MMA 2025 Winners: G-Dragon Sweeps 3 Daesangs & Jennie Crowned Record of the Year

The night of December 20, 2025, will go down in K-Pop history. The Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul witnessed the definitive return of “K-Pop Royalty” at the Melon Music Awards (MMA).

If anyone had doubts about who dominated the charts this year, the MMA 2025 awards spoke for themselves. G-Dragon took home 7 trophies, including three of the four Daesangs (Grand Prizes) of the night, reaffirming his status as a living legend. Meanwhile, Jennie (BLACKPINK) was not left behind, taking home the prestigious Record of the Year Daesang.

Here is the complete list of winners and an analysis of the records and curiosities left by this gala.

The Grand Triumph of MMA 2025: G-Dragon and BIGBANG (in Spirit)

G-Dragon achieved a feat few soloists have ever managed: winning Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (for “Übermensch”), and Song of the Year.

The latter was the most emotional award of the night at the Melon Music Awards. The winning song, “HOME SWEET HOME,” features Taeyang and Daesung, turning the stage into a BIGBANG mini-reunion that brought thousands of VIPs present to tears.

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The Complete List of MMA 2025 Winners

🏆 THE DAESANGS (Grand Prizes)

Artist of the Year: G-Dragon
Album of the Year: G-Dragon – “Übermensch”
Song of the Year: G-Dragon – “HOME SWEET HOME” (feat. Taeyang, Daesung)
Record of the Year: Jennie

🏆 MAIN AWARDS

New Artist of the Year (Rookie): ALLDAY PROJECT, Hearts2Hearts

TOP 10 (Bonsang):
- Rosé
- Lim Young Woong
- Jennie
- aespa
- BOYNEXTDOOR
- G-Dragon
- IVE
- NCT WISH
- PLAVE
- RIIZE

RIZEE MELON MUSIC AWARDS 2025 K-POP — RIIZEE, MMA 2025

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Millions TOP 10 (Albums with over 1M streams in 24h):
- Rosé – “rosie”
- SEVENTEEN – “HAPPY BURSTDAY”
- IU – “A flower bookmark, Pt. 3”
- Lim Young Woong – “IM HERO 2”
- Jennie – “Ruby”
- BOYNEXTDOOR – “No Genre”
- G-Dragon – “Übermensch”
- IVE – “IVE EMPATHY”
- PLAVE – “Caligo Pt.1”
- RIIZE – “ODYSSEY”

🏆 CATEGORY AWARDS

Best Solo – Female: Rosé
Best Solo – Male: G-Dragon
Best Group – Female: IVE
Best Group – Male: BOYNEXTDOOR
Best OST: HUNTR/X – “Golden” (KPop Demon Hunters OST)
Best Pop Artist (International): Ed Sheeran
Stage of the Year: aespa
Best Music Video: KiiiKiii – “I DO ME”
Best Songwriter: G-Dragon

🏆 TECHNICAL & SPECIAL AWARDS

Best Performance – Female: ILLIT
Best Performance – Male: RIIZE
Best Music Style: ALLDAY PROJECT, 10CM
Global Artist: aespa
Global Rising Artist: IDID
1theK Global Icon: KiiiKiii
Hot Trend: WOODZ
J-Pop Favorite Artist: Kenshi Yonezu
Japan Favorite Artist by U-NEXT: BOYNEXTDOOR
Best Producer: Zico
Berriz Global Fans’ Choice: Hearts2Hearts
TrackZero Choice: HANRORO – “Goodbye, My Summer”
KakaoBank Everyone’s Star: NCT WISH

IVE MMA 2025 K-POP AWARDS — IVE, MMA 2025

🧐 FAQs: Curiosities, Records, and Facts You Must Know About the MMA

Here we tell you the juicy details that don’t appear in the simple list, so you can be an expert on the Melon awards.

1. Is it common for a single artist to win 3 Daesangs in one night?

It is extremely rare and reserved only for legends. In the history of the MMA, groups like BTS achieved similar sweeps (winning all 4 Daesangs in 2019 and 2020). For G-Dragon to achieve this as a soloist in 2025, nearly 20 years after his debut, is a historic milestone that demonstrates his longevity.

2. What is the difference between “Album of the Year” and “Record of the Year”?

This is often the biggest confusion.

Album of the Year (Won by G-Dragon at MMA 2025): This is primarily based on streaming figures on Melon and digital sales of the full album.
Record of the Year (Won by Jennie at MMA 2025): This is an award that values musical quality, production, concept, and the overall impact of the artist and their producers on the industry that year. It is a more “artistic/professional” award and less 100% dependent on raw numbers.

3. Why is PLAVE winning the Top 10 at MMA 2025 historic?

PLAVE is a virtual idol group. Their inclusion in the Bonsang (Top 10) of Melon confirms that virtual idols are no longer a niche, but a mainstream force competing in real streaming against humans like IVE or RIIZE. It is a sign of how the market is changing in 2025.

4. What record does Lim Young Woong hold at the MMA?

Trot singer Lim Young Woong is a wall at the Melon Music Awards. His fandom is so powerful in Korea that he has been entering the Top 10 for consecutive years without fail. Although K-Pop dominates internationally, in Korea, Lim Young Woong often has streaming figures superior to many famous idol groups.

EXO AT THE MELON CEREMONY RED CARPET — LEGENDARY K-POP GROUP EXO

5. Who holds the historical record for the most Daesangs at the MMA?

To date (late 2025), BTS still maintains the absolute record for accumulated Daesangs in the history of the Melon Music Awards. However, with the 3 won tonight, G-Dragon climbs important steps in the historical table of most-awarded soloists.

6. Why did Ed Sheeran win the “Best Pop Artist” award?

This category is dedicated to non-Korean (international) pop music that was listened to most on the Melon platform during the year. In previous years, artists like Charlie Puth or Coldplay have won this award, demonstrating that Korea loves acoustic and melodic Western pop.

7. What does the “Millions TOP 10” award mean?

It is a relatively new category in MMA history. It is awarded to albums that managed to reach 1 million streams within the first 24 hours of their release on Melon, entering the “Melon Hall of Fame.” That G-Dragon, Jennie, Rosé, and SEVENTEEN are there shows who have the most explosive fandoms on the first day of release.

8. Why did BOYNEXTDOOR win Japan-related awards?

The HYBE group, BOYNEXTDOOR, took home the Japan Favorite Artist. This usually indicates that, in addition to their domestic success, they have focused their promotions strongly on the Japanese market this year, achieving a solid fanbase on Japanese platforms associated with the event organizers.