The first round of Melon Music Awards voting is done, and the results are in. MMA 2026 announced its TOP10 winners on October 30, along with the nominees for 12 categories that fans help decide, as Soompi reports.
This year’s TOP10
TOP10 voting ran from October 15 to October 29. The ten winners now move straight into the running for Artist of the Year:
- AKMU
- BTS
- CORTIS
- Hearts2Hearts
- I.O.I
- ILLIT
- IVE
- KiiiKiii
- NCT WISH
- PLAVE
More nominees
New Artist of the Year: ALPHA DRIVE ONE, HADES, LNGSHOT, SYSTEM SEOUL and TUIDE.
Best Group (Female): aespa, Hearts2Hearts, ILLIT, IVE and KiiiKiii.
Best Group (Male): BOYNEXTDOOR, BTS, CORTIS, NCT WISH and PLAVE.
Best Solo (Female): BOL4, IU, Jennie, Taeyeon and Yena.
Best Solo (Male): BIG Naughty, Lee Changsub, Lim Young Woong, SoonSoonHee (Jihwan) and Young K.
Best Pop Artist: Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, KATSEYE and Tame Impala.
Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best OST and TrackZero Choice have their own nominee lists too, and the Global TOP10 race has 30 acts in it, from aespa and BLACKPINK to Stray Kids and TXT.
How the winners are picked
To qualify, music had to come out between November 20, 2025 and October 14, 2026. For most of the fan-voted awards, including Artist, Album and Song of the Year, the result is 60% digital score, 20% panel review and 20% fan votes. TrackZero Choice flips that balance toward the judges, with 60% panel review. Other honors, such as Record of the Year and Global-K of the Year, are decided by the panel alone.
The show itself takes over Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on November 14 and 15. Below is Melon’s own TOP10 nominees video.