The story starts small.

In 1995 (2052), Kantipur FM was borrowing three hours a day on the state-run Radio Nepal. In 1998 (2055), it launched its own frequency at 96.1 MHz, and within the following year, it did something that no one had previously formalised: paying artists for airplay.

“At the time, it was three rupees per broadcast, then it rose to ten, and now it's fifteen,” says Paramananda Khanal, Admin/HR head at KMG. “Five for the singer, five for the musician and five for the composer.”

The system planted the seed for what would become one of the most celebrated award ceremonies. From 1998 to 2004 (2055 to 2060), the station ran an annual programme called ‘Music Honours’ to celebrate these artists, with live broadcasts after Kantipur Television was established, crowning the year’s most-played songs.

There was no jury, no ballot, just the airtime. “Whichever song was repeated the most on the radio was selected accordingly,” Khanal explains.

It wasn’t until 2018 (2075) that the format we recognise today took shape: a proper award ceremony with categories, nominees and a two-stage jury process. One panel narrows the field to five; the second picks the winner. “We do not play any role in this process to avoid bias,” says Khanal.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Radio Kantipur, the National Music Awards was announced through a press release on February 2, 2018, with an appeal to vote for the people’s choice awards via SMS.

“Music is directly aligned with the radio’s source and assets. Since its profit and popularity are generated by music itself, amplifying this sector is our duty. Therefore, the National Music Award is an effort to add to the growth of the Nepali music industry,” reads the 2018 press release.

In January, 2019, the ceremony was held at Soaltee Crown Plaza in Kathmandu. The evening’s marquee moment was the Lifetime Achievement Award, given to the veteran singer and musician Manik Ratna Sthapit by KMG Chairman and Managing Director Kailash Sirohiya along with a purse of Rs100,000.

Sthapit’s career spanned six decades with dozens of recorded songs, and he remains best known for his music in ‘Kumari’, Nepal’s first colour film.

The show also featured performances from Rohit John Chhetri, Nikhita Thapa, Prabisha Adhikari, Sugam Pokharel and a comic bit by Manoj Gajurel impersonating Donald Trump.

Awardees of the ceremony included Buddha Lama for ‘Timi Saath Bhaye Pachi’, Ramesh BG for ‘Ban Ful’, Santishree Pariyar for ‘Bola Maaya’, Nitesh Jung Kunwar for ‘Haamro Nepal Maa’.

Radio Kantipur brought the awards back after a two-year, pandemic-driven hiatus on a Friday evening at Hotel Yak and Yeti. Singers Ram Krishna Dhakal, Yam Baral, and Lonchan Bhattarai opened the night, and the numbers backed up the ambition. 75 nominations, 15 categories and the Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to veteran Kuman Basnet.

The winner’s list read like an industry exhaling after a long hold. Ankit Amur Shrestha won Best New Singer for ‘Lazayera’. Ram Krishna Dhakal won Best Playback Singer (Male) and Melina Rai claimed Best Duet Song with Bal Bahadur Rajbanshi.

While 2019 had been about spectacle, 2022 was about survival, with an industry proving, category by category, that it still had an audience waiting.

“Music awards as such are extremely important to provide mainstream recognition to the emerging artists,” says Khanal. “Doing so is our duty.”

By 2022, Radio Kantipur, rather than merely reviving its show, became the only one standing in the industry. “There used to be multiple music awards organised by several mainstream platforms,” he adds. “But due to the economic crisis, the only one standing today is that of Radio Kantipur’s.”

Held on the station’s 24th anniversary, the National Music Awards 2023 opened with a sarangi performance by Kiran Nepali’s band, setting a folk-rooted tone.

It was at the press meet for this year’s ceremony that the economics were laid out plainly for the artists: they earn Rs 15 every time their song airs on Radio Kantipur from a library of more than 700,000 registered tracks.

Onstage, lyricist Yadav Kharel took Lifetime Achievement for six decades of work, Suraj Pandit won Best New Singer for ‘Rail Ko Bato’, and Indian Idol's Salman Ali lent the night some cross-border star power before Sushant KC closed it out.

Something structural shifted in 2025. For the first time, Radio Kantipur sold tickets, Rs1,500 per head, turning what had always been an industry-only affair into a public concert for 3,000 people at the Godavari Sunrise Convention Centre. The National Music Awards stopped being just an awards show and became an event people paid to attend.

In this edition, Best Hip-Hop & R&B got its own trophy, awarded to Brijesh Shrestha for ‘Mutuma Basera’, a genre that simply hadn’t existed on this stage a decade earlier. Composer Shambhujeet Baskota, credited with scoring more than 355 films and writing over 2,000 songs since 1957, took the Lifetime Achievement award in the night’s most weighted moment.

“Even after decades of my career, receiving such an award provided me the energy to move forward,” Shambhujeet Baskota told the Post. “I am grateful for this recognition and this support for music.”

He added that the moments of the evening still surface vividly in his memory.

Durgesh Thapa and Kuma Sagar headlined the performances. RC Rimal, a former Voice of Nepal contestant, took Best Debut Singer, closing a loop between reality-TV talent pipelines and the industry's most established stage.

“The award ceremony is a celebration of the people who shape Nepal’s musical identity,” says Simran Shrestha, corporate manager of KMG. “What also makes it special is that it embraces the diversity of Nepali music. From mainstream to folk, contemporary to traditional, our goal is to ensure every genre and every deserving artist has a place on this stage.”

This year too, with an electrifying lineup, the 2026 NMA aims for a remarkable evening. Now branded the Xtreme Energy Drink National Music Awards under a new title sponsor, the eighth edition lands on July 10 at The Plaza Convention Centre in Pulchowk, coinciding with Radio Kantipur's 28th anniversary.

Fourteen competitive categories return, alongside the now-familiar Lifetime Achievement Award and a newer addition, the Xtreme Energetic Performer of the Year.