Who are the artists and what are the songs that shone the brightest this year? MelOn finally announced the official nominees for nine categories, including the "TOP10." Along with the candidates for MMA 2021, MelOn also announced its event for fans, making the voting period more exciting!

On November 8, MMA 2021 (Melon Music Awards 2021), hosted by MelOn, a music platform of Kakao Entertainment (CEO Lee Jin Soo, Kim Sung Soo), announced the official nominees for the annual awards ceremony.

Among the candidates, top artists including BTS, IU, aespa and more were nominated in various categories and will have the chance to win awards from MMA, which aims to highlight artists and songs that shone the most.

BTS, IU, aespa & More: Candidates for TOP10 Announced

MMA's "TOP10" is a major award category open for all music sources released from November 11 last year to November 7 this year.

For this award, 10 artists (or teams) who have been greatly loved on MelOn during the year will be selected, which will be determined by popularity on the MelOn music platform and through fans' votes.

Candidates for the MMA2021 TOP10 includes:

• KyoungSeo
• Rosé (BLACKPINK)
• lIlBOI
• Mido and Falasol
• Mirani,MUNCHMAN, KhundiPanda, MUSHVENOM
• BTS
• Yerin Baek
• Baekhyun (EXO)
• BraveGirls
• IU
• Yang Yoseob (HIGHLIGHT), Jung Eunji (Apink)
• OH MY GIRL
• Lee Mujin
• Lee Seung Gi
• Lee Yejoon
• Lim Young Woong
• Joy (Red Velvet)
• Taeyeon (SNSD)
• HuhGak
• Heize
• Homies
• aespa
• AKMU
• ASH ISLAND
• MSGWANNABE (M.O.M)
• NCT DREAM
• SHINee
• STAYC
• TWICE
• 10CM

The "Voting by category" will be held in a total of nine categories, including "Artist of the Year," "Album of the Year," "Best Song of the Year," "Rookie of the Year," Best Solo (Male)," Best Group (Male)" Best Group (Female)," and "Netizen Popularity Awards."

'Netizen Popularity Award' nominees:

• Rosé (BLACKPINK)
• BTS
• BraveGirls
• IU
• Yang Yoseob (HIGHLIGHT) and Jung Eunji (Apink)
• OHMYGIRL
• Taeyeon (SNSD)
• aespa
• Red Velvet
• (G)I-DLE

'Best Male Group' nominees:

• BTS
• SEVENTEEN
• Homies
• NCT DREAM
• SHINee

'Best Female Group' nominees:

• Brave Girls
• OH MY GIRL
• aespa
• STAYC
• TWICE

'Best Female Solo' nominees:

• KyoungSeo
• Rosé (BLACKPINK)
• IU
• Taeyeon (SNSD)
• Heize

'Best Male Solo' nominees:

• lIlBOI
• Lee Mujin
• Lim Young Woong
• ASH ISLAND
• 10CM

'Rookie of the Year' nominees:

• KyoungSeo
• Lee Mujin
• Gunho Jeon
• aespa
• ENHYPEN
• STAYC

'Best Song of the Year' nominees:

• Song IHan's "I will be your shining star"
• KyoungSeo's "Shiny Star"
• Lee Mujin's "Traffic Light"
• Heize's "HAPPEN"
• BTS's "Butter"
• IU's "Celebrity"
• OH MY GIRL's "Dun Dun Dance"
• aespa's "Next Level"
• Rosé's "On The Ground"
• Mirani MUNCHMAN, KhundiPAnda, MUSHVENOM's "VVS"

'Album of the Year' nominees:

• NCT DREAM's "Hot Sauce"
• Joy's "Hello"
• BTS's "BE"
• OHMYGIRL's "Dear OHMYGIRL"
• SHINee's "Don't Call Me"
• Heize's "HAPPEN"
• IU's "LILAC"
• AKMU's "NEXT EPISODE"
• Brave Girls's "Summer Queen"
• Yerin Baek's "tellusboutyourself"

ALSO READ: MelOn Music Awards 2021 to be Held in December via Various Online Channels

MMA 2021: How to Vote, Voting Criteria + Events

Meanwhile, MelOn will hold the voting on the MMA 2021 app/web page from 12 p.m. on November 8 to 22.

Voting for TOP10 and "by category" is available three times a day only for paid MelOn members, and free members are given a chance to vote once a day.

For the voting criteria, "TOP10" will be determined by 80% of Digital Sales and 20% of fans' votes.

For best artists (solo and group), SOTY, ROTY, and AOTY categories, winners will be selected through digital sales (60%), judge scores (20%) and voting (20%), while Netizen Popularity Award will only depend on digital sales (40%) and voting (60%).

As an event for fandoms, MelOn will hold an attendance check event and offer various prizes such as MacBook Air M1, turntable, wall-mounted CD player, and Galaxy Buzz Pro through an on-the-spot lottery every day.

After completing the vote by TOP10 and category, you can immediately check whether you have won by pressing the "Apply and Check Results" button on the attendance check event page.

The event period is the same as the TOP10 and the voting period for each category.

Meanwhile, the global music festival MMA 2021 will be held online and non-face-to-face at 6 p.m. on December 4, and related events can be found on the MelOn app and web MMA page, Kakao TV's MelOn Music Awards 2021 channel, and SNS (Instagram/Twitter/YouTube) MelOn official account.

READ MORE: IU, SNSD, BLACKPINK: Media Outlet Selects the 7 Most Legendary Stage from MelOn Music Awards' History

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Written by Eunice Dawson