Melon Music Awards 2026: BTS, ILLIT and CORTIS Emerge Among Top Nominees

The nominations for the 2026 Melon Music Awards are out, with BTS, ILLIT and CORTIS emerging as the leading contenders. The three acts are compting across several categories at the upcoming ceremony. Kakao Entertainment’s music streaming platform Melon announced nominees across 12 categories on October 30, along with the launch of a new round of fan voting. The eligible releases cover the period between November 20, 2025, and October 14, 2026.

2026 Melon Music Awards details

The 18th edition of the Melon Music Awards will be held on November 14 and 15 at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome. For the first time in the event’s history, the ceremony will take place over two days.

Major awards, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year, will be determined through a combination of digital performance scores, expert panel evaluations and fan votes. BTS, ILLIT and CORTIS are among the prominent acts competing for the honours.

Full list of 2026 Melon Music Awards nominees

Artist of the Year (TOP10 winners)

AKMU
BTS
CORTIS
Hearts2Hearts
I.O.I
ILLIT
IVE
KiiiKiii
NCT WISH
PLAVE

Album of the Year

aespa – LEMONADE
AKMU – FLOWERING
ALLDAY PROJECT – ALLDAY PROJECT
BTS – ARIRANG
CORTIS – GREENGREEN
I.O.I – I.O.I : LOOP
ILLIT – MAMIHLAPINATAPAI
IVE – REVIVE+
KiiiKiii – Delulu Pack
YENA – LOVE CATCHER

Song of the Year

aespa – “LEMONADE”
AKMU – “Paradise of Rumors”
BTS – “SWIM”
CORTIS – “REDRED”
Hearts2Hearts – “RUDE!”
I.O.I – “Suddenly”
ILLIT – “It’s Me”
KiiiKiii – “404 (New Era)”
YENA – “Catch Catch”

Global TOP10

aespa
BABYMONSTER
BIGBANG
BLACKPINK
BOYNEXTDOOR
BTS
CORTIS
ENHYPEN
EXO
G-Dragon
Hearts2Hearts
i-dle
ILLIT
IU
IVE
Jennie
LE SSERAFIM
NCT DREAM
NCT WISH
NewJeans
NMIXX
RESCENE
RIIZE
Rosé
SEVENTEEN
Stray Kids
TWICE
TWS
Tomorrow X Together
YENA

New Artist of the Year

ALPHA DRIVE ONE
HADES
LNGSHOT
SYSTEM SEOUL
TUIDE

Best Solo – Female

BOL4
IU
Jennie
Taeyeon
YENA

Best Solo – Male

BIG Naughty
Lee Changsub
Lim Young Woong
SoonSoonHee (Jihwan)
Young K

Best Group – Female

aespa
Hearts2Hearts
ILLIT
IVE
KiiiKiii

Best Group – Male

BOYNEXTDOOR
BTS
CORTIS
NCT WISH
PLAVE

Best OST

Kim Min Seok (MeloMance) – “Love Language” (Can This Love Be Translated? OST)
PLAVE – “Love Is Enough (Original)” (Sold Out On You OST)
Sung Si Kyung – “Anytime anyhow” (Surely Tomorrow OST)
TRIANGLE – “Love is” (Wild Sing OST)
WOODZ – “EVERGLOW” (Perfect Crown OST)

Best Pop Artist

Ariana Grande
Bruno Mars
Charlie Puth
KATSEYE
Tame Impala

TrackZero Choice

DeVita – “Tricycle”
Electron Sheep – “Kids Return”
Goat’s Horn, Dog’s Heart – “Goat’s Horn, Dog’s Heart”
Haepa – “Model Citizen”
Kangziwon – “lemon”
NokeNok – “Summer Break”
Silica Gel – “BIG VOID”
SUMIN – “+82”
wave to earth – “courage”
youra – “BATHTUB”

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