Mnet Asian Music Awards
The Mnet Asian Music Awards (abbreviated as MAMA) is a major South Korean music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ E&M. The majority of prizes are awarded to K-pop artists, though some prizes are awarded to other Asian artists. The awards ceremony was first held in Seoul in 1999 and aired on Mnet.[1] MAMA has been held outside of South Korea between 2010 - 2017 & 2019 and now airs internationally.[2][3]
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards | |
 | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding achievements in the music industry. |
| Country | South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau |
| Presented by | CJ E&M (Mnet) |
| First awarded | November 27, 1999 |
| Website | Mnet Asian Music Awards |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | Mnet, across CJ E&M channels and other international networks |
History
Ceremony
The event was launched in 1999 as a music video awards ceremony, modeled after the MTV Video Music Awards, called the Mnet Music Video Festival.[1][4] By the mid-2000s, the awards ceremony had attracted some international interest due to the spread of Hallyu, and it aired in China and Japan in 2008.[1][5]
In 2009, the event was renamed the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) to reflect its expansion outside of South Korea.[6] In 2010, MAMA was held in Macau, marking the first time it was held outside of South Korea. The following year, in 2011, MAMA was held in Singapore, and was then held in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2017.[5] In 2017, the awards ceremony was expanded to four nights, and parts of the event were held in Vietnam and Japan, in addition to Hong Kong.[1] In 2018, MAMA had three parts and was held in three countries; South Korea hosted the MAMA for the first time in nine years, together with Japan and Hong Kong. In 2020, MAMA was held online only and took place in South Korea only due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8][9][10]
Host venues
A Each year in the table links to the Wikipedia article about that year's awards ceremony.
Award categories
Grand Prizes
The four grand prizes (known as daesang)
Competitive awards
Unless otherwise noted, each award category was introduced in 1999.
- Best Male Artist
- Best Female Artist
- Best Male Group (since 2000, was known as Best Group in 1999)
- Best Female Group (since 2000)
- Best New Artist
- Best Dance Performance
- Best Band Performance
- Best Rap Performance
- Best Vocal Performance (since 2010)
- Best Collaboration (2010, 2012, 2014–2017, 2019-present)
- Best OST (2004)
- Best Music Video (since 2006)
- Best Unit (2018)
Special awards
These awards have been given once or occasionally.
- Best International Artist (1999-2006, 2009–2010, 2012–2014)
- Best Asian Artist (since 2004)
- Other special awards
Discontinued awards
- Music Video of the Year (1999–2005)
(former daesang award and currently Best Music Video since 2006) - Best Popular Music Video (1999–2005)
(former daesang award) - Best Music Video Performance (2005–2007)
- Best Music Video Director (1999–2006)
- Best Mixed Group (2000-2009)
- Best Ballad Performance (1999–2009)
- Best R&B Performance (2000–2007)
- Best Indie Performance (1999–2002)
- Best House & Electronic Performance (2007–2009)
- Best Trot Performance (2009)
- Best Digital Single (2010)
Most wins
Daesang awards
The following lists the artist(s) who received two or more daesang awards.
(Includes Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Worldwide Icon of the Year)
| Artist(s) | Record Set | First year awarded | Recent year awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTS | 13 | 2016 | 2020 |
| Exo | 6 | 2013 | 2017 |
| Big Bang | 5 | 2008 | 2015 |
| 2NE1 | 4 | 2009 | 2011 |
| Twice | 3 | 2016 | 2018 |
| Super Junior | 2007 | 2012 | |
| G-Dragon | 2 | 2009 | 2013 |
| TVXQ | 2005 | 2008 | |
| SG Wannabe | 2006 | 2006 | |
| BoA | 2002 | 2004 | |
| H.O.T. | 1999 | 2000 | |
Competitive awards
The following lists the artist(s) who received two or more competitive awards.
