What is Daesang?
Award ceremonies are common not only in western countries but in South Korea, too. As Korean music fans, we may be familiar with the Korean term, daesang. Before we talk more about daesang, we should know that there is bonsang, too. In music area, Bonsang, or main prize, is an award that an artist can get by calculating their disc (physical album) and digital sales with online votes and a final judgement by the judges of the award ceremony. Bonsang can be awarded to up to a dozen artists at the same time. Among a dozen bonsang-awarded artists, there will be one artist or group with the highest number of points. That artist is the one who will be awarded daesang, the grand prize or highest award of the ceremony. In some award ceremonies, the daesang is divided into several awards for certain categories. In order to get daesang, an artist must get bonsang first, and to get bonsang, at least they have to get their disc and digital sales totals significantly high. To get bonsang and daesang, it usually depends a lot on the artist’s fans, but how? First, we can buy their albums through the official shops. We can search for their official shops from their official website. Don’t worry, it is usually accessible for international fans, too! Second, we can help by streaming their digital albums or songs through their official website. It can be from Melon, Spotify, YouTube, Shazam, and others, depending on the award ceremonies’ policies. Third, award ceremonies usually open up online voting on their own official websites, so we can help by voting daily until the voting period is closed. Of course there are requirements to vote, like makeing a certain ID or other things. But, again, in order to get daesang, it depends on the award ceremonies themselves. There are some award ceremonies that only provide daesang without bonsang or don’t rely much on the online voting and record sales, but more professional judgments for the judging criteria. Award ceremonies in Korea that provide daesang are Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), Melon Music Awards (MMA), Golden Disc Awards (GDA), Asia Artist Awards (AAA), Seoul Music Awards (SMA), Korean Music Awards (KMA), and the newly-introduced, Soribada Best K-Music Awards (SOBA).
How Many Times Has BTS Won Daesangs?
From the explanation above, it’s easy to see that it isn’t easy to win daesang, or even bonsang. Not only do the artists have to work hard to produce music, their fans also have to work hard to help with the selling, streaming, and voting. Not to mention they have to compete against the other artists and their fans. BTS may have won many awards since their debut in 2014, but how many times have they won daesang? Let’s check it out!
Melon Music Award 2016 – 1
The Melon Music Awards (MMA) is organized by Kakao M and the online music store, Melon. They divide daesang into three awards: Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year. On November 19, after three years of hard work, BTS got their very first daesang through the Melon Music Awards 2016 for Best Album of the Year category for their album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever. They won the award against 10 other artists, including EXO, TWICE, and PSY. They also won Top 10 Artist and were nominated in other categories, like Netizen Popularity Award, Kakao Hot Star, Best Dance – Male for their song Fire. The boys looked so shocked because it was the first time they got daesang since their debut.
Here is a compilation of BTS’s appearance at MMA 2016!
Mnet Asian Music Awards 2016 – 1
Mnet Asian Music Awards, best known as MAMA, is an event that is held annually by CJ E&M through its official channel, Mnet. MAMA usually has three daesangs, for several awards such as Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. On December 2, MAMA was held in the Asia World Arena in Hong Kong. BTS won their second daesang through MAMA 2016, for Artist of the Year, against EXO, TWICE, GFRIEND, and Tae-yeon. They won Best Dance Performance – Male Group (Blood, Sweat, and Tears) and were nominated in Album of the Year (Wings), Song of the Year (Blood, Sweat, and Tears), Best Music Video (Blood, Sweat, and Tears), Best Male Group, and Worldwide Favorite Artist.
Mnet Asian Music Awards 2017 – 1
During the next annual MAMA in Hong Kong (December 1), BTS won another daesang for Artist of the Year against EXO, TWICE, Wanna One, and IU. They also won Best Music Video (Spring Day) and Best Asian Style in Hong Kong. Their song, DNA, was nominated for Mwave Global Fans’ Choice, Best Dance Performance – Male Group, and Song of the Year. Meanwhile, their album Love Yourself: Her was nominated for Album of the Year.
Melon Music Award 2017 – 2
On December 2, 2017, the MMA took place at Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul. BTS won two daesangs for Song of the Year (Spring Day) and Global Artist against other artists like BIGBANG, EXO, TWICE, Wanna One, and others. MMA revealed that the Global Artist was a daesang that was finally brought back after PSY winning that award in 2013, because during that period no one was worthy to win it. Yet, after seeing BTS winning the Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards 2017 and their appearance in United State, they were convinced about BTS’s popularity. BTS also won Top 10 Artist and Music Video Award (DNA) and were nominated for Kakao Hot Star Award, Netizen Popularity Award, Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (You Never Walk Alone), and Best Dance – Male (DNA).
