2026 MAMA Awards Reveals Nominees as Fans’ Choice Voting Opens
BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, aespa and more are among this year’s nominees, while the first round of Fans’ Choice voting runs through October 22.
The Desk · filed 2026-10-12
Reported against primary sources.
The 2026 MAMA Awards has officially revealed this year’s nominees, setting the field for November’s ceremony in Osaka as the first round of Fans’ Choice voting gets underway.
The nominations were announced October 12 across group, solo, performance, rookie and major award categories.
ATEEZ, BIGBANG, BTS, CORTIS, ENHYPEN, NCT WISH, Stray Kids and TXT are nominated for Best Male Group.
The Best Female Group field includes aespa, BABYMONSTER, BLACKPINK, Hearts2Hearts, ILLIT, IVE, LE SSERAFIM and NMIXX.
This year’s Best New Artist nominees are ALPHA DRIVE ONE, AND2BLE, EVAN, H//PE Princess, hrtz.wav, LNGSHOT, MODYSSEY, OURBIRTHDAY, TUIDE and UNCHILD.
Individual artist categories include Doh Kyung Soo, Taeyang, Taeyong, Yeonjun and DAY6’s Young K for Best Male Artist, while Hwasa, Irene, Soyeon, Taeyeon and Yena are nominated for Best Female Artist.
The wider slate also includes awards for vocal, rap and hip-hop, band and dance performances, collaborations, choreography, music videos and OSTs.
Artist-category nominees automatically enter the Artist of the Year field. Album of the Year nominees must have surpassed one million physical sales, while Song of the Year will be decided from the eventual Best Song Top 10 field.
Fans’ Choice voting begins
The first round of Fans’ Choice voting is now open and runs through October 22 at 11:59 p.m. KST.
Voting is weighted 90 percent through Mnet Plus and 10 percent through X.
Twenty artists from both the Fans’ Choice Male and Fans’ Choice Female preliminary fields will advance to the second round, which runs from October 28 at 6 p.m. KST through November 18 at 11:59 p.m. KST.
Music released between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026 is eligible for this year’s awards.
The 2026 MAMA Awards will take place November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan and will stream worldwide through Mnet Plus.
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Filed by The Desk · filed 2026-10-12 · verified by The Desk (Editorial Desk). The October 12 nominee slate and voting rules were checked against current reporting, with the November 20–21 ceremony dates verified directly against Mnet and CJ ENM.
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Sources cross-checked for this story (3 sources)
- 01
Mnet Japan — Confirms the October 12 nomination program, launch of first-round Fans’ Choice voting, and November 20–21 ceremony dates at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
https://mnetjp.com/news/detail/20261007193600/ - 02
Soompi — Provides the October 12 nomination slate, eligibility period, award criteria and Fans’ Choice voting structure.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1877350wpp/2026-mama-awards-announces-nominees-fans-choice-voting-begins - 03
CJ ENM — Primary confirmation that the 2026 MAMA Awards will be held November 20–21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka and streamed worldwide through Mnet Plus.
https://www.cjenm.com/en/news/2026-mama-awards-to-take-place-in-japan—from-november-2021/