Girl group NewJeans, rapper Beenzino and rock band Silica Gel were the most nominated artists at the 21st Korean Music Awards, having been nominated in five categories on Friday.

The Korean Music Awards, which started in 2004, is an annual ceremony that recognizes the contributions of musical artists from various genres. This year's selection panel consists of 55 people of different occupations, such as critics, TV producers and music media editors.

The ceremony announced its nominees on Friday through a live stream on retail media platform Prizm.

NewJeans was nominated for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best K-Pop Album, Best K-Pop Song and Artist of the Year.

Beenzino's name was on the list of nominees for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Rap & Hiphop Album and Best Rap & Hiphop Song.

Silica Gel was on the nominees list for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Modern Rock Album and Best Modern Rock Song.

The rock band was nominated at the ceremony for the third time in a row, alongside duo AKMU’s Lee Chan-hyuk and producer Kirara.

BTS’s Jungkook was also nominated in four categories — Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best K-pop Album and Best K-pop Song.

Jungkook was the only male artist to be nominated for Best K-pop Song.

Girl groups IVE, Fifty Fifty and H1-KEY were nominated for Best K-pop Song, while girl groups Billlie, Kiss of Life and boy band Tomorrow X Together were nominated for Best K-pop Album.

The winners will be announced during the 21st Korean Music Awards held on Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. and streamed live on Prizm.

Further details about the ceremony's schedule will be available in the coming days on its official website and social media.

To find out more about Korean artists and musicians, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]