Golden Disc Awards 2018 – 1
GDA is an award ceremony that has existed since 1986 (previously named Korea Visual and Records Grand Prize Award until 2000). It was presented annually by Music Industry Association of Korea. GDA divides daesang and bonsang in two categories, disc (physical album) and digital (online streaming). At the 32nd GDA (January 11), BTS won Disc Daesang for the first time at GDA after being awarded for Disc Bonsang since 2015. They were also the first K-Pop artists who broke the 10-year consecutive records from SM Entertainment artists through their mini-album Love Yourself: Her. The mini-album, itself, broke the record for best-selling Korean album in 16 years and sold over 1 million in Hanteo and Gaon without a repackage. Their song Spring Day won Digital Bonsang and the group was nominated for Global Popularity Award.
Seoul Music Awards 2018 – 1
Seoul Music Award (SMA), or Seoul Gayo Daejun, is presented by Sports Seoul for achievements in the music industry. SMA usually puts the daesang category as Artist of the Year. Not long after their first daesang in 2018, BTS finally beat the consecutive winner for the previous five years, EXO, and won a daesang at Seoul Music Awards 2018 (January 25). They also broke the 10-year consecutive daesang winners from The Big 3 (biggest entertainments: JYP, YG, and SM), making them the first non-Big-3 artist to win. Before, BTS had been awarded bonsang since 2015 but didn’t win daesang until 2017. They won daesang against eleven other artists, including EXO, Got7, BLACKPINK, and Wanna One. They were also nominated for the Hallyu Special Award and Popularity Award.
Korean Music Awards 2018 – 1
Unlike the other music award ceremonies, the Korean Music Awards doesn’t use the record sales to determine the winners. They use recommendations of a panel of judges, consisting of music critics, radio show producers, academics, and other professionals within the music industry. They divide the daesang category in three awards, Musician of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. On their 15th annual (February 28), BTS won another daesang for Musician of the Year, beating IU, Hyuk Oh, and Kim Mok-in. Their song DNA was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song. Meanwhile, their album Love Yourself: Her was nominated for Best Pop Album. On the day of the event, BTS was unable to attend the ceremony due to their work schedule, however, they became the first K-Pop group to win Musician of the Year.
Soribada Best K-Music Awards 2018 – 1
Soribada Best K-Music Awards (SOBA) is presented by Soribada for achievements in K-Pop music only. It is a newly-formed award ceremony that took place in 2017 for the first time. Determining the winners is based on Soribada’s internal data, online voting, and ratings from professional judges and critics. They provide bonsang (known as Best Artist of the Year) and daesang. On their second annual (August 30) awards event, BTS won the Daesang Award after winning the Bonsang Award, beating other 10 bonsang winners including Mamamoo, Red Velvet, TWICE, and Wanna One. They also won World Social Artist Award and were nominated for Popularity Award – Male and Global Fandom Award.
MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards 2018 – 2
Another newly-formed award ceremony, MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards (MGA) was held by MBC Plus and Genie Music for the first time on November 6, 2018. The judging criteria are based on online voting, digital sales, judges scores, and social media. They have daesang in four categories, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Selling Artist of the Year, and Digital Album of the Year. BTS won two daesangs for Artist of the Year and Digital Album of the Year (Love Yourself: Answer, beating Bobbalggan4, iKON, Wanna One, and Epik High). They won many other awards, like Best Male Group, Genie Music Popularity Award, Idol Champ Global Popularity Award, Best Style, Best Fandom and were nominated for Best Selling Artist of the Year. Their song Idol won Best Male Dance Performance and Best Music Video and was nominated for Song of the Year. Meanwhile, their other song, Fake Love, was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Rap/Hip Hop Music. Their producer, Bang Si-hyuk, also won an award for Best Producer.
Asia Artist Awards 2018 – 1
Asia Artist Awards (AAA) is organized by the South Korea-based business newspaper Money Today and its global media brands, StarNews and MTN, which first awarded in 2016 in the entertainment industry (they divide nominations and awards for music and movies/television shows). The judging criteria include online voting from domestic and international fans. On their 3rd annual (November 28, 2018) awards event, BTS won another Daesang Award, after it had previously had been awarded to EXO twice. They also won StarPay Popularity Award, Korean Tourism Appreciation Award, Fabulous Award, and Artist of the Year (different from Daesang Award). They won all the nominated categories.
