2026 MAMA AWARDS nominees announced — the categories, the Fans' Choice schedule and November's ceremony in Osaka

What happened

CJ ENM revealed the nominated artists and works in every category of the 2026 MAMA AWARDS for the first time in a nomination broadcast on Mnet and Mnet Plus at 6 p.m. on 12 October. Physical albums and songs released between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026 are eligible. In the nominations list Billboard published, BTS, aespa, ATEEZ, IVE, LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT are each nominated in five categories. In the same list BIGBANG is nominated in four categories as a group, with four more for Taeyang’s solo work and G-Dragon’s feature. TOMORROW X TOGETHER is nominated in three.

When and where

The ceremony takes place over two days, 20 and 21 November, at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan, and is streamed live on digital platforms including Mnet Plus. According to the organiser’s page, the main ceremony starts at 6 p.m. KST on the first day and at 3 p.m. KST on the second, with the red carpet at 3:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. respectively. The first round of the Fans’ Choice vote runs from 7 p.m. on 12 October to 11:59 p.m. on 22 October, the second round from 6 p.m. on 28 October to 11:59 p.m. on 8 November, and the live vote is on 20 November. The vote takes place on Mnet Plus and X.

Why it matters

Singlelist reported that the winners in the genre and singer categories are decided from Korean and global streaming and album data together with the assessment of a jury of global music-industry experts, and that the fan vote counts only toward the Fans’ Choice categories. According to Soompi, Artist of the Year and the artist categories are decided by 40% jury evaluation, 30% streaming and 30% physical album sales. Album of the Year is decided by 40% jury evaluation and 60% physical album sales, and only albums that sold over 1 million copies are eligible. Best Music Video and Best Choreography are decided by the jury alone. Best Song Top 10, new this year, picks the top 10 songs on their Korean and global streaming results, and the same outlet wrote that those 10 songs will be the Song of the Year nominees.

What you need to know

• BTS: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Group, Album of the Year (ARIRANG), Best Vocal Performance Group (‘SWIM’) and Best Music Video (‘2.0’). j-hope is also on the list for Best Collaboration and Best Dance Performance Female Group through his feature on LE SSERAFIM’s ‘SPAGHETTI’.
• BIGBANG: nominated for Artist of the Year and Best Male Group, and for Best Music Video and Best Dance Performance Male Group with ‘BiiiG’. Taeyang is nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Dance Performance Male Solo (‘LIVE FAST DIE SLOW’), and G-Dragon for Best Collaboration through his feature on aespa’s ‘WDA (Whole Different Animal)’.
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Group and Album of the Year (7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns). Yeonjun is nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Dance Performance Male Solo (‘Ice Cream’).
• aespa: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Female Group, Album of the Year (LEMONADE), Best Dance Performance Female Group (‘LEMONADE’) and Best Collaboration (‘WDA (Whole Different Animal)’).
• ATEEZ: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Group and Album of the Year (GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5), and for Best Choreography and Best Dance Performance Male Group with ‘BAD’.
• IVE: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Female Group and Album of the Year (REVIVE+), and for Best Choreography and Best Dance Performance Female Group with ‘BANG BANG’.
• LE SSERAFIM: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Female Group and Best Dance Performance Female Group (‘SPAGHETTI’), with two songs in Best Collaboration, ‘SPAGHETTI’ and ‘ICONIC BY MISTAKE’, made with ILLIT and KATSEYE.
• ILLIT: nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Female Group and Best Collaboration (‘ICONIC BY MISTAKE’), and for Best Choreography and Best Dance Performance Female Group with ‘It’s Me’.
• Fans’ Choice: Soompi reported that 20 acts in each of the male and female categories go through from the first round to the second.