Seventeen and Espa Win Grand Prize at the 39th Golden Disc Awards… Create New History for K-pop

On January 5, 2025, at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome in Japan, SEVENTEEN and aespa garnered much attention by winning the grand prizes in the album category and digital music category, respectively. The awards ceremony was held under the theme of ‘Coexistence, Connection, and Expansion’, and the two teams achieved two crowns, including the main prize in each category.

SEVENTEEN Wins Grand Prize in the Album Category for Two Consecutive Years

SEVENTEEN celebrated their 10th anniversary by winning the grand prize in the album category for two consecutive years with ‘SPILL THE FEELS’. SEVENTEEN, who set a record of ’10 Years of All-Time Attendance at the Golden Disc’, once again proved their deep bond with fans and global popularity by winning the grand prize in addition to their musical achievements.

aespa Wins Grand Prize in the Digital Music Category… Climbing to the Global Top

Aespa won the grand prize in the digital music category for the first time in four years, and rose to the undisputed top of K-pop following the ‘Supernova’ syndrome. With this award, Aespa solidified their position as a global artist beyond K-pop, and gave a great impression to global fans.

Best Album Award and Major Winners

A total of 10 teams won the main awards in the album category: Seventeen, Stray Kids, Ive, Aespa, ATEEZ, NCT Dream, ENHYPEN, Zerobase One, Tomorrow x Together, and (G)I-dle. New Jeans, Day6, Vivi, Ive, IU, Ailrit, Aespa, Taeyeon, Tours, and (G)I-dle were selected for the main awards in the digital music category.

Rookie Award, Best Solo Artist Award, etc.

At this awards ceremony, the Rookie Award, which can be received only once in a lifetime, went to artists who will lead the next generation of K-pop, such as Illite, Tours, Baby Monster, and NCT Wish. The ‘Best Solo Artist Award’ went to (G)I-dle’s Wooqi, showing off his unrivaled presence. In addition, Crush won the Best OST Award for the OST ‘I’m Sorry, I Hate You, I Love You’ from the tvN drama ‘Queen of Tears’.

Male and Female Popularity Awards, Global K-pop Artist Awards, etc.

The Golden Disc Male and Female Popularity Awards, which were decided by ‘100% voting’, went to Playbe and Le Seraphim, respectively. The total cumulative votes exceeded 44 million, with Playbe receiving 15,669,774 votes out of 39,561,956, and Le Seraphim receiving 1,781,032 votes out of 4,809,908. Also, the Global K-pop Artist Award went to Ive and Enhypen, the Cosmopolitan Artist Award went to New Jeans, and the FANS CHOICE with Nongshim Shin Ramyun went to Enhypen.

Special Golden Honorable Choice and Producer Award

The late Shin Hae-chul won the Golden Honorable Choice Award, showing that the legacy of his music still remains with us. In addition, Pledis Entertainment’s Han Sung-soo Master Professional (MP) won the first Golden Disc Producer Award, recognizing his contributions to the development of the K-pop industry.

This year’s Golden Disc Awards was a meaningful awards ceremony where the winners were selected based on the evaluations of expert judges and a comprehensive analysis of music and album sales, recognizing all the artists representing the present and future of K-pop.