The 2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS (TMA) is set to take place on September 19, 2026, at Busan Asiad Main Stadium, bringing together leading K-pop artists and fan-voted awards.
Unlike awards ceremonies that publish one consolidated nominee list, TMA determines its winners through a combination of digital performance, physical album sales, performance data, trend data, expert evaluation and fan voting. The official TMA criteria state that the eligibility period for the main award categories runs from September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026.
TMA 2026 Main Award Categories
The official judging criteria currently list the following major categories:
- Icon of the Year
- Muse of the Year
- Sound of the Year
- Record of the Year
- World Best Performer
- World Best Wave
- Artist of the Year
- Global Hot Trend
- Next Leader
- Hottest
- TMA Popularity Award
- Today’s Choice
The official website notes that award categories are subject to change.
How the TMA 2026 winners are selected
The main categories use different combinations of music data and evaluation.
For example, Icon of the Year is calculated using digital scores, physical album scores and trend data, while Muse of the Year combines digital performance, performance scores and trend data.
Sound of the Year is based primarily on digital performance with an expert judging component, while Record of the Year combines physical album performance and judges’ scores.
The TMA Popularity Award, meanwhile, is determined through 100% pre-voting, while Today’s Choice is decided through 100% on-site voting.
2026 TMA Fan-Voted Categories
Several awards are conducted through FANNSTAR voting, including:
- Best Music – Fall
- Best Music – Winter
- Best Music – Spring
- Best Music – Summer
- Global Hot Star Award
- My Star Award – Male
- My Star Award – Female
- Choice Award – Group
- Choice Award – Solo
- TMA Best Stage
The voting schedules vary by category.
TMA Best Music – Summer finalists
For the Summer 2026 category, 20 artists advanced to the final voting round after releasing music between April and June 2026. The finalists were KIM KI TAE, NEXZ, DONGHAE, MEOVV, MINGI, Bak Chang Geun, BTS, BOYNEXTDOOR, Stray Kids, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, EVAN, NCT WISH, ISEGYE IDOL, CORTIS, TAEMIN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, TWS, TREASURE, PLAVE and Hwang Chi Yeul.
BTS’s “Come Over” ultimately topped the TMA Best Music – Summer final vote.
TMA 2026 Artist Lineup
The confirmed performing lineup includes IDID, ATEEZ, ALLDAY PROJECT, CORTIS, KiiiKiii, tripleS, RESCENE, xikers, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, EVAN, YENA, CLOSE YOUR EYES, RIIZE, ILLIT, NMIXX, Lim Young-woong and TREASURE.
The official TMA website describes the 2026 ceremony as the ninth edition of the awards and confirms that it will be held at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on September 19.
TMA 2026 Nomination and Voting Updates
As TMA 2026 approaches the ceremony, additional award results and fan-voting outcomes are being revealed separately. Fans can follow the official TMA and FANNSTAR announcements for category-specific finalists, voting results and winners.
The 2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS will take place in Busan on September 19, bringing together the year’s major K-pop artists for performances and award presentations.