The first-timer’s guide to the Golden Melody Awards & Festival 2023

In partnership with GMA

When it comes to Chinese music, no prize is bigger than the Golden Melody Awards. Often considered the Chinese-speaking world’s equivalent of the Grammys, the GMAs are recognised as crowning achievements of the Mandarin pop scene, marking significant milestones to artists who are nominated.

After a three-year hiatus brought about by the pandemic, this year’s edition of the Taiwanese awards ceremony also marks the return of the Golden Melody Festival, an industry-focused event dedicated to celebrating Chinese pop and expanding its horizons by forging connections with folks from international music industries.

Ahead of the GMAs on July 1 and the Golden Melody Festival from June 28-30, check out NME’s guide to the biggest celebration in Chinese music.

What are the Golden Melody Awards?

Organised by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the Golden Melody Awards accepts any works released in Taiwan (meaning non-Taiwanese artists are eligible as well; the likes of JJ Lin and Eason Chan have been decorated at the GMAs). As a result, the GMAs often serve as a reliable barometer for trends in the wider Chinese-speaking music industry: from hip-hop trailblazer MC HotDog winning Best Album in 2007 to No Party For Cao Dong upstaging rock institution Mayday in 2017 to win Best Band, the awards has its finger on the pulse of Taiwanese and Chinese music as a whole.

Beyond Mandarin, the GMAs also has categories that spotlight and award works made in Taiwanese, Hakka and aboriginal languages. It’s judged by a jury panel that rotates annually, and this year, following a three-month, three-round review process that sieved through over 1,600 albums, the GMAs’ 34th edition has landed on a shortlist of 169 works vying for 27 awards.

Themed ‘Boundless’, the 2023 GMAs will be televised as usual but also live-streamed for the very first time on YouTube. It will also be the first ceremony to have international artists attending and performing, further reflecting its aim to reach beyond borders and its traditional audience.

Hosting the GMAs is a big deal, and often the subject of much media attention. The gig this year has gone to established star and singer-songwriter WeiBird, who follows Yellow 黃宣, whose playful flamboyance created many memorable social media moments with guests and nominees alike last year.

WeiBird will be making his hosting debut at the GMAs, but he holds plenty of starpower for the role – he’s no stranger to the GMAs, having won trophies as Best New Singer in 2011 and Best Composer in 2015. WeiBird will be co-hosting with the tag-team of Chen Ming Chu and Wayne Huang, who established themselves with a keen sense of humour in backstage segments in 2022’s ceremony.

Who is nominated at the Golden Melody Awards this year?

Leading the pack is Hung Pei-Yu, a former contestant on televised singing contest Super Idol who is nominated for eight awards for her debut record ‘Silver Lining’. Two other artists are also in the running for seven awards: singer-songwriter Lala Hsu, with her sixth album ‘Gei’; and Wu Qing-feng, with his feature-stacked LP ‘Mallarme’s Tuesdays’. The frontman of the band Sodagreen (also known as Oaeen), Wu’s most recent win at the GMAs came in 2020, when he took home Best Male Mandarin Singer for his debut solo record.

Indie veteran Enno Cheng is also up for three awards thanks to her graceful fourth record ‘Mercury Retrograde’, including Best Female Singer. (Last year, that trophy went to Singapore’s Tanya Chua for her record ‘Depart’, which bagged four awards out of eight nominations, making her the artist with the most wins ever in that category.)

On the other hand, there’s a strong hip-hop showing in the Best Male Singer category, with rising star Kumachan and MC HotDog both nominated. The two of them will face Wu, riding on the strength of ‘Mallarme’s Tuesdays’, and singer-songwriter HUSH, alongside other nominees The Crane and Zhao Lei.

Meanwhile, in an unexpected turn of events, Jay Chou is only up for one award. After scoring the world’s best-selling album in pure sales last year, the oft-dubbed ‘King of Mandopop’ will only be in competition for Song Of The Year for the track ‘Greatest Works Of Art’.

In the Best New Artist category, the heavily tipped Hung faces the likes of alt-rock singer-songwriter LÜCY, grassroots rockers Mangojump, and Sunset Rollercoaster saxophonist HAOTING. The pool for Best Musical Group/Band is a similarly diverse one: Elephant Gym’s genre-hopping ‘Dreams’ join post-rock veterans Bugs of Phonon and funk mainstays Cosmos People, while strong efforts from emerging artists – including colourful folk-fusion outfit A_Root and groovy newcomers Robot Swing – help make the field ever more unpredictable.

Every year, the GMAs features a Special Contribution Award that pays tribute to the Mandopop industry’s greats. It goes to two awardees this year: late lyricist and producer Eric Lin, who penned a number of iconic hits including including A-Mei’s ‘Listen To The Sea’, and veteran Taiwanese singer Feifei Ou Yang, who was a star both at home and in Japan. In 1971, the singer topped Japan’s Oricon charts with her debut single ‘Ame no Midosuji’, which was one of nine charting singles across her career.She also became the first non-Japanese act to perform on NHK’s iconic new year’s programme, Kouhaku Uta Gassen.

See the full list of nominations here.

What can I expect from the Golden Melody Festival 2023?

Held in the lead-up to the Golden Melody Awards this year from June 28 to 30, the Golden Melody Festival will be returning after a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus. The more industry-focused Festival has run in tandem with the GMAs since 2014, and will include keynote speeches from industry heavyweights, as well as business opportunities and speed meetings via matching services to connect artists and industry executives to curators and festival buyers.

At the Le Méridien Taipei, Golden Melody Festival attendees can expect both domestic and international speakers including 88rising co-founder Jaeson Ma and Wednesday and Euphoria music supervisor, Jen Malone. Meanwhile, Isaac Chen, famed concert producer for Mandopop superstars such as Rainie Yang, Show Luo and S.H.E., will also speak on Taiwan’s unique approach to live production.

There’ll be inspiration for artists and creators too: Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg collaborator Larrance Dopson will drop by for a special songwriting tip session, while Kendrick Lamar songwriter James Fauntleroy will speak on the power of converting listeners to fans. Streaming’s part of the discussion too, with Spotify execs – Head of Music (SEA) Kossy Ng and Artist & Label Partnerships manager Pitt Tang – at the festival to speak on Mandarin pop in a global context.

Additionally, nine Taiwanese acts will perform at the Golden Melody Festival every night at a ticketed showcase that showcases the scene’s diversity, ranging from harp-filled sounds of singer-songwriter Paige Su, to Iruka Police’s playful indie rock, to the smooth R&B of Karencici.

Thanks to partnerships with music festivals including Philippines’ Wanderland, Singapore’s Baybeats and Thailand’s Big Mountain Music Festival, three emerging acts from Southeast Asia will also add their own flair to the Festival’s stage: Singaporean shoegazers Motifs, Filipino funk band Flu and Thai-pop boyband PERSES.

The Golden Melody Festival is currently open to businesses for registration here.

The Golden Melody Awards will be held at the Taipei Arena on July 1, while the Golden Melody Festival will be held June 28-30, 2023 at Le Méridien Taipei. Find more information on the official GMA site here.

The post The first-timer’s guide to the Golden Melody Awards & Festival 2023 appeared first on NME.