Venue seating is limited, but... how K-pop sells concerts multiple times

While the physical seating of a venue is limited, the revenue models for K-pop performances utilizing digital technology are expanding infinitely. In the recent performance market, the 'one source multi-use' strategy—selling a single stage through multiple channels such as online live streaming, theater live viewing, delayed streaming, and concert film production, rather than stopping at on-site ticket sales—has established itself as a basic grammar.

NCT 127 will hold their fifth tour, 'NEO CITY : SEOUL - THE REDLINE', at the Seoul KSPO DOME from October 18 to 20. On-site tickets are being sold for 165,000 won for general seats and 198,000 won for VIP seats, and the Saturday and Sunday performances will also be broadcast simultaneously online. The one-day online pass has been set at 50,000 won, a package that includes delayed streaming after the live broadcast ends. WayV, who completed their performance on the 13th, also adopted the same method by selling 50,000 won online passes and targeting the global fandom by supporting machine translation in 14 languages.

For RIIZE's 3rd anniversary fan meeting, online tickets functioned as an independent product. The online viewing tickets for the fan meeting held from the 12th to the 13th were priced at 44,545 won per day, and the two-day pass was 80,909 won, with digital benefits provided to fan club members. aespa employed a strategy during their Gocheok Sky Dome tour last month by dividing sales: the first day's performance was sold as live viewing in movie theaters worldwide, while the next day's performance was sold as an online live broadcast. BTS overcame the limitations of physical space during their Busan world tour last June by broadcasting the performance live to more than 3,800 movie theaters in approximately 80 countries and regions.

Revenue generation continues even after the performance ends. Stray Kids produced a concert film titled 'Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience' featuring their performance at SoFi Stadium in the United States last year, which was released in theaters worldwide, including IMAX. It recorded approximately 3.2 million dollars in sales on the first day of release in North America alone. SEVENTEEN also filmed their 2025 Goyang performance, earning approximately 5.75 million dollars in sales in theaters worldwide. According to media reports, this strategy provides a reasonable option for overseas fans who face heavy burdens of airfare and accommodation, driving the growth of the K-pop performance market.

According to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, domestic performance ticket sales last year amounted to 1.7326 trillion won, an 18.8% increase compared to the previous year. The number of performances, ticket sales volume, and average prices are all on an upward trend. Now, instead of physically expanding venues, K-pop is solidifying a structure that creates new revenue from a single stage by expanding the audience seats beyond the screen.

The Korea Social Welfare Journal is striving to deliver press releases and welfare information more easily and accurately with the help of AI technology.