The Melon Music Awards is returning to the Gocheok Dome in Seoul after three years, further strengthening its status as the 'K-Pop headquarters' with differentiated benefits.
Kakao Entertainment (co-CEOs Kwon Ki-soo and Jang Yoon-jung) announced that the 17th Melon Music Awards will be held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on December 20.
Through Melon's objective data, user voting, and expert judging, the MMA announces the achievements of artists over the past year to the world. It has established itself as the largest music awards ceremony and festival in K-Pop. First held online in 2005, it expanded to offline in 2009, solidifying its status as an eagerly awaited event for both fans and artists every year. Notably, it has gained a reputation as a 'K-Pop headquarters' festival that music fans can easily access due to its continuous domestic hosting as an end-of-year awards ceremony.
This year's MMA2025 has changed the criteria for the main award 'Top 10' from the previous 80% music + 20% voting to 60% music + 20% voting + 20% judging. As the ways in which music is consumed on Melon have diversified, this change aims to comprehensively analyze various elements such as popularity, influence, and completeness of the music that has been loved by users over the year, highlighting the artists who truly shone this year.
Meanwhile, the 'Millions Top 10' award, which is given to albums that have entered Melon's 'Millions Album', will maintain the criteria of 80% music + 20% voting.
Additionally, the Melon Music Awards will change the ticket reservation rights previously offered to all members to be available only to paid members, as a way to enhance benefits for long-time Melon users. This is expected to protect members' rights by preventing illegal ticket reservations and allow more customers to enjoy the best K-Pop awards.
Ahead of MMA2025, Melon is preparing various pre-events for music fans to enjoy. Through these events, they will provide high-demand rewards such as MMA tickets to increase anticipation for the main event. Voting for the Top 10 and various categories will also take place, with related announcements and events to be opened sequentially on Melon's official MMA2025 page.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