| Artist(s) | Record Set | First year awarded | Recent year awarded* |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTS | 8 | 2015 | 2020 |
| IU | 2011 | 2020 | |
| Twice | 7 | 2015 | 2019 |
| Ailee | 6 | 2012 | 2017 |
| CNBLUE | 5 | 2010 | 2016 |
| Big Bang | 2007 | 2015 | |
| Epik High | 2005 | 2014 | |
| G-Dragon | 2007 | 2013 | |
| 2NE1 | 2009 | 2011 | |
| BoA | 2000 | 2010 | |
| Shinhwa | 2001 | 2007 | |
| Wanna One | 4 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Exo | 2012 | 2016 | |
| Zico | 3 | 2016 | 2020 |
| Girls' Generation | 2011 | 2015 | |
| Taeyang | 2010 | 2014 | |
| Miss A | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Baekhyun | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Blackpink | 2020 | 2020 | |
| Seventeen | 2017 | 2019 | |
| Taemin | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Red Velvet | 2015 | 2017 | |
| Taeyeon | 2015 | 2016 | |
| Shinee | 2008 | 2015 | |
| Infinite | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Sistar | 2012 | 2014 | |
| 2PM | 2009 | 2014 | |
| Lee Seung-gi | 2004 | 2013 | |
| Psy | 2005 | 2012 | |
| Baek Ji-young | 2006 | 2011 | |
| SG Wannabe | 2005 | 2008 | |
| Koyote | 2001 | 2005 | |
| Jo Sungmo | 1999 | 2004 | |
| *Artists with the most number of awards and the most recent year awarded are listed first. | |||
Controversies
Boycotting incidents
In 2007, Lee Min-woo and Shin Hye-sung from the group Shinhwa canceled their appearance at the event one hour before the awards ceremony began. Shin later said they left because they did not trust the event to fairly select winners.[15]
In 2009, entertainment companies SM Entertainment and Inwoo Production boycotted the 2009 awards ceremony, and therefore none of their artists attended. Both companies said the reason for their boycott was that they questioned the fairness of the voting process. In particular, SM Entertainment said that Girls' Generation had held the #1 spot on a music chart for nine consecutive weeks, but the group never won first place on Mnet's weekly M Countdown music show. The company also criticized a mobile poll which required participants to pay money in order to vote.[16]
Voter fraud
Prior to the 2017 awards ceremony, Mnet found that some fans had cast fraudulent votes through the use of bots. As a result, Mnet temporarily halted voting, then nullified all fraudulent votes, blocked relevant IP addresses, and deleted relevant user accounts.[17][18]
Broadcasting
The show is broadcast live in thirteen countries across Asia. In South Korea, it is broadcast on Mnet and across CJ E&M channels. Other TV channels that broadcast the show include tvN Asia & JOOX.com (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar & Thailand) (tvN Asia only: Maldives, Philippines, Singapore & Taiwan), Mnet Japan, Mnet Smart, and au Smart Pass (Japan), Viu TVsix, ViuTV, viu.tv (Hong Kong), friDay Video & friDay Music (Taiwan), MeWATCH (Singapore), Indosiar & vidio (Indonesia), gigafest.smart (Philippines), FPT TV & Foxy (Vietnam), and KCON USA (United States). The show is also broadcast online via Mnet K-POP, KCON official YouTube channel for the rest of the world.[19]
References
- St. Michel, Patrick (2017-12-04). "This Three-Country, Four-Night Asian Music Awards Show Is A K-Pop Promotion Machine". NPR. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- Reinfrank, Alkira (2017-12-02). "Supergroup BTS clean up at Asia's biggest K-pop awards show". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- Mathew, Ilin. "Mnet Asian Music Awards 2017 live stream: Where to watch MAMA online and broadcast channel information". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "1999 Mnet Video Music Awards". Mnet Global. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- Kim, Jae-heun (2015-11-12). "Mnet Asian Music Awards: new global platform for K-pop stars". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "TWICE wins Song of Year Award at 2017 MAMA with 'Signal'". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "'2020 MAMA', 국내서 개최하나?...CJ ENM "결정된 것 없어"[공식]". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-11.
- "Mnet to hold online Asian music award event due to COVID-19 pandemic". www.ajudaily.com. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
- Herald, The Korea (2020-09-21). "K-pop awards show MAMA to be held online due to COVID-19". www.koreaherald.com. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
- 장동우 (2020-09-21). "K-pop awards show MAMA to be held online due to COVID-19". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
- "2003 Mnet Music Video Festival". Mnet Global. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "2005 Mnet KM Music Video Festival". Mnet Global. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "2008 Mnet KM Music Festival". Mnet Global. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- "MAMA History". Mnet Global. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- Kim, Yeon-ji (2007-11-17). "이민우-신혜성, MKMF 행사직전 "불참"(종합)" [Lee Min Woo, Shin Hye Sung leave just before MKMF event]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- Kim, Jessica (2009-11-03). "SM singers boycott Mnet music award". Asia Economy. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- Herman, Tamar (2017-11-03). "2017 MAMA Awards Shut Down Voting to Address Fraud Issues". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- "Mnet takes action against ballot rigging in year-end K-pop awards". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- "BTS, IU, NCT, Baekhyun, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and more win at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards - see the list of winners". BTS, IU, NCT, Baekhyun, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and more win at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards - see the list of winners | Bandwagon | Music media championing and spotlighting music in Asia. 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mnet Asian Music Awards. |
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