BTS received five nominations for the 2026 MAMA Awards, which were announced on Monday (Oct. 12), the same day that first-round voting began for the 2027 Grammy Awards, which, for the first time, contains a dedicated Asian pop category, best Asian pop music performance.

BTS is nominated for artist of the year at the MAMA Awards,as well as best male group, album of the year for ARIRANG, best vocal performance group for “SWIM” and best music video for “2.0.” In addition, group member J-Hope received two nods for his feature on LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI,” nominated in both best collaboration and best dance performance female group.

Another leading K-pop group, BIGBANG, received four nominations plus four more for solo projects by group members Taeyang and G-Dragon. BIGBANG is up for artist of the year and best male group, plus best music video and best dance performance male group for “BiiiG.” Taeyang received three nods as a soloist: artist of the year, best male artist and best dance performance male solo for his single “LIVE FAST DIE SLOW.” G-Dragon earned a nod with his feature on aespa’s “WDA (Whole Different Animal)” in the best collaboration category. G-Dragon won artist of the year at the 2025 ceremony.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER received three nods – artist of the year, best male group and album of the year for 7th year: a moment of stillness in the thorns. In addition, group member Yeonjun received three solo nominations: artist of the year, best male artist and best dance performance male solo for “Ice Cream.”

Seven acts received five nominations each: MAMAMOO (counting four nods for its youngest member, Hwasa), aespa, ATEEZ, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT and CORTIS.

The first round of fan voting is already underway. The awards ceremony is set to take place over two nights, Nov. 20-21, at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan. The awards will also stream live worldwide on CJ ENM’s Mnet Plus platform. Music released between Oct. 1, 2025 and Sept. 30, 2026 is eligible for this year’s awards.

Other top winners at last year’s ceremony, in addition to G-Dragon, were ROSÉ & Bruno Mars’s “APT.” (song of the year), Stray Kids’ KARMA (album of the year) and ENHYPEN (fans’choice of the year).

Here’s the full list of nominees for the 2026 MAMA Awards, except for song of the year, which will be announced soon.

Best Male Artist

Best Female Artist

Best Male Group

Best Female Group

Best New Artist

Best Vocal Performance Solo

Best Vocal Performance Group

Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance

Best Original Soundtrack

Best Music Video

Best Collaboration

Best Band Performance

Best Choreography

Best Dance Performance Male Solo

Best Dance Performance Female Solo

Best Dance Performance Male Group

Best Dance Performance Female Group

Artist of the Year

Album of the Year

(Only Albums that sold more than 1 Million copies are eligible)

Fans’ Choice Male

Fans’ Choice Female

All Grammys count the same toward someone’s career Grammy total, but we all know they’re not really on an equal footing. Every media outlet on Earth will report the winners of album of the year and record of the year next Feb. 7, but good luck trying to find out who won best regional roots music album (we’ll have it, of course).

Some categories are far more competitive than others. There are more than 20 times as many entries in this year’s most populated category, song of the year (923), as in this year’s least populated category, best opera recording (43).

Since final-round voting for the 69th Grammy Awards opened on Monday (Oct. 12), Grammy voters have been conscientiously poring over the entry lists for 95 of the 100 Grammy categories (or so Recording Academy leaders fervently hope). The nominees in the other five categories are determined by committees.

The number of entries in four of the six categories in the General Field dropped compared to last year. There are 779 entries for record of the year (down from 894 last year); 683 for album of the year (down from 686 last year); 923 for song of the year (down from 1,015); and 331 for best new artist (down from 337).

The number of entries in the other two General Field categories increased compared to last year. There were 216 entries for producer of the year, non-classical (up from 195) and 74 for songwriter of the year, non-classical (up from 63).

The Grammys introduced four new categories this year. Best Latin song has a whopping 519 entries in its inaugural year, more than any other songwriting category except song of the year. Best traditional pop performance has 211 entries in its first year. Best R&B collaboration or duo/group performance has 168 entries. Best Asian pop performance, which had a surprisingly bumpy rollout, has 116.

In addition, the Recording Academy divided best folk album into two categories – best contemporary folk album (173 entries) and best traditional folk album (87 entries). (By way of comparison, best folk album had 146 entries last year.)

Both country album categories dropped in number of entries this year. Best contemporary country album has 60 entries (down from 68). Best traditional country album has 46 (down from 62).

The Recording Academy keeps an eye on the number of entries in each category. Here’s the relevant rule, from the 69th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines booklet: “Each category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries. If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year. Should there be fewer than 25 entries in a category, that category will immediately go on hiatus for the current year – no award given – and entries will be screened into the next-most-appropriate category. If a category receives fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years, the category will be discontinued, and submissions will be entered in the next-most-appropriate category.”

