Artists featured in the 2026 MAMA Awards Chapter 1 performer announcement. (Photo / CJ E&M)
The nominees are out, but fan voting and the major jury-and-sales awards follow different rules. Here is what international fans need to know.
The 2026 MAMA Awards race has begun, with nominations announced on October 12 ahead of the November 20–21 ceremony in Osaka, Japan. The official Mnet Plus awards hub has published nomination videos across the categories.
BTS and BIGBANG are among the Best Male Group nominees, alongside Stray Kids, ATEEZ and other acts. BLACKPINK joins aespa, IVE and others in the Best Female Group category, according to Soompi’s October 12 nominations report.
For fans preparing to vote, the key distinction is between Fans’ Choice awards and awards determined by judges and commercial performance.
Voting does not decide every major award
Soompi’s published breakdown lists Artist of the Year as 40 percent jury evaluation, 30 percent streaming and downloads, and 30 percent physical album sales.
Album of the Year places greater weight on physical sales: 60 percent, with jury evaluation accounting for the remaining 40 percent. Best Music Video and Best Choreography are determined entirely by jury evaluation.
That means a strong fan-voting campaign should not be read as a direct forecast of the Artist or Album of the Year result. Each category measures a different combination of support, consumption and assessment.
The dates international fans should watch
The first Fans’ Choice voting round closes on October 22 at 11:59 p.m. KST. Twenty acts from each of the male and female categories will advance.
The second round runs from October 28 at 6 p.m. KST to November 18 at 11:59 p.m. KST. In both rounds, Mnet Plus votes account for 90 percent and X votes for 10 percent, according to the published rules.
Fans should use the organizers’ current instructions rather than assume that every social post or hashtag counts as a valid vote.
Why nomination totals need context
A group’s nominations and its members’ individual or collaboration nominations are different counts. Forbes’ October 12 coverage, for example, separates BTS’s five group nominations from two nominations. They involve j-hope’s appearance on LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI.”
For readers comparing artists, the useful question is therefore not simply who has the largest headline total, but which act or recording is nominated—and how that particular award will be decided.
The November ceremony will bring those separate contests together. Until then, nomination lists identify the contenders; they do not establish the winners.
Sources: Official MAMA Awards hub · Soompi nominations and voting rules, October 12 · Forbes nominations coverage, October 12
David Kim is a senior author at Kpopbreaking.com, focusing on major K-pop events, industry trends, and global entertainment news.
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