MAMA Awards 2026: Major Nominations and Voting Dates

The 2026 MAMA Awards nominations have officially been announced, setting up a major competition between some of K-pop’s biggest names and its newest stars. BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, aespa, IVE, ATEEZ and ENHYPEN are among the prominent acts competing for awards this year, while BIGBANG’s inclusion adds another major name to the lineup.

The nominations were revealed on October 12, with fan voting opening the same day. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan on November 20 and 21, 2026, under the theme A Music Interstellar.

While the group categories feature several established K-pop heavyweights, the individual and performance nominations highlight a wider range of artists, including Taeyang, Yeonjun, Hwasa, Taeyeon and j-hope.

Here’s a breakdown of the major nominees, album contenders and voting information.

2026 MAMA Awards: Best Artist and Group Nominations

Best Male Artist

• Doh Kyung Soo (D.O.)
• Taeyang
• Taeyong
• Yeonjun
• Young K

Best Female Artist

• Hwasa
• Irene
• Soyeon
• Taeyeon
• Yena

Best Male Group

• ATEEZ
• BIGBANG
• BTS
• CORTIS
• ENHYPEN
• NCT WISH
• Stray Kids
• TXT

Best Female Group

• aespa
• BABYMONSTER
• BLACKPINK
• Hearts2Hearts
• ILLIT
• IVE
• LE SSERAFIM
• NMIXX

The Best Male Group category is particularly interesting because it brings BTS and BIGBANG into competition with groups such as Stray Kids, ATEEZ and ENHYPEN.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK, aespa, IVE and LE SSERAFIM face competition from younger acts including Hearts2Hearts and ILLIT in the female group category.

Artist of the Year has a broader field: nominees from the artist categories are automatically included in contention for the grand prize.

Best New Artist Nominees

The Best New Artist category features ten nominees:

• ALPHA DRIVE ONE
• AND2BLE
• EVAN
• H//PE Princess
• hrtz.wav
• LNGSHOT
• MODYSSEY
• OURBIRTHDAY
• TUIDE
• UNCHILD

Unlike the established group categories, this award offers emerging performers an opportunity to gain recognition alongside some of the industry’s most familiar names.

MAMA Awards 2026: Album of the Year Nominees

The Album of the Year race includes major releases from BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, TXT and several other groups.

The nominated albums are:

For this category, physical album sales carry 60% of the evaluation, while the remaining 40% comes from jury assessment. The nominated albums must also meet the awards’ minimum sales requirement of one million copies.

That makes Album of the Year different from a purely fan-voted popularity contest. Commercial performance and jury evaluation both influence the result.

Music, Dance and Performance Nominations

Beyond the main artist categories, the 2026 MAMA Awards recognise vocal performances, choreography, collaborations and music videos.

Best Vocal Performance Solo: Hwasa — “Good Goodbye”; IU — “Unknown Planet”; Jennie — “Less than a Lover”; Roy Kim — “No Words Can Say”; WOODZ — “CINEMA.”

Best Vocal Performance Group: AKMU — “Paradise of Rumors”; BTS — “SWIM”; Davichi — “TIME CAPSULE”; SEVENTEEN’s DxS — “Blue”; MAMAMOO — “4 Flowers.”

Best Collaboration: aespa featuring G-Dragon — “WDA (Whole Different Animal)”; Dayoung and Jay Park — “FLIRTY”; LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope — “SPAGHETTI”; LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT and KATSEYE — “ICONIC BY MISTAKE”; Parc Jae Jung and NMIXX’s Sullyoon — “Always.”

Best Music Video: BIGBANG — “BiiiG”; BTS — “2.0”; Hwasa — “Good Goodbye”; i-dle — “Mono (Feat. skaiwater)”; MEOVV — “DDI RO RI.”

Best Choreography: ATEEZ — “BAD”; CORTIS — “REDRED”; ILLIT — “It’s Me”; IVE — “BANG BANG”; Yena — “Catch Catch.”

Best Dance Performance Male Group: ATEEZ, BIGBANG, BOYNEXTDOOR, CORTIS, RIIZE, Stray Kids, TWS and ZEROBASEONE.

Best Dance Performance Female Group: aespa, Hearts2Hearts, I.O.I, ILLIT, IVE, KiiiKiii, LE SSERAFIM and NMIXX.

The presence of BTS in both Best Vocal Performance Group and Best Music Video gives the group recognition beyond its main artist and album nominations.

Similarly, LE SSERAFIM’s collaboration with j-hope appears in multiple performance-related categories, highlighting the overlap between major group releases and cross-artist collaborations.

How to Vote for the 2026 MAMA Awards

Fan participation is already underway through the Fans’ Choice Male and Fans’ Choice Female categories.

The initial candidate lists include BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, TXT, TWICE, aespa, IVE and numerous other artists.

Voting takes place through Mnet Plus and X.

During the first round, the 20 highest-ranked artists from each Fans’ Choice category will advance to the next stage.

The voting scores are weighted 90% from Mnet Plus and 10% from X.

Fans can access the event and official voting instructions through the Mnet Plus website.

Importantly, fan voting does not determine every MAMA Award. Artist and performance categories use different combinations of jury evaluation, streaming figures, downloads and album sales.

For example, Best Music Video and Best Choreography are decided entirely through jury evaluation.

When Are the 2026 MAMA Awards?

The ceremony is scheduled for November 20–21 at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, with Mnet Plus offering international streaming.

The organisers have also announced MAMA FAN FESTA, a fan-focused celebration beginning November 9.

With BTS, BLACKPINK, BIGBANG and a growing generation of K-pop groups appearing across the nominations, this year’s awards bring together artists from different eras of the industry.

The nominations establish the contenders, but they are not a prediction of the winners. With voting now open and the ceremony approaching, the final results will depend on the criteria used for each award.