The 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards ceremony, organized by CJ E&M through its music channel Mnet, took place on December 2, 2015, at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. The ceremony was the sixth consecutive Mnet Asian Music Awards to be hosted outside of South Korea.
Nominees were announced on October 30, 2015.[1] Leading the nominees and awards was Big Bang with six. By the end of the ceremony the group received four wins alongside Exo, the most received awards of the night.
Background
This event marked the seventeenth Mnet Asian Music Awards.[2] It was simultaneously broadcast live in Korea, Japan, America, Southeast Asia through various channels as well as via online live streaming.
The event took place in the same country and the same venue for the third consecutive time. This year MAMA's theme/concept included "...fantastic stages through 'State of TechArt', a concept that combines cutting-edge technology and art."[3] About 10,000 fans and 2,000 staff members attended the awards show.[4]
Eligible nominees included songs or albums released from October 26, 2014, until October 30 the next year. Winners will be selected based on six categories including online voting and evaluation from MAMA professional panel.[n 2][3]
Division
Online Voting
Research
MAMA Professional Panel (Local + Foreign)
Music Sales
Record Sales
MAMA Selection Committee
Artist of the Year Award Category by Artist*
20%
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
Song of the Year Award Category by Genre**
10%
20%
20%
30%
10%
10%
Album of the Year
—
—
30%
—
50%
20%
Special Prize***
30%
—
50%
—
—
20%
*UnionPay Artist of the Year, Best New (M)ale/(F)emale Artist, Best M/F Artist, Best M/F Group (7 total) **UnionPay Song of the Year, Best Dance Performance (Solo/M/F Group), Best Vocal Performance (M/F), Best Rap Performance, Best Band Performance, Best Collaboration (9 total) ***Best Music Video
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[5][6]
2NE1's surprise performance at the award ceremony was met with considerable media attention. Following the conclusion of CL's "Hello Bitches", the rest of the group suddenly appeared onstage and reunited to perform "Fire" and "I Am the Best". Because of Park Bom's hiatus following her scandal from 2014, it was the group's first performance in a year and would be ultimately their last before their disbandment in 2016.[7][8]
Although the group's performance was met with generally negative reactions from netizens in South Korea, it was well-received internationally,[9] with Fuse naming it as one of the best performances of 2015 worldwide alongside those of Beyoncé and Madonna.[10]Cosmopolitan Philippines and SBS PopAsia named it one of the most unforgettable performances in MAMA history.[11][12]
^Li, Zhenha (December 2, 2015). "【2015 MAMA】你沒看錯! 朴春隔1年半合體2NE1飆歌" [【2015 MAMA】You read that right! Park Bom joins 2NE1 after a year and a half] (in Chinese). Yahoo! News Taiwan. Retrieved March 26, 2022.