The 2025 Melon Music Awards (MMA) has unexpectedly sparked controversy.
Recently, numerous posts have appeared on online communities and social media from ticket buyers claiming their MMA tickets were forcibly canceled.
One user said, “I held the ticket in my hand, but I received a message saying it would be forcibly canceled due to abnormal fraudulent booking.” They added, “When I called, they refused to explain why it was considered abnormal access, said they would not accept my appeal, and even if I sent one, they would just cancel it anyway. They also said my account would be suspended for three months. So what am I supposed to do?”
A screenshot showed a notice from Melon Ticket explaining the cancellation reason as “attempted booking via abnormal routes,” stating, “All such bookings will be forcibly canceled. Regardless of voluntary cancellation, your booking is confirmed as fraudulent, and your Melon Ticket ID will be restricted for three months.”
Moreover, the refund amount displayed in the notification was “0 won,” attracting attention. Since the MMA tickets cost 55,000 won, many users protested, asking, “So they won’t even refund us?”
Shortly after this post, more victims in the same situation emerged, and some speculated, “Are they randomly canceling tickets to reserve seats for special guests?”
In response, the original poster said, “Cancellations are concentrated in certain sections, raising suspicions of seat reassignment for special guests, lack of an appeal process, and delayed or missing refunds.” They stated plans to gather similar cases and report to consumer protection agencies and the Fair Trade Commission.
Meanwhile, the MMA organizers reiterated that all canceled tickets were “fraudulent bookings.” In an official statement, they said, “To protect users and ensure stable service, cancellations were made for some customers who engaged in abnormal service use (abnormal access and activities) pursuant to Article 26 of the Melon Ticket Terms and Conditions (regulation against fraudulent purchases).”
Regarding the refund issues, they emphasized, “All fraudulent bookings have been fully refunded. Claims that legitimate bookings were canceled or refunds were not made are untrue. We have all relevant evidence confirming full refunds were processed.”
The MMA will be held at Gocheok Sky Dome at 5pm KST on the 20th.
