MMA2026’s brand-new Global TOP10 category — the first global main award in the ceremony’s history — has drawn more than 1.7 million overseas votes within a week of voting opening, Kakao Entertainment said on November 10, with fans from 202 countries taking part.
Voting for the new category opened on October 30 and runs through November 13 on Berriz, Kakao Entertainment’s global fan platform. The 30 nominees were picked using Melon’s Global-K Chart, which combines streaming results from leading music platforms in South Korea, China and Japan — including Tencent Music and Line Music — with fan-activity indicators. BTS, BLACKPINK, RESCENE, BIGBANG, G-DRAGON, SEVENTEEN, TWICE, aespa, IVE, NewJeans, Stray Kids and RIIZE are among the 30 acts in the running.
The final ten winners will be decided by a combined score: chart performance counts for 60 percent, judges’ scores for 20 percent and fan votes for 20 percent. For the voting portion, domestic votes cast on Melon and overseas votes cast on Berriz will be combined at a one-to-one ratio. A Kakao Entertainment representative said Berriz will roll out a range of events and content so that global fans can enjoy every moment of the wait ahead of MMA2026.
Interim figures published on November 10 showed RESCENE leading the Global TOP10 fan vote with 853,114 votes (29 percent), ahead of G-DRAGON (446,468; 15 percent), NCT WISH (300,147; 10 percent), BTS (251,190; 9 percent) and RIIZE (231,758; 8 percent). The figures are interim standings only and do not decide the final awards.
The global category is the latest addition to a ceremony already breaking new ground. When Melon unveiled the MMA2026 nominees on October 30, BTS, AKMU, I.O.I and IVE emerged as the frontrunners, each nominated for all three grand prizes — Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Best Song of the Year. This year’s ceremony is the first in MMA history to run across two nights, November 14 and 15 at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, with KakaoBank as title sponsor under the slogan ‘K-POP CONNECT: The New Pulse.’
The overseas vote has also driven sign-ups on Berriz, with new users in Indonesia and Mexico each doubling between October 29 and November 5, according to Kakao Entertainment. Voting in all categories closes on November 13, and the winners will be revealed live across the two nights at Gocheok Sky Dome.
