The 36th Golden Disc Awards (GDA) ceremony was held on Jan. 8 at the Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul to honor outstanding artists.
BTS and IU emerged as the biggest winners of the night. BTS won the disc “daesang” (grand prize) for Album of the Year for “BE” and IU took home the digital “daesang” for Song of the Year for “Celebrity.”
This year’s GDA covered albums and digital songs released between end of November 2020 and end November 2021.
The winners for the grand prizes and division winners were selected based on sales (60 percent) and expert evaluation (40 percent). The evaluation group was composed of 50 people of industry officials, K-pop reporters, music program producers, pop culture critics, major distribution officials and the Golden Disc Awards evaluation committee.
The evaluation committee judges nominee selections, fairness of criteria, relevance of categories, suitability of standards, and more.
Here are the winners at the 36th Golden Disc Awards:
ALBUM DIVISION
Album of the Year (Disc Daesang or Grand Prize) - “BE,” BTS
Disc Bonsang (Main Prize)
1. BTS - “BE”
2. ENHYPEN - “Dimension: Dilemma”
3. IU - “Lilac”
4. NCT 127 - “Sticker”
5. NCT Dream - “Hot Sauce”
6. Seventeen - “Attacca”
7. Stray Kids – “NOEASY”
8. Tomorrow X Together - “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze”
Cosmopolitan Artist - Seventeen, Aespa
Artist of the Year - Aespa
Seezn Golden Disc Most Popular Artist Award - BTS
DIGITAL SONG DIVISION
Song of the Year (Digital Daesang or Grand Prize) - “Celebrity,” IU
Digital Song Bonsang (Main Prize)
1. Aespa - "Next Level"
2. AKMU - "Nakka" (with IU)
3. BTS - "Butter"
4. Heize - "Happen"
5. IU - "Celebrity"
6. Lee Mu-jin - "Traffic Light"
7. Oh My Girl - "Dun Dun Dance"
8. STAYC - "ASAP"
Rookie Artist of the Year - Aespa, STAYC
Best Group - Brave Girls
Best Solo Artist - Lim Young-woong
Best Performance - The Boyz, Jeon Somi