The Golden Melody Awards (), commonly abbreviated as GMA, is an honor awarded by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and Formosan languages popular and traditional music industry. The GMAs are awarded on the basis of votes by members of a jury and have been recognized as the equivalent to the Grammy Awards in the Chinese-speaking world. It is the music industry counterpart to the Golden Bell Awards (television) and the Golden Horse Awards (motion pictures).
The 1st Golden Melody Awards was held on January 6, 1990. Following the 1996 ceremony, the Ministry of Culture overhauled many Golden Melody Award categories for 1997.
In 1997, the awards were split into separate honors for popular music and traditional music. The two awards became distinct ceremonies in 2007. Starting in 2014, the Golden Melody Awards for traditional music has been awarded by the National Center for Traditional Arts, another division of the Ministry of Culture. Republished as
The 31st and 32nd editions of the awards ceremony were postponed to October 2020 and August 2021, respectively, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 33rd edition was held on July 2, 2022 at the Kaohsiung Arena in Kaohsiung, marking its first return to Kaohsiung City since the 16th edition.
Ceremonies Edition Date Category Venue Location 1st6 January 1990 rowspan="17" Sun Yat-sen Memorial HallTaipei, Taiwan 2nd27 October 1990 3rd9 November 1991 4th21 November 1992 5th20 November 1993 6th26 November 1994 7th8 June 1996 8th3 May 1997Taipei International Convention Center 9th29 May 1998Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 10th30 April 1999 11th28 April 2000 12th5 May 2001Kaohsiung Chiang Kai-shek Cultural CenterKaohsiung, Taiwan 13th4 May 2002 14th3 August 2003National Taiwan University Sports CenterTaipei, Taiwan 15th8 May 2004Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 16th28 May 2005Kaohsiung Chiang Kai-shek Cultural CenterKaohsiung, Taiwan 17th10 June 2006Taipei ArenaTaipei, Taiwan18th2 June 2007TraditionalISCC Convention Center16 June 2007PopularTaipei Arena19th21 June 2008TraditionalTaipei County Government Multifunction HallBanqiao, Taiwan5 July 2008PopularTaipei ArenaTaipei, Taiwan20th6 June 2009TraditionalSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall27 June 2009PopularTaipei Arena21st5 June 2010TraditionalSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall26 June 2010PopularTaipei Arena22nd28 May 2011TraditionalNational Taiwan University Sports Center18 June 2011PopularTaipei Arena23rd2 June 2012TraditionalSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall23 June 2012PopularTaipei Arena24th8 June 2013TraditionalSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall6 July 2013PopularTaipei Arena25th28 June 20149 August 2014TraditionalZhongshan Hall26th27 June 2015PopularTaipei Arena1 August 2015TraditionalZhongshan Hall27th25 June 2016PopularTaipei Arena13 August 2016TraditionalNational Center for Traditional ArtsWujie, Taiwan28th24 June 2017PopularTaipei ArenaTaipei, Taiwan26 August 2017TraditionalNTUA Performing Arts CenterNew Taipei City, Taiwan29th23 June 2018PopularTaipei ArenaTaipei, Taiwan11 August 2018TraditionalTaiwan Traditional Theatre Center30th29 June 2019PopularTaipei Arena10 August 2019TraditionalTaiwan Traditional Theatre Center31st3 October 2020PopularTaipei Music Center24 October 2020TraditionalTaiwan Traditional Theatre Center32nd21 August 2021PopularTaipei Music Center9 October 2021TraditionalTaiwan Traditional Theatre Center33rd2 July 2022PopularKaohsiung ArenaKaohsiung, Taiwan29 October 2022TraditionalTaiwan Traditional Theatre CenterTaipei, Taiwan34th1 July 2023Popular Taipei ArenaTaipei, Taiwan7 October 2023Traditional Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center35th29 June 2024Popular Taipei Arena31 August 2024Traditional Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center36th28 June 2025Popular Taipei Arena23 August 2025Traditional Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center37th27 June 2026Popular Taipei Arena22 August 2026Traditional Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center
Categories
Popular music Source:
Vocal category – Record label awards Album of the Year (年度專輯獎) Song of the Year (年度歌曲獎) Best Mandarin Album (最佳華語專輯獎) Best Taiwanese Album (最佳台語專輯獎) Best Hakka Album (最佳客語專輯獎) Best Indigenous Language Album (最佳原住民語專輯獎)
Vocal category – Individual awards Best Composer (最佳作曲人獎) Best Lyricist (最佳作詞人獎) Best Arranger (最佳編曲人獎) Best Album Producer (最佳專輯製作人獎) Best Song Producer (最佳單曲製作人獎) Best Mandarin Male Singer (最佳華語男歌手獎) Best Mandarin Female Singer (最佳華語女歌手獎) Best Taiwanese Male Singer (最佳台語男歌手獎) Best Taiwanese Female Singer (最佳台語女歌手獎) Best Hakka Singer (最佳客語歌手獎) Best Indigenous Language Singer (最佳原住民語歌手獎) Best Band (最佳樂團獎) Best Vocal Group (最佳演唱組合獎) Best New Artist (最佳新人獎)
Instrumental category – Record label awards Best Instrumental Album (演奏類最佳專輯獎)
Instrumental category – Individual awards Best Instrumental Album Producer (演奏類最佳專輯製作人獎) Best Instrumental Composer (演奏類最佳作曲人獎)
Technical category – Individual awards Best Album Design (最佳裝幀設計獎)
Technical category – Record label awards Best Vocal Recording Album (最佳演唱錄音專輯獎) Best Instrumental Recording Album (最佳演奏錄音專輯獎) Best Music Video (最佳MV獎)
Special category Special Contribution Award (特別貢獻獎) Jury Award (評審團獎)
Traditional arts and music Source:
Publishing category – Album awards Best Traditional Album (最佳傳統音樂專輯獎) Best Art Music Album (最佳藝術音樂專輯獎) Best Fusion Album (最佳跨界音樂專輯獎) Best Audiovisual Album (最佳傳統表演藝術影音出版獎) Best Religious Music Album (最佳宗教音樂專輯獎)
Publishing category – Individual awards Best Creation (最佳創作獎) Best Album Producer (最佳專輯製作人獎) Best Interpretation (最佳詮釋獎) Best Recording (最佳錄音獎)
Performance category Best Performance of the Year (最佳團體年度演出獎) Best New Artist (最佳個人表演新秀獎) Best Actor (Actress) of the Year (年度最佳演員獎)
Special category Lifetime Contribution Award (特別獎)
References
External links Official website at the Government Information Office Lists of nominees and winners over the years