The 2026 MAMA Awards nominations arrived with a field that places K-pop’s most established acts on the same ballot as its newest breakout groups. Reported coverage of the October 12 nomination reveal spans 18 named categories, with BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, aespa, BABYMONSTER, ATEEZ and ILLIT all appearing in major races.
One distinction matters before you check where your favorite landed. The list circulating from that broadcast is reported nomination coverage, not a finished official roster, and it does not yet include Artist of the Year, Song of the Year or Best Unit. Fan voting also decides far less than most people assume.
What the 2026 MAMA Awards nominations set up
MAMA is organized by CJ ENM and has grown into one of the biggest nights on the global K-pop calendar. It started in 1999 as Korea’s video music awards, expanded in 2009 into an Asia-wide ceremony, and took the current MAMA AWARDS name through a 2022 rebranding.
The 2026 show runs November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan, built around the main concept A Music Interstellar and the tagline MUSIC MAKES ONE. The theme is framed as a journey between musical stars across time and space, where each viewer finds a moment of their own.
The nomination broadcast aired October 12 at 18:00 KST on Mnet and Mnet Plus, hosted by announcer Jang Ye-won and music critic Kim Yun-ha. First-round Fans’ Choice voting opened on Mnet Plus right after the program. MAMA also has recent global form: in 2024 it became the first K-pop awards show to hold a relay across Los Angeles and Osaka, and in 2025 it took Best General Entertainment Programme at the Asian Academy Creative Awards.
The reported 2026 MAMA Awards nominee list
The field below comes from reported coverage of the nomination show and covers 18 named categories, plus Fans’ Choice Male and Female, which are decided by online voting and were not attached to names in that coverage. If anything shifts, the Mnet Plus nominee hub is the official source of truth.
Only one nomination has been confirmed directly by the show itself so far: ATEEZ in Best Dance Performance Male Group, announced on MAMA’s official X account.
- Best Male Artist: EXO’s D.O, TXT’s Yeonjun, BIGBANG’s Taeyang, NCT’s Taeyong, DAY6’s Young K
- Best Female Artist: i-dle’s Soyeon, Red Velvet’s Irene, IU, MAMAMOO’s Hwasa, Yena
- Best New Artist: EVAN, H//PE Princess, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, AND2BLE, hrtz.wav, LNGSHOT, MODYSSEY, OURBIRTHDAY, TUIDE, UNCHILD
- Best Male Group: BTS, TXT, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, CORTIS, ENHYPEN, NCT WISH, Stray Kids
- Best Female Group: ILLIT, aespa, BABYMONSTER, BLACKPINK, Hearts2Hearts, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX
- Best Vocal Performance Solo: Roy Kim, IU (Unknown Planet), Jennie (Less than a Lover), Hwasa (Good Goodbye), WOODZ (CINEMA)
- Best Vocal Performance Group: DAVICHI (Time Capsule), SEVENTEEN DxS (Blue), MAMAMOO (4 Flowers), BTS (SWIM), AKMU (Paradise of Rumors)
- Best Rap and Hip Hop Performance: HAON (Yarrr), Big Naughty (Nostalgia), NOWIMYOUNG (KOLOK COLOK), TREASURE (IF I), ZICO and Lila (DUET)
- Best Collaboration: Dayoung and Jay Park (Flirty), NMIXX’s Sullyoon and Parc Jae Jung (Always), aespa featuring G-Dragon (WDA), LE SSERAFIM featuring J-Hope (SPaghetti), LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT and KATSEYE (ICONIC BY MISTAKE)
- Best OST: Kim Min Seok, Migak Boys, Sung Si Kyung, Suzy, DAY6’s Young K
- Best Music Video: BTS (2.0), Hwasa (Good Goodbye), BIGBANG (BiiiG), i-dle (Mono), MEOVV (DDI RO RI)
- Best Band Performance: Silica Gel, Jannabi, LUCY, QWER, Xdinary Heroes
- Best Choreography: ILLIT, ATEEZ, CORTIS, IVE, Yena
- Best Dance Performance Male Group: ATEEZ, BIGBANG, BOYNEXTDOOR, CORTIS, RIIZE, Stray Kids, TWS, ZEROBASEONE
- Best Dance Performance Female Group: I.O.I, ILLIT, aespa, Hearts2Hearts, IVE, KiiiKiii, LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX
- Best Dance Performance Solo categories: Yeonjun, Onew, Taemin, Taeyang and Taeyong in the male field, with Dayoung, BIBI, Soyeon, ITZY and Yena in the female field
- Album of the Year: BTS, BLACKPINK, TXT, aespa, ATEEZ, Stray Kids, EXO, ENHYPEN, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, CORTIS, IVE, NCT DREAM, NCT WISH, PLAVE, RIIZE and TWS
Why this year’s field stands out
Look past the individual names and the 2026 race reads like a generational handoff in progress. Legacy acts such as BTS, BIGBANG, EXO and BLACKPINK share category space with newer arrivals like CORTIS, Hearts2Hearts, KiiiKiii and ALPHA DRIVE ONE, and neither side is being politely separated into its own bracket.
The rookie class is unusually deep, with 10 acts in the Best New Artist field alone. Both group categories carry eight reported names, and as reported, aespa and BTS each show up across four separate categories, with aespa reaching into Best Collaboration alongside G-Dragon and BTS landing in Best Vocal Performance Group, Best Music Video and Album of the Year.
BLACKPINK’s presence is notable on its own terms, since the group appears in Best Female Group and Album of the Year while Jennie picks up a solo vocal nod. Stray Kids, meanwhile, turn up in Best Male Group, Best Dance Performance Male Group and Album of the Year, keeping the production-heavy side of the field well represented.
How Fans’ Choice voting and judging actually work
Eligibility for the 2026 race covers music and albums released between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026. That window explains why some fan-favorite releases are missing and why others are competing in the same cycle.
Global fan voting applies specifically to the Fans’ Choice categories. Winners in the genre and artist categories are decided by combining domestic and global music and album data with the evaluation of a global jury made up of industry experts.
In plain terms, voting can move Fans’ Choice, but it does not crown Best Female Group or Album of the Year on its own. That single rule clears up the most common misunderstanding every awards season, especially once voting rounds start trending.
What comes next before the November ceremony
MAMA FAN FESTA is the other half of this year’s event. It runs November 9 through 21 across multiple Osaka locations and online through Mnet Plus, giving global fans a way to participate beyond the televised show. Visa returns as title sponsor for a second consecutive year and now backs the festa as well.
The ceremony itself streams worldwide in real time through Mnet Plus, with viewers in Japan able to watch through Mnet Japan and Mnet Smart+. Those are the only viewing details confirmed so far.
Several pieces are still missing. Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Unit do not appear in the circulating list, and neither do performer lineups, hosts or the full voting schedule beyond round one. For now, the useful next step for fans is simple: check the official nominee hub, confirm which categories you can actually vote on, and watch for the remaining reveals before Kyocera Dome Osaka opens its doors on November 20.
To put names to faces, try the MEOVV portrait recognition game and learn to recognize Sooin, Gawon, Anna, Narin and Ella.