Aespa, Ateez lead MMAs lineup, as BTS, Blackpink earn nominations

Two-day ceremony also features Ive, Illit and I.O.I, with new global award debuting in November

The Melon Music Awards will expand to a two-day event for the first time this year, bringing together established K-pop stars and rising acts while introducing a new award based on music streaming activity across South Korea, China and Japan.

Melon, South Korea's largest music streaming platform, operated by Kakao Entertainment, will hold the 18th edition of the awards at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 14 and 15.

Voting for the Top 10 award, recognizing 10 of the year's most popular artists, opened Thursday and will continue through Oct. 29.

Winners will be determined by digital music performance, which accounts for 60 percent of the score, followed by evaluations from a judging panel and fan votes, each weighted at 20 percent.

The 30 nominees include established acts such as BTS, Blackpink and Girls' Generation's Taeyeon, alongside newer groups including Cortis, Hearts2Hearts and KiiiKiii.

This year's ceremony will also introduce the Global Top 10 award, tied to the Global-K Chart, a combined streaming chart developed by Melon in partnership with China's Tencent Music and Japan's Line Music.

Held under the slogan "K-Pop Connect: The New Pulse," the event will feature performances across both days, with separate lineups of established stars and newer acts.

I.O.I, Aespa open Day 1

Nov. 14 will feature NCT Dream, Ateez, Yena, Riize, TWS, Rescene and Hearts2Hearts, alongside newly announced performers I.O.I, Aespa and Tuide.

Among the highlights is I.O.I, the project girl group formed through Mnet's "Produce 101," which is reuniting after approximately nine years.

In May, the group returned with its third EP, "I.O.I: Loop," led by the single "Suddenly." The song topped both Melon's Top 100 and Hot 100 charts and earned three consecutive weeks of music show wins.

Comparable to Billboard's Hot 100, Melon's Top 100 ranks songs regardless of release date based on streaming and downloads, while the Hot 100 focuses on tracks released within the past 100 days.

Aespa, which released its second studio album, "Lemonade," on May 29, will also perform. The title track topped the daily, weekly and monthly Global-K Chart, while the album reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200.

Among the rookie acts to perform is seven-member girl group Tuide, which debuted in August under ABD, Hybe's girl group-focused label. Its debut EP, "Tune & Play," featured the lead single "Sun Kiss," which reached No. 14 on Melon's Hot 100. All five tracks from the album entered the chart.

Ive, Cortis join Day 2

Nov. 15 will feature Ive, KiiiKiii and Cortis alongside previously announced performers NCT 127, Plave, NCT Wish, Illit, Alpha Drive One and Lngshot.

Ive joins the lineup following the success of "Bang Bang," the prerelease single from its second studio album, "Revive+." Released in February, the song topped Melon's Top 100 and weekly charts and earned eight music show wins.

The group is also preparing new music, with the prerelease single "Looks Can Kill" scheduled for Monday, ahead of an EP of the same name on Oct. 26.

KiiiKiii scored its first No. 1 on Melon's Top 100 with "404 (New Era)" in January, ascending to the top 16 days after its release.

The group followed with its August EP, "WhyKiiiKiii," whose lead single "Pop Off Pop Off" entered the top 10 of the Top 100. All tracks from the album also appeared on Melon's Hot 100.

Cortis has maintained a strong chart presence with "RedRed," the lead single from its second EP.

The song ranked among the top three on Melon's monthly chart for five consecutive months from May through September, the longest such run for a boy group since BTS' "Dynamite."

"RedRed" also topped Melon's Top 100 and weekly charts, while earning 12 music show wins.