The first-ever Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) continues with its second day of awards ceremony entitled “Song Day” on November 17, recognizing a diverse range of artists across various categories.
Ahead of the ceremony, the KGMA Organizing Committee announced the winners of several awards, including Most Streamed Song, Rookie Award (fan vote), IS Rookie Award, Best Adult Contemporary, Trot Star of the Year, Best Song 10, Photogenic Award, K-Pop Solo Artist of the Year, and Trot Rookie of the Year.
aespa took home the award for Most Streamed Song with their hit track “Supernova,” released in May. The song dominated major Korean music charts, including Genie, Flo, and Bugs (the official charts for KGMA), and also topped YouTube Music charts, demonstrating global popularity. “Supernova” surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify in just 53 days, solidifying aespa’s position as a leading fourth-generation girl group.
RIIZE secured the Rookie Award through fan votes. Since their debut in September 2023 with “Get A Guitar,” RIIZE has quickly become a monster rookie, achieving million-seller status with both their debut single album and their first mini-album ‘RIIZING’.
UNIS was awarded the IS Rookie Award. The girl group has shown impressive growth since their debut in March, achieving the eighth-highest first-week sales for a debut album among girl groups with ‘WE UNIS’. Their recent single album ‘CURIOUS’ topped iTunes charts in five countries and demonstrated further growth in sales.
Lee Chan Won won two awards: Best Adult Contemporary and Trot Star of the Year. A top contender in the popular trot competition show ‘Mr. Trot’, Lee Chan Won has contributed to the genre’s resurgence. His recent achievement of winning ‘Music Bank’ with “A Travel to the Sky” marked the first time in 17 years for a trot singer.
Stray Kids, Seventeen, Lim Young Woong, and NCT Dream were among the winners of the Best Song 10 award. Other awards were given to xikers for the Photogenic Award, BTS’s V for K-Pop Solo Artist of the Year, and Park Ji Hyun for Trot Rookie of the Year.
The KGMA, organized by Ilgan Sports, a leading entertainment and sports newspaper in Korea, aims to become a prominent music awards ceremony. The “Song Day” ceremony, to be hosted by aespa’s Winter and actress Nam Ji Hyun, will feature performances by various artists, including NOWADAYS, NiziU, DAY6, RIIZE, Song Ga In, aespa, ATEEZ, NCT WISH, (G)I-DLE’s Yuqi, UNIS, Lee Chan Won, JO1, CLASS:y, TREASURE, and FIFTY FIFTY.
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