Here are all the winners from the Melon Music Awards 2021

South Korea’s Melon Music Awards (MMA) 2021 took place on December 4, awarding artists based on the streaming platform’s user data, votes and expert scores.

K-pop powerhouses BTS and IU dominated this year’s awards show, with each artist taking home five trophies. The latter took home two of the MMA’s four Daesang (grand prize) awards, including Album Of The Year and Artist Of The Year, while the boyband won Song Of The Year for the third year in a row with their May single ‘Butter’.

“Artist Of The Year is an award with a lot of weight. A lot of artists worked hard and did their best this year, but I am receiving this award alone, so I feel a sense of gratitude toward the other artists,” said IU during one of her acceptance speeches, as translated by Soompi.

“We’re in a situation where we can allow small audiences again. If we wait a little longer, the day will come when we can shout, ‘make some noise,’ and we can scream and cheer, and tell people face-to-face, ‘you’re beautiful’.”

The 2021 MMA also marks the star’s first appearance at the awards show in four years. She had last attended in 2017, where she won Album oO The Year, Best Songwriter and one of 10 Top Artist awards.

The Melon Music Awards 2021 winners are as follows:

Artist of The Year (Daesang)

aespa
BTS
IU – winner
Lim Young-woong
NCT DREAM

Album of The Year (Daesang)

‘Next Episode’, AKMU
‘Tellusboutyourself’, Baek Yerin
‘Summer Queen’, Brave Girls
‘BE’, BTS
‘Happen’, Heize
‘Lilac’, IU – winner
‘Hello’, Joy (Red Velvet)
‘Hot Sauce’, NCT Dream
‘Dear OhMyGirl’, OH MY GIRL
‘Don’t Call Me’, SHINee

Song of The Year (Daesang)

‘Next Level’, aespa
‘Butter’, BTS – winner
‘Happen’, Heize
‘Celebrity’, IU
‘Shiny Star (2020)’, KyoungSeo
‘Traffic Light’, Lee Mu-jin
‘VVS’, Miranni, Munchman, Kundi Panda, MUSHVENOM
‘Dun Dun Dance’, OH MY GIRL
‘On The Ground’, Rosé (BLACKPINK)
‘I Will Be Your Shining Star’, Song I-han

Record of The Year (Daesang)

‘Savage’, aespa – winner

Top 10 Artists (Bonsang)

aespa
AKMU
Ash Island
BTS
Heize
IU
Lee Mu-jin
Lil Boi
Lim Young-woong
NCT DREAM

Best New Artist (Male)

ENHYPEN
Jeon Gun-ho
Lee Mu-jin – winner

Best New Artist (Female)

aespa – winner
KyoungSeo
STAYC

Best Male Group

BTS – winner
Homies
NCT Dream
Seventeen
SHINee

Best Female Group

aespa – winner
Brave Girls
OH MY GIRL
STAYC
TWICE

Best Male Solo

10cm
Ash Island
Lee Mu-jin
Lil Boi
Lim Young-woong – winner

Best Female Solo

Heize
IU – winner
KyoungSeo
Rosé (BLACKPINK)
Taeyeon