Are K-pop concerts too expensive?

K-pop boy group SHINee held the "SHINee WORLD VI [PERFECT ILLUMINATION]" concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of SM Entertainment

Pricey pop concert tickets frustrate fans

By Dong Sun-hwa

Do Hee-yeon, an ardent K-pop fan in her 20s, recently spent 471,000 won ($361) to attend three concerts held by boy band SHINee. It is common for K-pop lovers to purchase tickets for a series of concerts by the same group, as they can catch a rare glimpse of their favorite stars while enjoying their riveting performances.

However, Do thinks these tickets are too expensive for a young student like her, who does not have a permanent job. A concert ticket used to cost about 120,000 won before the COVID-19 pandemic, but recently jumped nearly 30 percent to 157,000 won, she said.

"One of my friends is considering starting a side hustle to buy tickets," Do told The Korea Times. "We have to tolerate exorbitant prices because we are so eager to see our favorite singers on stage. But we often feel like our pure love of K-pop is being exploited … If the price continues to go up like this, we may not be able to attend any more shows in the future."

The price hike is clearly evident.

In 2019, all seats for K-pop behemoth BTS' "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" concert at the Olympic Stadium in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul, cost 110,000 won. But for its "Permission to Dance on Stage ― Seoul" concert, which took place at the same venue last year, the price of a VIP ticket doubled to 220,000 won. A standard ticket was available for 165,000 won, up 50 percent.

HYBE, the septet's management company, also raised the concert ticket prices of other artists under its roof, including Tomorrow X Together (TXT), SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN. All tickets for their shows cost 132,000 won in 2022, leading the company to make a whopping $198.1 million in concert revenues. But HYBE did not stop there. This year, it decided to sell a VIP ticket and a standard ticket for 198,000 won and 154,000 won, respectively. The price increase rate for the former is 50 percent.

International fans are also venting their discontent over surging ticket prices.

In Thailand, the price of K-pop concert tickets has risen by nearly 20 percent since 2019, according to local media outlet MGR Online. In particular, a VIP ticket for girl group BLACKPINK's latest concert cost 14,800 baht ($419.5), almost three times higher than the average concert ticket price of 5,270 baht in the country.

Some Thai fans brought the issue to the Consumer Protection Agency only to learn that the government has no solution. They were told that there is no law to regulate the prices, which are set based on a consensus between sellers and consumers.

Price control impossible

The same rule applies to fans in Korea. The Korean government cannot control the prices of non-essential items like concert tickets, according to Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer science at Inha University.

"Price control is not an option in a free competitive market and there are no clear criteria to judge whether a ticket is too expensive," Lee explained. "However, the price increase rates of most K-pop tickets seem pretty high, given that the consumer price index jumped 5.1 percent last year. It is high enough to spark K-pop fans' anger."

She added that the adoption of the dynamic pricing system, in which ticket prices change based on demand, cannot be a silver bullet either. HYBE recently implemented this system for BTS member Suga's U.S. tour, stirring debate among industry insiders.

"It may be difficult for fans to understand why some of them have to pay more," she said.

K-pop boy group BTS / Courtesy of HYBE

Lee also pointed out that K-pop fandom consists mostly of young people. According to album sales tracker Hanteo, people in their teens and 20s accounted for more than 89 percent of the global K-pop fandom in 2021.

"A large portion of K-pop followers are teenagers, who cannot afford pricey tickets," Lee noted. "It looks like K-pop record labels should take this point into account."

Rationales behind high prices

Lee Gyu-tag, an associate professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea, agrees that current concert ticket prices can cost an arm and a leg for some fans, particularly those from countries with low purchasing power.

However, there are reasons behind the high prices, he says.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered price hikes in almost everything ranging from human resources to transportation," the professor told The Korea Times. "But K-pop concerts today have grown in size and improved in quality, so they need more staff and equipment. Many of them are accompanied by live bands as well, which all require money. It is somewhat inevitable for K-pop labels to raise the ticket prices."

In this 2022 photo, some 50,000 concertgoers flock to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to see a BTS concert. Courtesy of HYBE

Ticket prices of K-pop concerts are not ridiculously expensive compared to those of the singers in other OECD countries, Lee added, citing American musician Bruno Mars and Irish rock band U2 as examples.

The highest price for Mars' latest Korean show ― which took place at the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium in Seoul, June 17 ― was 250,000 won. In the case of U2's 2019 Seoul concert, the best seats were sold for 454,000 won.

Lee believes K-pop labels have two ways to assuage disgruntled fans.

"First, they can lower the ticket prices by organizing concerts at smaller and cheaper venues, attracting more diverse fans. Otherwise, they may have to lift the quality of their performances, so that the audience will think they are worth the money. Honestly, many shows at large stadiums do not look much different from those at smaller venues in terms of quality. Once K-pop labels come up with ideas to enrich the audience experience ― possibly by adding more visual and stage effects ― they may be able to appease those who complain about high prices."