Melon Music Award for Artist of the Year

The Melon Music Award for Artist of the Year is an accolade presented by Kakao M at the annual Melon Music Awards. The Artist of the Year award was first given at its inaugural online ceremony in 2005; since 2009, it consists of the most prestigious awards given at the event, alongside Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

Winners and nominees


Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Artists with multiple nominations

 * 8 nominations
 * IU


 * 7 nominations
 * BTS


 * 6 nominations
 * Exo


 * 3 nominations
 * Big Bang
 * Beast


 * 2 nominations
 * Zico
 * Girls' Generation
 * Shinee
 * 2NE1
 * TVXQ
 * Lim Young-woong
 * NCT Dream
 * Ive
 * aespa

Artists with multiple wins

 * 3 wins


 * BTS


 * 2 wins


 * IU
 * Exo
 * Beast
 * Girls' Generation