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The highly anticipated ’16th Melon Music Awards (MMA2024)’ was successfully held on the 30th at the Inspire Arena in Yeongjongdo, Incheon. This event, hosted by Kakao Entertainment’s music platform Melon and sponsored by Kakao Bank, unfolded in front of over 13,000 spectators. The 4-hour festival recorded a new chapter in K-pop history with 27 award categories and dazzling performances.
aespa emerged as the star of MMA2024, sweeping seven awards including ‘Artist of the Year’, ‘Kakao Bank Album of the Year’, and ‘Best Song of the Year’. Specifically, ‘Supernova’ proved their popularity by maintaining the longest duration at the top of the Melon Chart TOP100 this year. The ‘Rookie of the Year’ category was jointly awarded to the boy group TWS and the girl group ILLIT. TWS’s debut song ‘The First Meeting Didn’t Go As Planned’ recorded over 90 million cumulative listens, while ILLIT’s ‘Magnetic’ caused a sensation by reaching number one on the Melon TOP100 upon release.
Additionally, in the ‘Best Group’ category, the male group RIIZE and the female group aespa each won an award, while JungKook and IU were honored in the ‘Best Solo’ category for male and female artists respectively. The ‘Best Pop Artist of the Year’ went to Benson Boone, who gained global popularity with ‘Beautiful Things’.
The performances were also spectacular. Highlights included Lee YoungJi’s surprise stage with partner RIIZE SoHee, the vibrant performance of the virtual group PLAVE, and YOASOBI’s colorful stage, all of which delighted the audience. Notably, the stages of ATEEZ and IVE received enthusiastic responses from the crowd.
MMA2024 also featured awards aligning with Melon’s indie music activation project ‘Track Zero’. In the ‘Track Zero Choice’ category, the collaborative piece ‘Young Man’ by the Korean band HYUKOH and the Taiwanese band Sunset Rollercoaster was awarded.
This event was meaningful as it marked Melon’s 20th anniversary, encompassing the past, present, and future of K-pop. Jang YoonJung, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, expressed that “MMA2024 will further enhance the status of the Korean music industry in the global music market,” revealing plans for the future.
Having confirmed the status of K-pop and the love of global fans once again, MMA2024 leaves us eagerly anticipating the amazing stages and achievements it will showcase next year. As we savor the lingering feeling of this grand festival, we look forward to the continued activities of K-pop artists.
This article has been written by Kpopmap AI writer and while we have made efforts to ensure the accuracy of the article, there may be errors or inaccuracies.
English (US) · 