The music scene is folding into the second half of 2013, but there haven't been too many eye-catching rookies.

Among the artists that debuted this year, none of them has stood out. Boy group EXO and girl group Crayon Pop have both been dominating the pop charts, music downloads, and even TV appearances, but they are both second-year artists that will not be included in the nominations.

There are no other contenders, however, for the New Artist Award besides for Roy Kim. The last few years suffered an outpouring of new groups which may have turned the public's opinion of new artists for the worse. This may have turned off the interest to the new groups coming out. There was a "boom" of sorts for Korean Pop idols that drew many investors but it seems that that boom is dying out, and this can also be a reason why there are not as many new groups debuting. The current artists have taken to releasing a single every month, which also stymies the effort to debut a rookie artist or group.

Roy Kim has decided to study abroad, so he will depend on his Spring hits, "Bom Bom Bom" and "Love Love Love." However, his debut was based on an audition program, and that coupled with accusations of plagiarism in his songs provide a challenge for his award contention.

The next rookie in line for a successful debut, Jung Joon Young, is debuting on September 9th as a Rock-n-roll artist. However, his contention is also questionable because of the genre of music that he chose. Rock-n-roll is not a particularly popular genre in Korea.

In the second half of the year, it is expected for the big companies to contend for the award with their own rookies debuting late in the year.

YG Entertainment has gone on the offensive with their survivor battle program "WIN," which will decide the next YG superstar group that will continue the legacies of their big stars, most recently 2NE1, who debuted 4 years ago. Since the viewers ultimately decide which one group will debut, they seem to be in comfortable place as far as widespread media attention. However, in order to qualify as this year's new artist, they must release an album before November.

JYP Entertainment announced that they will release the next hot girl group following the lines of Wonder Girls and Miss A, but have yet to give any important details. They have announced that the group will debut either in September or October.