The Golden Disc Awards 2026, also known as Golden Disk Awards or GDA, is the Korean music industry's next biggest event. The event will begin with a live telecast on Saturday. It will be available to watch online in different countries, including the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Singapore, and Malaysia. In Korea, the award show will be streamed live via Naver. In Japan, K-pop fans can watch the glam event on ABEMA. Globally, the ceremony will be available live online on PRIZM.
After a fabulous New Year's Eve with two award shows and a music festival, K-pop fans have started counting down the days for the 40th annual award show. The ceremony will feature live onstage performances of global superstars, including Stray Kids, MONSTA X, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE, BOYNEXTDOOR, and ATEEZ.
The organizers have already shared several details about this live event, including the date, time, venue, hosts, lineup, nominees, and streaming details. For the first time in the history of this award ceremony, three Grand Prizes (Daesangs) will be given to the winners. Organizers announced that a new Artist Daesang has been added to the award show this year. HLL JoongAng revealed that changes were made, considering the shifting changes in music consumption from physical albums to digital formats. The Artist Daesang will be decided based on 60 percent on quantitative data and 40 percent on evaluations by a panel of judges.
"The executive committee discussed for a long time how to reflect the spread of K-pop in the global music market, along with the global influence and musical achievements of K-pop artists, in the results of our awards ceremony. The global chart data (provided by Circle Chart) used in the Golden Chart that we have been publishing through our official social media channels since April will be reflected in the quantitative evaluation used to determine the winner of the new Daesang," HLL JoongAng explained.
The 40th Golden Disc Awards will also introduce a new trophy design. The Grand Prize winners will receive fully golden trophies. Meanwhile, the winners in other award categories will receive a trophy with a golden disc and a black background.
Golden Disc Powerhouse 40
HLL JoongAng also released details about a special list, consisting of 40 influential figures from the Korean popular music industry. These artists, who left an indelible mark and played a pivotal role in shaping the Korean music industry over the last four decades, will be honoured during the award show.
The selection process for the Powerhouse 40 was made by 50 music industry professionals, including producers, composers, lyricists, media and content experts, journalists, and critics. It will serve as a tribute and a time capsule to the artists and producers who created generation-defining music, pioneered new genres, helped spread K-pop worldwide, and built the industry's foundation.
The artists and producers named in the Golden Disc Powerhouse 40 list include Kim Gun Mo, Kim Kwang Seok, Kim Min Gi, Kim Wan Sun, Kim Eana, Kim Chang Hwan, Kim Hyun Sik, Kim Hyung Suk, Na Hoon A, TVXQ, Deux, Deulgukhwa, Park Jin Young (JYP), Bang Si Hyuk, BTS, BoA, BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, Seo Taiji, Girls' Generation, Shin Seung Hun, Shin Joong Hyun, Shin Hae Chul, PSY, IU, Yang Hyun Suk, Yoo Young Jin, Yoo Jae Ha, Yoon Il Sang, Lee Moon Sae, Lee Soo Man, Lee Young Hoon, Lee Hyori, Lim Young Woong, Cho Yong Pil, G-Dragon, Kenzie, Teddy, g.o.d, and H.O.T.
Date, Time, and Venue
Golden Disc Awards 2026 will begin with a live telecast from the Taipei Dome in Taiwan on Saturday (January 10) at 6:30 pm KST. This is the seventh time the annual award ceremony has been held in an overseas location. Fukuoka in Japan, Jakarta in Indonesia, Bangkok in Thailand, Beijing in China, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Osaka in Japan were some of the previous venues of the glam event.
Hosts and Lineup
Singer Sung Si Kyung will host the 40th annual Golden Disc Awards. He is taking up the role for the ninth time in a row. Actress Mun Ka Young will co-host the star-studded ceremony.
The artists confirmed to perform at the annual award ceremony include LE SSERAFIM, IVE, NCT WISH, ENHYPEN, ALLDAY PROJECT, izna, ZEROBASEONE, ZO ZAZZ, CORTIS, ARrC, ATEEZ, BOYNEXTDOOR, CLOSE YOUR EYES, Jennie, KiiiKiii, MONSTA X, Stray Kids, and TWS. The confirmed presenters are Song Joong Ki, Byeon Woo Seok, and Ahn Hyo Seop.
Nomination List
The nominees were chosen based on the album release date, number of tracks, and sales. The project songs for various television programs and Original Sound Tracks (OSTs) of K-dramas will not be included in the nomination list.
Albums and Songs released between November 2024 and November 2025 were considered for nomination. The albums with a total of six tracks, excluding the intro, instrumentals, and outro, will be considered for nominations in the Album Division.
Golden Disc Awards 2026 Nomination List:
Digital Song Division Bonsang (Main Award)
- aespa for Dirty Work
- ALLDAY PROJECT for FAMOUS
- BLACKPINK for JUMP
- BOYNEXTDOOR for IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU
- G-Dragon for HOME SWEET HOME (feat. Taeyang, Daesung)
- Hearts2Hearts for The Chase
- Hwang Karam for I Miss You So Much
- IU for Never Ending Story
- IVE for REBEL HEART
- Jennie for like JENNIE
- KiiiKiii for I DO ME
- LE SSERAFIM for HOT
- MAKTUB for Starting With You
- MEOVV for HANDS UP
- OVAN for Flower
- PLAVE for Dash
- Rosé for toxic till the end
- SEVENTEEN for THUNDER
- Woody for Sadder Than Yesterday
- ZO ZAZZ for Don't you know
Album Division Bonsang (Main Award)
- &TEAM for Back to Life
- aespa for Rich Man
- ATEEZ for GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2
- Baekhyun for Essence of Reverie
- CxM for HYPE VIBES
- ENHYPEN for DESIRE : UNLEASH
- G-Dragon for Übermensch
- i-dle for We are
- IVE for IVE EMPATHY
- Jennie for Ruby
- Jin for Happy
- NCT DREAM for DREAMSCAPE
- NCT WISH for COLOR
- RIIZE for ODYSSEY
- SEVENTEEN for HAPPY BURSTDAY
- Stray Kids for KARMA
- THE BOYZ for Unexpected
- TWICE for STRATEGY
- TXT for The Star Chapter: TOGETHER
- ZEROBASEONE for NEVER SAY NEVER
Rookie Artist of the Year
- AHOF
- ALLDAY PROJECT
- CLOSE YOUR EYES
- CORTIS
- Hearts2Hearts
- IDID
- idntt
- izna
- KickFlip
- KiiiKiii
- NouerA
- ZO ZAZZ
Most Popular Artist – Female
- Aespa
- AllDay Project
- Blackpink
- Hearts2Hearts
- I-dle
- IU
- Ive
- Izna
- Jennie
- KiiiKiii
- Le Sserafim
- Meovv
- Rosé
- Twice
Most Popular Artist – Male
- &Team
- AHOF
- Ateez
- Baekhyun
- BoyNextDoor
- Close Your Eyes
- Cortis
- CxM
- Enhypen
- G-Dragon
- Hwang Ka-ram
- Idid
- Idntt
- Jin
- KickFlip
- Maktub
- NCT Dream
- NCT Wish
- Nouera
- Ovan
- Plave
- Riize
- Seventeen
- Stray Kids
- The Boyz
- Tomorrow X Together
- Woody
- Zerobaseone
- Zo Zazz
