SM Criticized HYBE’s Expensive Concert Tickets But Recently Raised Ticket Prices To The Same Level
K-pop fans continue to complain about idol concert ticket prices that have skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic
On October 31st, SM Entertainment announced SHINee Taemin’s concert ticket prices. They introduced the ‘Soundcheck Pre-entry’ seat and set the price at 198,000 won.
Soundcheck Pre-entry seat allows the ticket buyer to enter the venue before the concert begins to see singers do rehearsals. This type of ticket was first introduced in Korea at BTS’s “Permission to Dance on Stage – in Seoul” concert. Later various groups, such as BLACKPINK, ZB1, etc., have also applied the Soundcheck Pre-entry ticket system.
Amid the acquisition crisis in February this year, SM CFO Jang Chul-hyuk criticized HYBE’s high ticket prices in a video uploaded on SM’s official YouTube channel.
At that time, HYBE was facing complaints from fans for setting the price of a VIP seat for TXT’s concert at 198,000 won. Pointing out the expensive ticket problem, CFO Jang said, “SM is setting reasonable concert ticket prices so that various fans can enjoy the artists’ cultural performances. On the other hand, HYBE is taking advantage of its position in the K-pop market to double the concert ticket prices”.
However, a few months later, SM raised their ticket prices to the same level of 198,000 won and introduced the Soundcheck Pre-entry system.
Another problem is that the Soundcheck benefit is only for seats closest to the stage. This means fans who want to get a good view at the concert have no choice but to buy tickets at the Soundcheck price.
In fact, the high ticket price issue is not only happening in SM and HYBE. The VIP seat for BLACKPINK’s recent Gocheok concert was 220,000 won, and the Platinum Pink seat with special goods was set at 264,000 won. In fact, the ticket prices actually more than doubled that of their concert in 2018.
As such, netizens and K-pop fans are still pouring out complaints regarding expensive concert tickets.
Source: Nate
