Golden Disc Awards 2026: A Proper Night Out for K-pop
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The 40th Golden Disc Awards kicked off on 10 January at the massive Taipei Dome in Taiwan, and it was a pretty big deal for the K-pop world. Everyone had been buzzing since they announced who was up for awards back in November 2025, and the actual night lived up to the hype. Eighteen acts put on a show—Stray Kids, Monsta X, Jennie, ATEEZ, ENHYPEN, IVE, LE SSERAFIM and loads more—and it was absolutely brilliant from start to finish.
Singer Sung Si Kyung and actress Mun Ka Young hosted the whole thing, with Song Joong Ki, Byeon Woo Seok and Ahn Hyo Seop helping out with presenting the awards. It was proper glitzy but still felt genuine when people were getting their recognition.
The big wins of the night went to some absolute heavyweights. G-Dragon took home the Digital Daesang (basically Song of the Year) for HOME SWEET HOME, which he did with Taeyang and Daesung. Stray Kids nabbed the Album Daesang (Album of the Year) for KARMA, and Jennie was named Artist of the Year, which just proves she's one of the biggest names in K-pop right now.
The Digital Song awards went to tracks from aespa, BLACKPINK, IVE, Rosé, LE SSERAFIM and others, whilst the Album awards recognised work by ATEEZ, ENHYPEN, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and more. They also gave some love to the new lot coming through—ALLDAY PROJECT and CORTIS both got Rookie Artist of the Year.
The fan-voted awards made things even more exciting. Jin won Most Popular Male Artist and Hearts2Hearts got Most Popular Female Artist. There were loads of other special awards as well: Monsta X won Best Group, izna and TWS got Best Performance, and IVE picked up the Cosmopolitan Artist Award. Jennie's massive worldwide following was recognised with the Global Impact Award, whilst ARrC, CLOSE YOUR EYES, BOYNEXTDOOR and KiiiKiii were highlighted as the ones to watch.
They broadcast the whole thing internationally—people could watch it on Naver CHZZK in Korea, ABEMA in Japan, TVBS and Disney+ in Taiwan, and PRIZM everywhere else.
The Golden Disc Awards 2026 wasn't just about handing out trophies—it really showed how K-pop has become this massive global thing. It was a brilliant night celebrating talent and achievement, and a proper reminder of why this music's got people hooked all over the world.