No category fell below the academy’s 40-entry minimum to sustain five nominees in the category, though with just 43 entries this year, best opera recording is a little too close for comfort.

My main takeaway from this annual exercise – these categories are highly competitive. As noted, 923 songs are vying for just eight slots in song of the year. When somebody says “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” they’re not just being polite. Okay, maybe they are, but it really is an honor. 915 eligible and entered songs this year will not be nominated for song of the year.

If you’re curious, the five categories where the nominations are determined by committees, rather than by voters at large, are best album cover, best recording package, best album notes, best historical album and best immersive audio album.

First-round voting for the 69th annual Grammy Awards opened on Monday (Oct. 12). Voters have until Oct. 22 to make their choices. Nominations will be announced on Nov. 16. Final-round voting runs from Dec. 10 through Jan. 7. The winners will be revealed on Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Here are the 15 categories with most entries this year, and the 15 categories with the fewest.

Categories with the most entries

(in descending order)

Song of the year, 923

Record of the year, 779

Album of the year, 683

Best music video, 645

Best engineered album, non-classical, 531

Best global music performance, 526

Best Latin song, 519

Best arrangement, instruments and vocals, 471

Best jazz performance, 449

Best American roots song, 411

Best instrumental composition, 405

Best rock performance, 385

Best Americana performance, 340

Best American roots performance, 339

Best new artist, 331

Categories with the fewest entries

(in descending order)

Best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media, 67

Best musical theater album, 66

Best contemporary blues album, 64

Best large jazz ensemble album, 64

Best choral performance, 60

Best contemporary country album, 60

Best classical solo vocal album, 58

Best traditional blues album, 58

Best bluegrass album, 55

Best regional roots music album, 52

Best compilation soundtrack for visual media, 50

Best roots gospel album, 47

Best traditional country album, 46

Best gospel album, 44

Best opera recording, 43

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters is still picking up awards. The global smash, which won a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Oscar last winter, among many other awards, won best original song at the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards, which were held on Saturday (Oct. 10) at the annual WSA Ceremony & Concert during Film Fest Gent, Belgium’s biggest international film festival.

The song, which was written by Kim Eun-jae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park and performed by HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks.

British composer Daniel Pemberton was named film composer of the year for Project Hail Mary, The Drama, The Bad Guys 2 and Masters of the Universe.

The television composer of the year award was presented to Jeff Russo for Alien: Earth, Cape Fear and Citadel (Season 2).

Hannah Peel took home the award for discovery of the year, while the public choice award went to Kevin Smithers’ score for Soy Frankelda.

For three days, international film and film music professionals gathered in Music Centre De Bijloke in the historic heart of Ghent for talks, workshops and masterclasses about the art of composing film music. The last day concluded with the award ceremony and a live concert with selected music by WSA guest of honour Hildur Guðnadóttir and lifetime achievement award recipient Trevor Jones, performed by Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Dirk Brossé.

Here’s a complete list of winners at the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards. 

Film composer of the year

Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein; Eagles of the Republic; Jurassic World Rebirth; L’homme qui rétrécit (The Shrinking Man)

Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another

Hildur Guðnadóttir – The Bride!; Hedda; 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

WINNER:  Daniel Pemberton – Project Hail Mary; The Drama; The Bad Guys 2; Masters of the Universe

Max Richter – Hamnet

Television composer of the year

 David Fleming – Widow’s Bay

 Finneas O’Connell – Beef (season two)

 Martin Phipps, Benji Merrison – Steal

 Dave Porter – Pluribus

 WINNER: Jeff Russo – Alien: Earth; Cape Fear; Citadel (season two)

Best original song

WINNER: “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters – written by Kim Eun-jae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Teddy Park | performed by Huntrix

“House” from Wuthering Heights – written by Charli xcx, John Cale, Nathan Klein, Finn Keane | performed by Charli xcx, John Cale

“No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good – written by Stephen Schwartz | performed by Cynthia Erivo

“Stolen Tale” from Hedda – written by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Nia DaCosta | performed by Mariam Wallentin

“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams – written by Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner | performed by Nick Cave

Best original composition by a young composer

WINNER: Xabier Doural García

 Lidia Pozo Perez

 Yeakun Yoo

Discovery of the year

Mari Fukuhara – Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Paris Hurley – The Chronology of Water

Kangding Ray – SIRÀT

WINNER: Hannah Peel – Midwinter Break

Sam Slater – 2000 Meters to Andriivka

Public choice award

 Avatar: Fire and Ash – Simon Franglen

WINNER: Soy Frankelda – Kevin Smithers

 Project Hail Mary – Daniel Pemberton

 Starbright – Ludek Drizhal

 KPop Demon Hunters – Marcelo Zarvos

Game music award

WINNER: Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss – Nicolas Garcia

Crimson Desert – Hwiman Ryu, Inro Joo, Hyoung Woo Roh, Jiyoon Kim, Dongjune Oh

Dispatch – Andrew Arcadi

Marathon – Ryan Lott

UNBEATABLE – rj lake, Vasily Nikolaev, Rachel Lake, and Clara Maddux (D-CELL SOUND TEAM)

Belgian film composer of the year

WINNER:  Margaret Hermant – A la cara (Nothing Personal); Mallorca Confidencial

 Frederik Van de Moortel – De Pupil

 Frédéric Vercheval – Les Tourmentés

Lifetime achievement award

 RECIPIENT: Trevor Jones

On Friday night (Oct. 9), the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards aired on TBN and TBN+, as those in the Christian and Gospel music community gathered to honor some of the year’s top artists, songs, albums and more. Hosted for the fourth consecutive year by singer-songwriter Tauren Wells, the event was held on Oct. 6 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. 

Among the top winners were Phil Wickham, Josiah Queen and Brandon Lake, with three wins each, while Tasha Cobbs Leonard took home two honors.

Wickham was named artist of the year, while his album Song of the Saints was named worship album of the year and he won children’s recorded song of the year for his work on “Follow The Light.”

“God has given us reason after reason to worship him,” Wickham said in accepting the worship album of the year honor, adding, “To be able to write songs with amazing people and to think that people sing them to Jesus blows my mind. That I get to write a song to Jesus and I have the honor of filling the mouths of believers with these songs…I don’t take one moment for granted. He is so worthy.”

Queen earned accolades in categories including song of the year and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year (both for “Dusty Bibles”) and recorded music packaging of the year (for his album Mt. Zion).

Taking the stage to accept the song of the year honor for “Dusty Bibles,” Queen thanked his co-writers on the song, John Michael Howell, Zac Lawson, and Dylan Thomas.

“We wrote this song two Dove Awards ago, so it’s an honor to be here,” Queen said. “I grew up following the Dove Awards because I looked up to so many of you writers and musicians. In saying that and getting this, it’s a huge honor. The greatest honor I can have as a human is to serve Jesus.” He added that faith helped him through hard times, saying, “It was opening up my Bible and spending time with Him that he completely changed my life.”

Lake earned accolades including songwriter of the year (artist), pop/contemporary album of the year (King of Hearts), and country/roots recorded song of the year, for “The Jesus I Know Now,” with Lainey Wilson.

Taking the stage to accept the win for “The Jesus I Know Now,” Wilson said, “There’s a line in the song that says, ‘He says who I am and it ain’t what I do.’ I want to remind all the creators, we are not just singers. We’re not just songwriters, we are connectors.” Lake added, “I’m so thankful for you Lainey, and [co-writers] Emily [Weisband] and Luke [Laird] that we wrote the song with….I’m thankful that we get to share this together.” Earlier in the evening, Wilson and Lake had performed “The Jesus I Know Now.”

Cobbs Leonard won the contemporary Gospel album of the year for her project Tasha, as well as traditional Gospel recorded song of the year for “Church” (which she also performed during the show). “God took me on a journey over the past year and a half…I’ve seen sides of Him that I’ve never seen before,” Cobbs Leonard said of working on the project, which was produced by Kenneth Leonard Jr. “The goodness of God and who He is is absolutely amazing,” Cobbs Leonard said.

Jamie MacDonald, known for hits including “Left It In The River,” won new artist of the year. 

“I spent two decades waiting tables and trying to write songs,” MacDonald said. “I was trying to heal after years of addiction and shame. I got ahold of a CeCe Winans record and it changed everything and I began singing the truth over myself….thank you for helping me to find my life’s purpose…thank you Jesus.”

Several artists offered powerful performances during the evening. Amy Grant and Natalie Grant joined forces to honor the late singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.

“What a rare artist…she felt like she belonged to all of us,” Amy Grant said from the stage. “Her music crossed generations and genres and boundaries of all kinds, and faith was woven into who she was, how she lived, and the music she made.” A video clip showed an older performance of Parton singing “How Great Thou Art,” as Natalie Grant and Amy Grant then joined in singing the song together from the Bridgestone stage, which was awash in pink lighting. They ended by joining to sing Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” as videos of Parton’s past performances filled the screens.

Grant also told Billboard in a statement, “I have thought about Dolly and the impact she had on all of us so much since her passing. Being asked to speak about her and then joining Natalie for a performance was an honor in and of itself. From the beginning, Dolly’s one request of [country singer] Porter [Wagoner] was that she be allowed to include a hymn or a Gospel song in each of their shows. Her roots in faith shaped who she was and how she lived. I appreciated getting to sing with Natalie Grant. Her voice captures the colors of the stratosphere, mine of the earth. Singing together, following Dolly, on the arrangement Natalie and Bernie [Herms] put together was magical. I was so happy to be a part of it.”

