Kpop is big business these days. Very big business. And that has demonstrated by the news that shares in Hybe, the company behind BTS have fallen sharply after a disappointingly low (!?) number of fans attended their comeback show than expected.
The free show in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul was seen by 104,000 punters, but apparently that was seen as a bit of a flop. Hybe were anticipating at least a quarter of a million.
Hybe’s shares had been rising on the back of the news of the band’s comeback after four years of mandatory military service. But earlier today (Monday 23 March) they fell back by 15.5%.
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Still, Hybe’s shareholders will just have to be consoled by the fact that the band’s 82 date world tour is already sold out, and the astonishing sales figures of their comeback album. Arirang shifted 3.98 million copies on the first day of release. For comparison, the biggest selling album in UK history is Adele’s 25 which sold a mere 800,000 within the first week.
The comparatively disappointing comeback gig attendance can be partly explained by strict crowd control measures on the day. