Artists managed under major talenthouse SM Entertainment have declared they will boycott a year-end music award ceremony held by cable music channel Mnet.
SM, who manages some of Korea's top singers including Girls' Generation, Super Junior and SHINee, announced in a press release on Tuesday that they would not participate in the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) set for November 21.
The nine-member girl group's single "Gee" was a sensation throughout the country upon its release early this year, dominating music charts for over two months.
SM also requested their artists be removed from a mobile poll which asks participants to pay a fee to place a vote, saying they "do not want to see fans suffer any damage from the poll which has commercial intentions".
Mnet will be holding the MAMA for the first time this year in place of its ten-year long Mnet KM Music Festival (MKMF).
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Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr
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