Also during the evening, Anne Wilson performed “Who I Am,” while Gospel roots ensemble Chosen Road offered up “A God Thing.” Hope Darst performed “Mighty Name of Jesus,” while rapper Hulvey brought choreography-filled performance of “Rich Like This” and “Dave.” Wells also took the stage for “This Is What a Miracle Feels Like” with Naomi Raine. Later in the evening, Tye Tribbett further elevated the evening’s energy with “I Want It All Back.”

Sarai Rivera’s “Tu Voz” was named Spanish Language Recorded song of the year. Rivera said she wrote the song at a time when “I needed His voice to be louder than the fears, than the lies…today I’m a living testimony that His voice keeps echoing louder and louder.”

The show spilled over into the nearby Ryman Auditorium, where Elevation Worship performed “So Be It.” 

Influential Gospel music songwriter, artist and musician Richard Smallwood was honored with a performance from Jonathan McReynolds, Kierra Sheard, Donald Lawrence, Maurette Brown Clark & Ted Winn, who sang songs including “The Center of My Joy, and “I Love The Lord.”

The inaugural GMA community impact award for peace and purpose to God Behind Bars, an organization that focuses on bringing a faith-based message to those in prison.

Having been newly crowned with the new artist of the year honor, MacDonald closed out the evening with the joyous and soulful “Left It In The River.”

See a list of winners in key categories at the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards below:

Artist of the year: Phil Wickham

Pop/contemporary recorded song of the year: “Dusty Bibles,” Josiah Queen

Pop/contemporary album of the year: King of Hearts, Brandon Lake

Bluegrass recorded song of the year: “Broken Angels,” The Grascals and Dolly Parton

Gospel worship recorded song of the year: “More Than This” Cece Winans feat. Todd Dulaney

Worship recorded song of the year: “God I’m Just Grateful,” Elevation Worship and Chandler Moore

Worship album of the year: Song of the Saints, Phil Wickham

Contemporary Gospel recorded song of the year: “Still (Live)” Jonathan McReynolds and Jamal Roberts

Contemporary Gospel album of the year: Tasha, Tasha Cobbs Leonard

New artist of the year: Jamie MacDonald

Song of the year: “Dusty Bibles,” Josiah Queen

Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year: “Tu Voz,” Sarai Rivera

Rock/contemporary recorded song of the year: “No Survivors,” Jeremy Camp feat. Skillet

Rap/Hip-Hop album of the year: Could Be Tonight, Hulvey

Feature film of the year: David

Television series of the year: The Chosen

Comedians Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald will host the 2026 ARIA Awards, Australia’s biggest night in music, organizers have announced.

The pair — co-hosts of Network 10’s The Cheap Seats — will lead the milestone 40th annual ceremony at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The duo have fronted the comedy panel show together since 2021, winning the Logie Award for most outstanding entertainment program in 2023, and organizers called them a “natural fit” to helm the anniversary edition.

Both leaned into the comedic register in accepting the gig. “Thrilled to host the ARIAs with my friend and colleague Tim McDonald,” Bracewell said. “Hoping they didn’t book us for experience. The last awards ceremony I hosted was a raffle for a meat tray.”

McDonald added: “Australian music is the best in the world, so we are so excited and honoured to be hosting! I can’t wait to celebrate this music milestone — 40 years of the ARIA Awards, and 24 years since I failed the recorder in grade three.” Triple j presenter and DJ Latifa Tee will also join the hosting team before moving to red-carpet duties alongside Network 10’s Georgie Tunny and Angela Bishop.

The announcement follows the reveal of this year’s nominations, led by Genesis Owusu and Tame Impala with eight nods apiece. The two will go head-to-head in several of the night’s biggest categories, including Album of the Year and Best Solo Artist, as well as Best Alternative Release — a category returning to the ARIAs for the first time since 2016. Ecca Vandal follows with seven nominations, while Baker Boy, BOY SODA, G Flip, Miss Kaninna and Ninajirachi each earned five, and Troye Sivan, DMA’S and Dom Dolla are up for four each.

Winners will be crowned across 29 categories on the night, with the public voting for Best Australian Live Act, Song of the Year, Best Video and Most Popular International Artist. The ceremony also caps a year in which ARIA marked its 40th anniversary with a standalone Hall of Fame event in June, inducting Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, The Living End, and Vika & Linda.

The 2026 ARIA Awards will stream live on Paramount+ from 5 p.m. AEDT on Nov. 18 before airing on Network 10, with red-carpet coverage hosted by Bishop, Tunny and Tee.