8th Gaon Chart Music Awards Reveals Award Categories And Nominees

Dec 26, 2018

More details have been unveiled for this year’s Gaon Chart Music Awards!

The award categories and criteria are as follows:

Artist of the Year (Digital Music) – 11 winners

A winner is chosen for a release from each month of 2018 based entirely on Gaon Chart data for 30 days after the song’s release. As this year’s ceremony is in January, less than 30 days after the end of December, the December winner will be awarded at the following year’s ceremony.

These are the Artist of the Year (Digital Music) nominees for each month, with the November nominees yet to be revealed:

January:

iKON – “Love Scenario”
Kim Dong Ryul – “Reply”
Red Velvet – “Bad Boy”
Bolbbalgan4 – “First Love”
Sunmi – “Heroine”

February:

Kim Heechul, Min Kyung Hoon – “Falling Blossoms”
Roy Kim – “Only Then”
SEVENTEEN – “Thanks”
Jung Seung Hwan – “The Snowman”
Punch – Tonight”

March:

MAMAMOO – “Starry Night”
BIGBANG – “Flower Road”
Yong Junhyung – “Sudden Shower” (Feat. 10cm)
Heize – “Jenga” (Feat. Gaeko)
Heize – “didn’t know me”

April:

EXO-CBX – “Blooming Day”
TWICE – “What is Love?”
WINNER – “EVERYDAY”
MeloMance – “Just Friends”
GFRIEND – “Time for the Moon Night”

May:

AOA – “Bingle Bangle”
BTS – “Fake Love”
BTS – “The Truth Untold” (Feat. Steve Aoki)
Bolbbalgan4 – “Travel”
Crush – “Bittersweet”

June:

BLACKPINK – “Forever Young”
BLACKPINK – “DDU-DU DDU-DU”
Wanna One – “Light”
BTOB – “Only One for Me”
Shaun – “Way Back Home”

July:

TWICE – “Dance the Night Away”
MAMAMOO – “Egotistic”
MeloMance – “Tale”
Apink – “I’m So Sick”
Zico – “SoulMate” (Feat. IU)

August:

(G)I-DLE – “HANN”
10cm – “Mattress”
iKON – “Killing Me”
Red Velvet – “Power Up”
BTS – “IDOL”

September:

Roy Kim – “The Hardest Part”
VIBE – “Fall in Fall”
Sunmi – “Siren”
Im Chang Jung – “There Has Never Been a Day I Haven’t Loved You”
Punch – “Good Bye”

October:

Loco – “It Takes Time” (Feat. Colde)
IU – “BBIBBI”
Yang Da Il – “sorry”
Zion.T – “Hello Tutorial” (Feat. Seulgi)
Paul Kim – “Me After You”

Artist of the Year (Physical Album) – 4 winners

A winner is chosen for a release from each quarter of 2018 based entirely on Gaon Chart data for six weeks after the album’s release.

These are the Artist of the Year (Physical Album) nominees for each quarter, with the 4th quarter nominees yet to be revealed:

1st Quarter:

GOT7 – “Eyes On You”
NCT – “NCT 2018 Empathy”
Wanna One – “0+1=1 (I PROMISE YOU)”
SEVENTEEN – “Director’s Cut”
Jonghyun – “Poet | Artist”

2nd Quarter:

EXO-CBX – “Blooming Days”
TWICE – “What is Love?”
Wanna One – “1÷χ=1 (UNDIVIDED)”
NU’EST W – “WHO, YOU”
BTS – “Love Yourself: Tear”

3rd Quarter:

GOT7 – “Present : YOU”
NCT Dream – “We Go Up”
TWICE – “Summer Nights”
BTS – “Love Yourself: Answer”
SEVENTEEN – “You Make My Day”

New Artist of the Year

Male and female artists who debuted in 2018 are chosen based entirely on Gaon Chart data for Digital Music (30 days after the best-performing song’s release) and Physical Album (six weeks after the best-performing album’s release).

These are the New Artist of the Year nominees:

(G)I-DLE
IZ*ONE
Stray Kids
HAON
Yoo Seon Ho
LOONA
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HAEUN

Composer of the Year, Lyricist of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose winners from composers and lyricists who participated in music released in 2018.

Performer of the Year (Instrumental Accompaniment, Chorus)

The Federation of Korean Music Performers will choose winners from instrumental accompaniment performers and chorus singers who participated in music released in 2018.

Style of the Year (Choreography, Stylist)

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose winners from choreographers and stylists who participated in music released in 2018.

Discovery of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose a winner who was not awarded an Artist of the Year award but showed noteworthy activity in various genres throughout the year.

Hot Performance of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose an artist that showed exceptional performances in 2018.

World Hallyu Star Award

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose an artist that impressed the most with overseas activities.

World Rookie of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose a new artist that received lots of love overseas.

International Song of the Year

The artist from outside of Korea who has the highest Gaon Chart score for 2018 will be awarded.

Long-Run Song of the Year

The artist with the 2018 song that charted in the top 50 of the weekly digital chart for the longest time period will be awarded.

Popular Singer of the Year

The artist with the song that charted No. 1 on the 2018 karaoke chart will be awarded.