With this edition set to reflect this year’s global K-pop trends.
This Monday, October 12, it will be a big day for K-pop fans again as Korean entertainment company CJ ENM is expected to announce the nominations for 2026 MAMA Awards.
The nominations broadcast, which will cover all nominees across all categories, will air live on Mnet and Mnet Plus at 6:00 pm (Korean time), and the first round of Fans’ Choice voting will open on Mnet Plus afterwards.
This edition of the annual show will be held under the concept of “A MUSIC INTERSTELLAR,” disclosed CJ ENM in a statement shared with Trendrod.
“The concept follows a journey through a music universe beyond time and space, where audiences can discover the power of music in their own way,” the company said, highlighting their aim of offering an “iconic experience of finding one’s own star, while connecting artists and global fans beyond time and space.”
MAMA Awards 2026 will also present a wide range of new on-site and online events, which it said reflects its commitment to “delivering a truly borderless experience and uniting fans around the world beyond the stage.”
For the first time, the MAMA Fan Festa will take place as an extension of the award ceremony from November 9th to 21st across the city of Osaka and online via Mnet Plus—turning the ceremony into a full-scale global celebration created together with fans.
The main MAMA Awards show, meanwhile, takes place over two days on November 20 to 21, at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan, with the egent streaming live worldwide via Mnet Plus.
The MAMA Awards was first launched in 1999 as Korea’s first music ceremony by CJ ENM’s music channel Mnet.
It was later awards rebranded as MAMA AWARDS in 2009, originally standing as an acronym for the Mnet Asian Music Awards, underscoring its commitment to go global.
Since then, the ceremony has been hosted across the world, including Macao, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan and the United States.
