Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
BTS appears in six categories on published lists for the 2026 MAMA Awards when Fans’ Choice Male is included. Five other entries cover the group, its album ARIRANG and the songs “SWIM” and “2.0.”
That breakdown helps explain why readers may encounter different totals following the Oct. 12 nomination announcement. The Daily Star reported five nominations, while Billboard Brasil listed six, explicitly including Fans’ Choice Male. The category names provide a clearer comparison than either headline number alone.
Billboard Brasil’s six-category breakdown is:
- Best Male Group — BTS
- Best Vocal Performance Group — “SWIM”
- Best Music Video — “2.0”
- Album of the Year — ARIRANG
- Artist of the Year — BTS
- Fans’ Choice Male — BTS
Soompi’s published nomination list includes the same six entries. Removing Fans’ Choice Male from that list leaves five. This explains the arithmetic without establishing why every outlet reporting five chose that total.
For ARMY, the nominations also offer a more detailed picture of the recognition than a single tally can convey. “SWIM” appears in a vocal-performance category, “2.0” in a music-video category and ARIRANG in the album field. The remaining entries recognize BTS as an act.
Those distinctions matter because the entries concern different aspects of the group’s work. An album nomination, a video nomination and a group nomination should not be treated as interchangeable simply because each adds one to the total.
A separate question arises when BTS members appear on other artists’ nominated songs.
Soompi lists LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI (Feat. j-hope)” in both Best Collaboration and Best Dance Performance Female Group. Those entries recognize a song featuring a BTS member; they are not additional nominations listed under BTS as a group.
Fans can celebrate that recognition alongside the group’s nominations while keeping the credits clear. A combined count involving BTS and its members needs to identify which entries belong to the group and which involve individual participation. Otherwise, two reports may appear to disagree while counting different things.
Nomination totals also do not predict the final results. Six listed categories represent six places in the announced fields, rather than six promised wins. Following each category gives listeners a more useful way to track the awards than treating the overall number as a forecast.
For anyone planning to participate in Fans’ Choice voting, the next step is to consult the current official MAMA information on Mnet Plus. A nomination breakdown identifies where an artist appears; voting instructions need to explain the applicable schedule and actions separately.
The clearest answer for now is that published lists place BTS in five categories plus Fans’ Choice Male, producing six when all are included. j-hope’s featured collaboration deserves its own credit rather than being silently added to the group’s total.