Oct. 30, SEOUL, KOREA – As MMA2026 – K-pop’s largest award ceremony – draws near, Kakao Entertainment is fueling the buzz on its global K-culture fan platform Berriz. The company will host fan voting for the newly introduced “Global TOP10” award category beginning from Oct. 30 (KST). For the first time in its history, the festival will span two days, taking place Nov. 14–15 at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome and featuring top-tier artists including I.O.I, aespa, IVE and NCT 127.

Based on Melon’s Global-K Chart – launched in collaboration with Tencent Music (China) and LINE MUSIC (Japan) – “Global TOP10” carries the same status as the existing TOP10 award. Global-K Chart is the first-ever K-pop chart to aggregate both music streaming and fandom activity indices across major consumer markets, offering deep insights into K-pop’s global trends and artists’ worldwide influence.

Global TOP10 Nominees

For “Global TOP10,” 30 nominees have been selected based on their cumulative Global-K Chart scores: BIGBANG, IU, G-DRAGON, EXO, BTS, SEVENTEEN, TWICE, BLACKPINK, NCT DREAM, Stray Kids, i-dle, Jennie, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, aespa, ENHYPEN, ROSÉ, IVE, YENA, NMIXX, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, BOYNEXTDOOR, RIIZE, BABYMONSTER, TWS, NCT WISH, ILLIT, RESCENE, Hearts2Hearts, and CORTIS.

Of these nominees, 10 winning acts will be selected based on a combination of Global-K Chart scores (60%), judges’ evaluations (20%), and fan votes (20%). Fans in Korea can vote on Melon, while international fans can participate through Berriz. Kakao Entertainment will combine the results from the two platforms on a 1:1 basis and reflect them in the final tally. With MMA introducing a new main award category that reflects global fans’ support, attention is already building over which artists will take home the honors.

Voting will run from 10 a.m. on Oct. 30 through Nov. 13 (KST). To participate, fans can join Berriz’s K-pop Square community and cast one vote per day for their favorite artist.

Special Events

Ahead of MMA2026, Berriz is building anticipation through a variety of events and content. After completing the Global TOP10 vote, fans can upload a screenshot of their voting confirmation to their X account with the hashtags #Berriz and #GlobalTOP10 for a chance to win invitations to attend MMA2026. The event runs from Oct. 30 through Nov. 7, with one entry allowed per day. Four winners will be selected each day, for a total of 36 winners.

In addition, fans can collect special MMA2026 voting-confirmation stickers for My Cabinet, Berriz’s digital archiving service, by completing the Global TOP10 vote each day. Further details are available on the Berriz’s K-pop Square community and its official social media channels.

Berriz’s MMA voting pre-event also drew strong interest, running through Oct. 29. Fans from across the globe, including Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and the U.S., joined the K-pop Square community and posted messages supporting their favorite artists on the MMA2026 board for a chance to win tickets to the event.

“As a global K-culture fan platform, Berriz plans to continue offering a variety of events and content so that K-pop fans around the world can enjoy every moment of anticipation leading up to MMA alongside Berriz,” said Kakao Entertainment.

Berriz is a playground where fans worldwide come together to connect over their shared passion for K-culture, spanning K-pop, dramas, variety shows and sports. The platform offers a diverse range of services to enhance the fan experience, from communities dedicated to K-pop artists and content IPs to Berriz Shop, where fans can explore a wide selection of special merchandise, including official merchandise stores for SM Entertainment.