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| Members of award-winning K-pop group BTS pose on the 2022 Grammy red carpet in Las Vegas, April 3 (local time.) Courtesy of Big Hit Music |
'Korea needs credible music awards'
By Dong Sun-hwa
Several music awards were launched in Korea over the past few years with the hope that they would become Korea's Grammy or Korea's Billboard. Their lofty goal was to follow in the footsteps of some of the world's most prestigious music awards, which have decades of history, as well as trying to earn a comparable reputation. However, to this day, none of them has succeeded.
Numerous events like the MAMA Awards ― formerly known as Mnet Asian Music Awards ― Melon Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards and Korean Music Awards have attempted to become game changers by inviting dozens of K-pop bigwigs and thousands of spectators. But this practice has only drawn sharp criticism that they offer nothing more than visual splendor. Many of them also came under fire for lacking transparency in selecting the winners and giving out too many prizes. In the case of MBC, KBS and SBS ― the three major terrestrial broadcasters in Korea ― they used to have their own end-of-year music awards, but got rid of them in the mid-2000s after sparking controversy over issues to do with fairness.
"Honestly, it seems music awards in Korea are mostly driven by money," music critic Jung Min-jae told The Korea Times. "Even the world's most prestigious awards like the Grammy and Billboard are one-day events, but many awards in Korea take place over two days. The first day usually recognizes those who made a splash on streaming charts, while the second-day honors the singers with high album sales. But what is the point of this division? In my eyes, it seems the ultimate goal of event organizers is to sell more tickets and rack up more profits."
Holding a music awards ceremony can be lucrative, as its organizer often does not have to pay singers for their performances, but can still make money by selling tickets to their fans and attracting sponsors that seek media attention.
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| The MAMA Awards will take place in Osaka, Japan, from Nov. 29 to 30. Courtesy of CJ ENM |
"In the case of the Grammy Awards, its organizer, the Recording Academy, values musicality and artistry, whereas Billboard decides the winners based on its charts. The American Music Awards takes the commercial success of a song or an album into consideration," he said. "But music awards in Korea do not seem to have their own criteria. They often make their assessments based on quantitative data and the judges' opinions, mixing them in a vague or unknown way. So, a lot of people think they are neither objective nor subjective."
Echoing this view, pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik said these music awards also lack diversity.
"We can hardly find an awards ceremony embracing all music genres and singers of all ages," Kim pointed out. "Many of them focus on highlighting the music of K-pop idol groups without recognizing the musical feats of singers of other genres such as trot."
Kim added, "It appears to me that they are putting excessive emphasis on the singers' performance on digital streaming charts, too. Some musicians are better known for their performing skills, but they are rarely recognized at an awards ceremony because the number and the size of concerts are not the deciding factors."
This is why some industry insiders claim Korea needs an integrated awards ceremony that can win people's respect. Although its feasibility should still be explored, critic Jung stressed that a credible music awards ceremony is a must for the growth of the country's music industry.
"A music awards ceremony can become a reliable source of history for our pop music," he noted. "When people talk about pop music in the U.S., they often link it to the Grammys and recall the moment, such as when Christina Aguilera won the Best New Artist award after edging out Britney Spears in 1999. This is all part of history. But at the moment, Korea has no iconic awards that can function like the Grammys. In the 1990s, we did have some programs like KBS' 'Top 10 Songs' that helped us chronicle our music history, but they are all gone now."
The critic added, "Over the past few years, our music industry has been centering on revving up our global presence and we saw some visible progress. So I believe now it is the time for us to record our history and begin building our legacy."
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