop music award that attracts the best in the industry. The event brings out some of the grandest stages in K-pop history, with each group bringing on their A-game. The awards festival is organized by Kakao M, through their online streaming site, MelOn.

NCT, BTS, SHINee, aespa, IU, HEIZE, and more nominated for MMA 2021 Daesangs

MMA 2021 has four daesangs (Grand Prizes): Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Record of the Year. The judging criteria for the daesangs hold a small percentage of fan votes. Take a look at this year’s MMA nominations below.

Best Male Group:

BTS
NCT DREAM
SEVENTEEN
SHINee
Homies

Best Female Group:

OH MY GIRL
aespa
STAYC
TWICE
Brave Girls

Best Male Solo:

Lee Mujin
Lim Young Woong
10cm
ASH ISLAND
Lil Boi

Best Female Solo:

IU
TAEYEON
ROSÉ
HEIZE
KyoungSeo

Rookie of the Year (ROTY):

aespa
STAYC
ENHYPEN
Lee Mujin
KyoungSeo
Jeon Gunho

Song of the Year (SOTY):

Butter - BTS
Celebrity - IU
Next Level - aespa
Dun Dun Dance - OH Y GIRL
On The Ground - BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ
Traffic Light - Lee Mujin
VVS - Miranni, Munchman, Kundi Panda, MUSHVENOM
HAPPEN - HEIZE
Shiny Star - KyeongSeo
I Will Be Your Shining Star - (Song I Han)

Album of the Year (AOTY):

BE - BTS
Hot Sauce - NCT Dream
LILAC - IU
Dear OHMYGIRL - OH MY GIRL
Don’t Call Me - SHINee
Hello - Red Velvet’s JOY
Summer Queen - Brave Girls
NEXT EPISODE - AKMU
HAPPEN - HEIZE
tellusaboutyourself - Yerin Baek

For Top 10 Bonsang:

Along with every artist mentioned above, EXO’s Baekhyun, MSG Wannabe, Lee Seung Gi, Apink’s Jung Eunji, Yang Yoseop, Hospital Playlist’s Mido and Falasol, Huh Gak and Lee Yejoon will be considered.

Judging criteria for MMA 2021

The four daesangs for MMA 2021 - AOTY, SOTY, and ROTY have the same criteria. The category considers 60% of digitals, 20% of judge’s evaluation and 20% of fan votes. As for Record of the Year, the winner will be solely decided by the judges.

How to vote for MMA 2021?

Voting for the daesangs and bonsangs for MMA 2021 has resumed since November 8 and will continue until November 22, 12 AM KST. voting is restricted to fans with a Kakao account or a Kakao Talk ID. Fans can vote from the MelOn website and/or the MelOn app.

When will MMA 2021 air?

The Melon Music Awards, or MMA, will be held on December 4, 2021 at 6 PM KST. Fans will be able to watch the livestream on MelOn, Kakao Talk TV, and 1TheK’s YouTube Channel.

About the author

Afreen has been a K-Pop Content Specialist at Sportskeeda since 2021. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, along with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication. Afreen has over 4+ years of working in various positions including being an entertainment content writer with Pinkvilla’s K-pop division Hallyutalk and CineDope, and as a copywriter at Flying Cursor.

As per Afreen, she loves her work because she gets to write about the things she is obsessed with. Her thorough research and following the two-genuine-source rule of journalism helps her produce the most accurate content, along with helping her be up-to-date with the industry.

Afreen has had the privilege to interview The Rose's frontrunner, WOOSUNG, and LIONESSES, K-pop's first openly LGBTQ+ group. She is a big fan of SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, BTS, and The Rose for their hard work, sincerity, and the comic relief their shows provide.

When she is off her shift, Afreen explores the streets of Nottingham in the UK, cooks, and listens to new music.

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Edited by Danyal Arabi