Cover Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho of the group Ateez will take to the stage in March at the Accor Arena in Paris (Photo: Instagram / @ateez_official_)
Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho of the group Ateez will take to the stage in March at the Accor Arena in Paris (Photo: Instagram / @ateez_official_)
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As music by South Korean idols take over the world, some groups are taking to the road this year, much to the delight of their fans. But would-be concert-goers might be surprised to see how much it costs to see their favourite acts live
Would you be willing to pay hundreds of euros to attend an Ateez show?
That’s the question many European fans of the K-pop group have been asking since the eight members announced a series of tour dates on the continent. At first, many thought it was a joke when they saw the prices of some of the seats—or some kind of ticketing service malfunction.
However, they soon had to accept that it will cost between €66 and €154 (HK$550 and HK$1,283) to see Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho live in March at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Prohibitive prices that are, in the collective Western mindset, more often associated with artists like Beyoncé, Elton John or the Rolling Stones rather than the rising stars of K-pop.
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Still, interest in Korean popular music should not be underestimated. In recent years, K-pop has become a social phenomenon that can be measured in sales, streams and, most importantly, revenue.
The massively successful K-pop boyband BTS alone contributes more than US$3.6 billion annually to the economy of their homeland, according to the Hyundai Research Institute—and they are no exception. Blackpink exceeded US$3.3 million in revenue for each of their two concerts in November at the Prudential Center, which boasts a capacity of 19,500, in New Jersey, USA. A record for a girl band!
The K-pop craze has brought about a complete paradigm shift in the music industry thanks to fan communities that don’t hold back when it comes to supporting their idols.
However, the rising prices of concert tickets have many music lovers worried as inflation continue to soar. Many fear they will not be able to afford to see their favourite artists on stage, especially now that they have taken to announcing the opening of ticket sales at very short notice.
US$3,000 for a Blackpink ticket
Traditionally, K-pop artists have given their audiences plenty of advance notice of their world tour dates and the availability of tickets for their shows. But this phenomenon has somewhat reversed since the 2010s under the impetus of South Korean labels wishing to capitalise as quickly as possible on the artists that they manufacture from scratch.
“With so many teams [bands] debuting, idols had to hurry to release albums and promote their activities. If the time between the last album and the new album is prolonged, it will be forgotten [by] fans and the public, allowing other teams to rise”, K-pop expert, Hee-ah Park, told The Guardian.
As a result of this fast pace, fans have less and less time to anticipate their outlay and budget to buy concert tickets.
If some will always buy a ticket, no matter the price, others have no choice but to wait before being able to afford their precious pass. And that’s without counting the “ticket-bots”: the automated robots that buy up concert tickets en masse as soon as they are put on sale to allow individuals to resell them later for exorbitant sums.
Blackpink’s fans in Hong Kong experienced this in January when the girl group performed in the Special Administrative Region.
Although they were sold out for months, a few tickets were available on the internet. A 13th-row seat for one of Blackpink’s performances was even resold for a record price of HK$25,000, according to the South China Morning Post. Its initial price was HK$2,999 dollars.
Read more: Blackpink: What to expect from the 'Born Pink World Tour'
Fans might not be happy, but most don’t want to risk missing out on a performance by Blackpink, Ateez, The Rose, Music Bank or even AB6IX.
“At the end of the day, there will always be people that will still buy tickets, even from touts at inflated prices, because the demand will always be there”, one K-pop fan told The Guardian.
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