# 2021 Melon Music Awards

The 2021 Melon Music Awards, organized by Kakao M and Melon, took place on December 4, 2021. This was the thirteenth ceremony in the show's history, and the second to be held without an audience in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by comedian Lee Yong-jin and radio announcer Park Seon-young, the ceremony was broadcast online through KakaoTV, Melon, and 1theK's official YouTube channel. Artists who released music between November 11, 2020, and November 7, 2021, were eligible for and honored at the awards.
IU, BTS, and Aespa won the Daesangs for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year respectively.

## Judging criteria

| Division | Online Voting | Digital Sales | Judge Score |
| Top 10 Artists | 20% | 80% | — |
| Main awards* | 20% | 60% | 20% |
| Genre Awards** | — | 70% | 30% |
| Popularity Awards*** | 60% | 40% | — |
| Special Awards**** | — | — | 100% |
| *Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Male/Female Solo, Best Male/Female Group **OST Award, Hot Trend Award, Project Music Award ***Netizen Popularity Award, KaKao Hot Star Award ****Record of the Year, Stage of the Year, Music Video Award, Song Writer Award, 1theK Performance Award ||||

### Voting

Voting for Melon's Top 10 Artists category opened on the Melon Music website on November 8 and continued until November 22, 2021. Only artists who released music between November 11, 2020, and November 7, 2021, are eligible. The longlist of nominees was selected based on a chart performance score (60% downloads and 40% streams) for each artist combined with weekly Melon Popularity Award votes achieved during the eligibility period. Voting by Category awards, including nine categories: Top 10 Artists, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Male Solo, Best Female Solo, Best Male Group, Best Female Group, and Netizen Popularity Award.

## Performances

List of musical performances :
| Artist | Song(s) | Segment |
| STAYC | "Stereotype" "ASAP" | Beyond This Step |
| Enhypen | "Drunk-Dazed" "Tamed-Dashed" | Welcome To The EN-WORLD |
| Brave Girls | "Rollin'" "Chi Mat Ba Ram" | The Queen's Theater |
| Lee Mu-jin | "The Assignment Song" "Traffic Light" | The Colour is Blooming |
| MSG Wannabe (M.O.M) | "Foolish Love" | Back To The Millenium |
| Heize | "Happen" | Contes Des Quatre Saisons |
| Tomorrow X Together | "0x1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)" "Loser=Lover" | Shall We? |
| The Boyz | "Maverick" | — |
| Lim Young-woong | "Love Always Run Away" "My Starry Love" | By Your Side |
| IU | "Strawberry Moon" "Celebrity" "Lilac" | tracklist 20. OUTRO |

## Presenters

| Name(s) | Notes |
| Lee Yeon-hee | Top 10 Artists (IU & Lim Young-woong) |
| Jung Hyuk | Hot Trend Award + Best New Artist (Male) |
| Lee Chung-ah | Top 10 Artists (Heize & IllboI) |
| Lee Tae-hwan | Best Solo (Male) & (Female) |
| Park Se-ri | Best Music Style & Music Video of The Year |
| Kim Eana | Best OST + Best Songwriter |
| Jung Hye-sung | Top 10 Artists (Lee Mu-jin & Ash Island) |
| Kim Je-deok & Choi Ye-bin | Global Rising Artist + 1thek Original Contents |
| Yoon Sang | Album Of The Year + Artist Of The Year |

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
| Top 10 Artists (Bonsang) | Song of the Year (Daesang) |
| Aespa AKMU Ash Island BTS Heize IU Lee Mu-jin Lil Boi Lim Young-woong NCT Dream | BTS – "Butter" Aespa – "Next Level" Heize – "Happen" IU – "Celebrity" KyoungSeo – "Shiny Star (2020)" Lee Mu-jin – "Traffic Light" Miranni, Munchman, Kundi Panda, Mushvenom – "VVS" Oh My Girl – "Dun Dun Dance" Rosé – "On The Ground" Song I-han – "I Will Be Your Shining Star" |
| Artist of the Year (Daesang) | Album of the Year (Daesang) |
| IU Aespa BTS Lim Young-Woong NCT Dream | IU – Lilac AKMU – Next Episode Baek Ye-rin – Tellusboutyourself Brave Girls – Summer Queen BTS – BE Heize – Happen Joy – Hello NCT Dream – Hot Sauce Oh My Girl – Dear OhMyGirl Shinee – Don't Call Me |
| Record of the Year (Daesang) | Hot Trend Award |
| Aespa | Brave Girls |
| Best New Artist | Netizen Popularity Award |
| Lee Mu-jin Aespa Enhypen Jeon Gunho KyoungSeo STAYC | BTS Aespa Brave Girls (G)I-dle IU Oh My Girl Red Velvet Rosé Taeyeon Yang Yo-seob, Jung Eun-ji |
| Best Male Group | Best Female Group |
| BTS Homies NCT Dream Seventeen Shinee | Aespa Brave Girls Oh My Girl STAYC Twice |
| Best Male Solo | Best Female Solo |
| Lim Young-woong 10cm Ash Island Lee Mu-jin Lil Boi | IU Heize KyoungSeo Rosé Taeyeon |
| Best Collaboration | Best OST |
| Coldplay and BTS – "My Universe" | Lee Mu-jin – "Rain and You" |

### Other

| Award | Winner(s) |
| Best Songwriter | IU |
| Best Music Style | Homies |
| Music Video of the Year | Tomorrow X Together |
| Best Project Music | MSG Wannabe (M.O.M) |
| Best Performance | The Boyz |
| Global Rising Artist | Enhypen |
| 1theK Original Contents | STAYC |
| Best Performance Director | Son Sung-deuk |
| Best Session Instrumental | Guitar – Kim Dong-min Bass – Go Tae-yeong Keyboard – Gureum |

### Multiple awards

The following artist(s) received three or more awards:
| Count | Artist(s) |
| 5 | IU |
| 5 | BTS |
| 4 | Aespa |
| 3 | Lee Mu-jin |