“It’s nearly 300,000 won”… How much have the prices of K-pop concert tickets increased after Covid-19?
Korean media discussed the huge increase in K-pop concert ticket prices these days.
As the world is suffering from extreme inflation, K-pop is no exception. In particular, the prices of K-pop concert tickets are soaring more sharply than ever its ordinary prices. Even core fans, who are always willing to spend money on idols enthusiastically, are complaining, “I’m hesitant to open my wallet”.
The concert of TXT, a boy group under HYBE’s sublabel Big Hit Music. Tickets for the Seoul show of TXT’s world tour “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE”, which will be held at KSPO Dome on the 25th and 26th of March, are 198,000 won for a VIP seat and 154,000 won for a general seat. Online live-streaming ticket prices are 59,400 won for one day and 110,000 million won for two days.
Earlier in March last year, BTS’s ‘PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – SEOUL’ concert, which was held at Jamsil Main Stadium in Seoul, sold even more expensive tickets than that. It was 220,000 won for a VIP seat and 165,000 won for a general seat. Even considering the fact that only about 1/3 of the capacity of the concert hall was used due to social distancing at that time, the ticket prices were not low.
The most expensive domestic idol concert tickets were the ones for BLACKPINK’s world tour “BORN PINK” in Seoul held at KSPO Dome in October last year. The ticket prices are 264,000 won for a Platinum Pink ticket (including special goods), 176,000 won for a BLINK Plus seat, and 154,000 won for a BLINK standard seat. The most expensive ticket is nearly 300,000 won.
Compared to concert tickets before the Covid-19 pandemic, the prices have increased a lot.BTS’s “SPEAK YOURSELF” show in Seoul at Jamsil Main Stadium in 2019 sold 110,000 won equally for all seats. BLACKPINK’s previous Seoul concert “IN YOUR AREA” at KSPO Dome in 2018 priced at 110,000 won for each seat. After three years, concert ticket prices of both groups have doubled.
Due to this reason, although offline concerts have been normalized for the first time after three years, fans are not very happy about that. A woman in her 30s, who is a fan of a boy group, shared, “I feel burdened since the prices of concert tickets have increased a lot”, adding “It now costs you at least 500,000 won to see a concert outside Seoul”.
According to people in the performing industry, it was the economic structural phenomena that greatly affected the rise in ticket prices. An official said, “Recently, the costs to pay for concert preparation, such as staff, venue rental fees, and sound equipment, have all risen”.
In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic also had a significant impact on the rise in ticket prices. The official shared, “Before Covid-19, ticket prices for concerts remained unchanged. However, many companies were negatively affected by Covid-19. There was a great loss of employees at agencies during that time and the industry has changed a lot after then. As a result, many companies have no choice but to increase the prices of tickets.”
Another official said, “It’s not easy to satisfy K-pop fans nowadays so agencies and performing artists are also trying to create high-quality performances. The reality is that the prices of tickets are equivalent to the quality of the concerts”. They added, “Ticket prices at the present are quite expensive, but it can be considered reasonable if the quality of the performers and performances is guaranteed.”
Source: Naver
