Updated December 30 KST:

The 9th Gaon Chart Music Awards has announced its nominees for the Rookie of the Year awards!

The nominees for Rookie of the Year in the digital music category are:

AB6IX

ITZY

X1

Shin Ye Young

Jeong Hyo Bean

The nominees for Rookie of the Year in the physical album category are:

AB6IX

CIX

ITZY

X1

TXT

Original Article:

Additional details have been revealed for this year’s Gaon Chart Music Awards!

The award categories and criteria are as follows:

Artist of the Year (Digital Music) – 12 winners

A winner is chosen for a release from each month from December 2018 through November 2019 based entirely on Gaon Chart data for 30 days after the song’s release.

These are the Artist of the Year (Digital Music) nominees for each month until August (with the following months yet to be revealed):

January

M.C the MAX – “After You’ve Gone”

Woody – “Fire up”

Lee Sora – “Song Request” (Feat. Suga)

Chungha – “Gotta Go”

Paul Kim – “Traffic Light”

February

(G)I-DLE – “Senorita”

ITZY – “DALLA DALLA”

Nilo – “The day, I hate myself”

Loco – “It’s been a while” (Feat. Zion.T)

Hwasa – “twit”

March

Park Bom – “Spring” (Feat. Sandara Park)

Baek Yerin – “Maybe It’s Not Our Fault”

Epik High – “LOVEDRUNK” (Feat. Crush)

Jang Bum Joon – “every moment with you”

Taeyeon – “Four Seasons”

April

BLACKPINK – “Kill This Love”

TWICE – “FANCY”

BTS – “Boy With Luv”

BOL4 – “Bom”

BOL4 – “Stars over me”

May

WINNER – “AH YEAH”

Davichi – “Unspoken Words”

Monday Kiz – “My love has faded away”

Park Hyo Shin – “Goodbye”

Lee Hi – “NO ONE” (Feat. B.I)

June

Kim Na Young – “To be honest”

Red Velvet – “Zimzalabim”

Urban Zakapa – “Seoul Night” (Feat. Beenzino)

Jang Hye Jin and Yoon Min Soo – “Drunk On Love”

Chungha – “Snapping”

July

ITZY – “ICY”

MeloMance – “You&I”

BEN – “Thank you for Goodbye”

Younha – “On A Rainy Day”

Heize – “We don’t talk together” (Feat. Giriboy) (Prod. Suga)

August

X1 – “FLASH”

Nilo – “He’story”

Red Velvet – “Umpah Umpah”

Sunmi – “LALALAY”

Crush – “NAPPA”

Artist of the Year (Physical Album) – 4 winners

A winner is chosen for a release from each quarter of 2019 based entirely on Gaon Chart data for six weeks after the album’s release.

These are the Artist of the Year (Physical Album) nominees for the first two quarters (with the last two quarters yet to be revealed):

1st Quarter (released between January 1 and March 31)

2nd Quarter (released between April 1 and June 30)

BLACKPINK – “KILL THIS LOVE”

GOT7 – “SPINNING TOP : BETWEEN SECURITY & INSECURITY”

NCT 127 – “NCT #127 WE ARE SUPERHUMAN”

TWICE – “FANCY YOU”

BTS – “MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA”

The other categories are as follows:

Rookie of the Year (Digital Music and Physical Album)

Artists who debuted between January and November 2019 are chosen based entirely on Gaon Chart data.

Hot Performance of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose an artist that showed exceptional performances throughout the year.

Discovery of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose a winner who showed noteworthy activity in a certain genre throughout the year.

World K-pop Rookie

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose a new artist that received lots of love overseas.

World K-pop Star

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose an artist that impressed the most with overseas activities.

K-pop Contribution of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose an individual or group that contributed to the promotion and progress of K-pop around the world.

Performer of the Year (Instrumental Accompaniment, Chorus)

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose winners from instrumental accompaniment performers and chorus singers who participated in music released during the time period.

Style of the Year (Choreography, Stylist)

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose winners from choreographers and stylists who participated in music released during the time period.

Composer of the Year, Lyricist of the Year

A judge panel of industry professionals will choose winners from composers and lyricists who participated in music released in 2019.

Song of the Year in International Pop

The song from outside of Korea that has the highest Gaon Chart digital score will be awarded.

International Rising Star of the Year

The international rookie artist that showed the most success on the Gaon digital chart will be awarded.

Popular Singer of the Year

The artist with the song that accumulated No. 1 on the karaoke chart for the year will be awarded.

Music Steady Seller of the Year

The song that charted in the top 50 of the weekly digital chart for the longest time period will be awarded.

Retail Album of the Year

The album that recorded the highest retail sales during the year will be awarded.

Top Kit Seller of the Year

The kit album that recorded the highest sales during the year will be awarded.

Social Hot Star of the Year

The artist that recorded the highest score on the social chart during the year will be awarded.

Record Production of the Year

An album production label will be awarded with the artist as the representative along with staff members.

The 9th Gaon Chart Music Awards will be held on January 8, 2020 at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul.

Stay tuned for the lineup and more details!

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