True Taste Korea

RIIZE

  • Why Is the Melon Music Awards Two Days in 2026? MMA’s Biggest Change Explained

    The Melon Music Awards is making a major change in 2026.

    For the first time in its history, the annual K-pop awards show will not be held on just one day.

    MMA 2026 will take place over two days, November 14 and 15, at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

    So why is the Melon Music Awards suddenly becoming a two-day event?

    Why Is MMA 2026 Two Days?

    According to Melon, the expanded format is designed to bring more artists and fans together and create a larger K-pop festival.

    The theme for MMA 2026 is “Connect,” with the official slogan:

    “K-POP CONNECT: The New Pulse.”

    The idea is to connect K-pop artists and fans around the world through a larger variety of performances.

    It is a significant change for an awards show that has traditionally been held as a single-day event.

    Who Is Performing at MMA 2026?

    The first lineup was dominated by boy groups.

    It included:

    • PLAVE
    • RIIZE
    • NCT WISH
    • ALPHA DRIVE ONE
    • LNGSHOT

    The second lineup, announced in September, went in the opposite direction.

    YENA, ILLIT, RESCENE and Hearts2Hearts were added, making the second group of announced performers entirely female.

    More artists are expected to be announced before the November ceremony.

    MMA Is Becoming More Global

    The two-day format is not the only major change.

    Melon is also putting more emphasis on international K-pop listeners.

    In 2026, Melon launched the Global-K Chart in collaboration with Tencent Music in China and LINE MUSIC in Japan.

    The chart combines music streaming data with fandom activity across major Asian K-pop markets.

    That global data will now influence parts of the Melon Music Awards.

    MMA 2026 is also introducing a new Global TOP 10 award connected to the Global-K Chart.

    At the same time, the previous “Millions TOP10” category is being removed.

    Why Does the Change Matter?

    K-pop award shows are no longer watched only by Korean audiences.

    Fans in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, the United States, Europe and other regions follow performances, voting and award results in real time.

    Expanding MMA to two days gives organizers more room for artists, performances and fan-focused content.

    It also shows how Korean music awards are adapting to K-pop’s increasingly global audience.

    When and Where Is MMA 2026?

    Dates: November 14–15, 2026
    Venue: Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea

    With two days of performances, a growing artist lineup and new global awards, MMA 2026 will look different from previous editions.

    The biggest question now may not be why MMA needs two days.

    It may be whether two days will be enough for the K-pop lineup still to come.

  • RIIZE Just Scored Another 100 Million-Stream Song—And Their Next Comeback Is Already Coming

    RIIZE just added another song to the 100 million club.

    Their 2024 hit “Love 119” has officially surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify, becoming the group’s second track to reach the milestone after “Get A Guitar.”

    That’s already impressive for a group that celebrated only its third anniversary this month.

    But the timing makes the milestone even more interesting.

    RIIZE isn’t slowing down.

    A new single is coming on October 26.

    And after that?

    A second full-length album is already scheduled for spring 2027.

    So the real question isn’t whether RIIZE has another hit.

    It’s:

    Is RIIZE entering its next major growth phase?

    “Love 119” Refuses to Disappear

    “Love 119” was released back in January 2024.

    In K-pop, where new songs arrive constantly, two years can feel like a very long time.

    But “Love 119” kept going.

    As of September 17, the song had passed 100 million Spotify streams, following “Get A Guitar” as RIIZE’s second song to cross that mark on the platform.

    And Spotify isn’t the only place where the song has reached that level.

    “Love 119” previously passed 100 million streams on Melon and YouTube Music as well.

    That’s what makes this milestone particularly interesting.

    This isn’t simply a song generating one huge launch-week number.

    People kept coming back.

    It Was Also RIIZE’s First Music-Show No. 1

    “Love 119” holds another important place in RIIZE’s history.

    It gave the group its first music-show victory shortly after release.

    The song eventually climbed as high as No. 3 on Melon’s Top 100, while also reaching No. 4 on the platform’s daily and weekly charts.

    That means “Love 119” managed to work in two very different environments:

    Korean music charts and international streaming.

    That’s not always easy.

    Some K-pop songs explode internationally but make less noise domestically.

    Others become major Korean hits without producing equally large global streaming numbers.

    “Love 119” has shown unusual staying power across both.

    Why Does “Love 119” Keep Working?

    Sometimes the simplest hooks are the hardest to forget.

    “1-1-9.”

    The repeated emergency-number refrain became one of the song’s signatures, accompanied by recognizable point choreography.

    Even years after release, the track has remained part of RIIZE’s live performances, where the chorus often turns into an audience singalong.

    Fans seem to have formed a similar attachment.

    In Reddit discussions about favorite RIIZE tracks, “Love 119” continues to appear alongside newer releases. One fan discussing Spotify Wrapped even said it was their most-listened-to song of the year, while others described it as a track they repeatedly returned to.

    Those comments aren’t scientific evidence of the song’s overall popularity.

    But they help explain something the streaming number already suggests:

    “Love 119” has become more than a comeback song.

    It has become part of RIIZE’s core catalog.

    And RIIZE Already Has Another 100 Million Song

    “Love 119” isn’t the group’s first Spotify track to reach the milestone.

    That distinction belongs to “Get A Guitar.”

    Now RIIZE has two.

    For a group that debuted on September 4, 2023, building multiple songs with that level of long-term streaming this early is significant.

    And the group isn’t relying on those older songs indefinitely.

    The next chapter has already been announced.

    October 26 Is the Next Date to Watch

    At RIIZE’s third-anniversary fan meeting, “Ch. RIIZE : ON AIR,” the group revealed its next release schedule.

    First comes a new digital single on:

    October 26, 2026.

    Then RIIZE will release its second full-length album in spring 2027, according to SM Entertainment.

    The upcoming album has been announced as “EMOTIION.”

    That makes the October release especially interesting.

    It isn’t just another standalone single.

    It’s positioned ahead of a much larger album cycle.

    Three Years In, RIIZE Is Building a Catalog

    This may be the bigger story.

    RIIZE already has songs associated with very different stages of its short career:

    “Get A Guitar.”

    “Love 119.”

    “Boom Boom Bass.”

    “Fly Up.”

    And now another release is approaching.

    A hit single can make a rookie group famous.

    But building a long-term career requires something harder:

    a catalog people keep listening to even after the comeback promotions end.

    “Love 119” passing 100 million Spotify streams more than two years after release is evidence of exactly that kind of staying power.

    100 Million Is the Milestone—But October 26 Is the Question

    RIIZE can celebrate “Love 119.”

    It deserves to.

    Two songs above 100 million Spotify streams gives the group another measurable sign of international listening demand.

    But now comes the more interesting test.

    Can the next RIIZE song join them?

    October 26 will give us the first clue.

    And with a second full-length album following in spring 2027, RIIZE may be moving from the phase of proving it can produce hits…

    to proving it can keep producing them.