The Melon Music Awards has completed its performer lineup for 2026, and it is a stacked one. On November 14 and 15 at the Gocheok Sky Dome, MMA2026 will run across two days for the first time, with a whopping 26 acts confirmed on the final performers list.
What Are The Melon Music Awards?
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 20, 2025: IDID members Park Sunghyun, Baek Junhyuk, Kim Minjae, Jang Yonghoon, Jung Semin, Park Wonbin and Chu Yuchan attend the red carpet event of the Melon Music Awards 2025 (MMA2025) at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
The MMA is one of South Korea’s largest annual music ceremonies. The event is organised by Kakao Entertainment through Melon, which is South Korea’s largest homegrown music streaming platform by monthly active users.
Grand prizes, known as Daesangs, have historically gone to the artists who have dominated the platform across that specific year.
Past Daesang winners include BTS, IU, G-Dragon, NewJeans, aespa and IVE, the latter two of whom will be performing this year as well. The ceremony will be held at Seoul’s fully domed Gocheok Sky Dome stadium, same as several of its recent editions, including 2022 and 2025.
What Is New At The Melon Music Awards 2026
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 20, 2025: HEARTS2HEARTS members Eina, Jueun, Carmen, Jiwoo, Yeon, Stella, Yuha and Ian attend the red carpet event of the Melon Music Awards 2025 (MMA2025) at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
The expansion to two nights is MMA2026’s main headline, but the more structurally consequential change for the industry may be the introduction of the Global Top 10 category, announced in August.
The previously used Millions Top 10 category will be replaced by this one, which is tied to a joint index called the the Global-K Chart, which launched in June.
The Global-K Chart aggregates K-pop consumption data across Melon, China’s Tencent Music, and Japan’s LINE MUSIC.
The Global Top 10 category’s scoring gives 60% weight to cumulative Global-K Chart performance, with fan voting and judges making up the remainder.
The practical implications of this is that Chinese and Japanese fans now have a structural influence on MMA outcomes that they previously did not in main-tier categories; an acknowledgement that K-pop’s consumption landscape has shifted well beyond Korea, and that Melon’s own commercial interest in the Global-K Chart is best served by making that chart matter to artists and fans both.
The Full Melon Music Awards Performer Lineup
The lineup was announced across four waves between September 16 and October 14.
The first wave, announced September 16, named five boy groups who had performed strongly on Melon’s charts in 2026: PLAVE, RIIZE, NCT WISH, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, and LNGSHOT.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 20, 2025: Longshot members O-Yul, Kim Ryul, Woojin and Louis, along with Jay Park(the third), attend the red carpet event of the Melon Music Awards 2025 (MMA2025) at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
The second wave, announced September 21, added YENA, ILLIT, RESCENE, and Hearts2Hearts.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 20, 2025: ILLIT members Yunah, Wonhee, Minju, Iroha and Moka attend the red carpet event of the Melon Music Awards 2025 (MMA2025) at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
The third wave, announced September 30, brought in NCT 127, NCT DREAM, ATEEZ, TWS, AND2BLE, and 82MAJOR.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JUNE 12: ATEEZ attends ATEEZ’s the 12th mini album ‘GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3’ press conference at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo-gu on June 12, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
The fourth and final wave, confirmed October 14, added the remaining eleven acts: I.O.I, aespa, IVE, Dragon Pony, KiiiKiii, CORTIS, IDID, hrtz.wav, AEN, TUIDE, and HANA.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 02: Aespa attends the ‘2023 Melon Music Awards’ red carpet event at Inspire Arena in Jung-gu on December 02, 2023 in Incheon, South Korea (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
Melon Music Awards’ I.O.I Pick-Me-Up
The I.O.I comeback in particular will be a special one for the nostalgia lovers. When the ceremony rolls around, it will have been a whole ten years since the group last performed together at the MMAs.
I.O.I was formed through the first season of Produce 101 in 2016. Several I.O.I members have since gone on to join groups like WJSN and Weki Meki, as well as pursue solo careers, Chungha and Jeon Somi.
Another significant performance would be NCT DREAM and NCT 127, marking their tenth anniversary at the ceremony.
Day 1 — Saturday, November 14: AEN, ATEEZ, Dragon Pony, Hearts2Hearts, HANA, IDID, I.O.I, NCT DREAM, RESCENE, RIIZE, TUIDE, TWS, YENA, aespa
Day 2 — Sunday, November 15: 82MAJOR, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, AND2BLE, CORTIS, IVE, ILLIT, KiiiKiii, LNGSHOT, NCT 127, NCT WISH, PLAVE, hrtz.wav
This article about the Melon Music Awards will be updated with nominee details when they are out.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com