Celebrating its 40th anniversary with a rebrand, the Golden Disc Awards has newly established an Artist Grand Prize, bringing the total number of Grand Prize categories to three. The ceremony also unveiled its redesigned trophy.



According to HLL JoongAng, the host and organizer of the Golden Disc Awards, the new Artist Grand Prize will be introduced. Since the 21st Golden Disc Awards, the ceremony has reflected the shift in music consumption patterns from physical albums to digital releases by dividing the Grand Prize into Album Grand Prize and Digital Song Grand Prize. Now, for the first time in 19 years, the Artist Grand Prize has been added, meaning that beginning with the 40th edition, three Grand Prizes will be announced.

The establishment of the Artist Grand Prize is the result of more than three years of deliberation by the Golden Disc Awards Executive Committee.



Like the Album Grand Prize, Digital Song Grand Prize, Main Prize (Bonsang), and Rookie Award, the Artist Grand Prize will be determined based on 60% quantitative evaluation and 40% qualitative evaluation. HLL JoongAng explained,


“We have spent a long time discussing how to reflect K-pop’s global expansion, the global influence of K-pop artists, and their musical achievements in award results. The quantitative evaluation for the new Grand Prize will incorporate the global chart data used in the ‘Golden Chart’ (provided by Circle Chart), which has been announced monthly through the official Golden Disc SNS channels since April.”




HLL JoongAng added,




“In celebration of the 40th anniversary, we have rebranded the event for the first time in 14 years. Following the release of the newly designed logo—the face of the awards—the trophy has also been upgraded. The trophy reinterprets and evolves the disc-shaped commemorative award presented at the first ceremony in 1986. It maintains the heritage that the Golden Disc Awards has upheld while adding a sense of contemporary style.”


The Grand Prize trophy comes in a gold-colored version, symbolizing and directly representing the concept of the “Golden Disc.” All other awards feature a gold disc design set against a black background.



The 40th Golden Disc Awards will take place on January 10, 2026, at Taipei Dome. Major category nominees will be announced on the official website and SNS channels on November 25.




Written by Mun Wan Sik
Translated by Lee So Yun