2024 MAMA Awards to be held in U.S., Japan

This year’s MAMA Awards, the K-pop industry’s biggest annual year-end music awards, will be held in the United States and Japan, organizers said Thursday.

The awards ceremony will take place at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Nov. 21 (U.S. time) and at the Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 22 and 23 (Japan time), according to the South Korean media and entertainment firm CJ ENM that hosts the show.

The exact details regarding timings and performers have not yet been disclosed.

The awards show was first launched as the Mnet Video Music Awards in 1999 by the company’s music cable channel Mnet and rebranded the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2009 and MAMA Awards in 2022. They have previously been held in Macau, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan.

It marks the first time in the event’s 25-year history that it will be held in the U.S. The Dolby Theatre is the annual venue for the Academy Awards.

This year’s MAMA Awards will be streamed live on major online channels, including YouTube.

The event “will present unforgettable hyper-realistic K-pop performances that transcend boundaries and stages that defy spatial limitations,” said Harry H.K. Shin, head of music entertainment at CJ ENM.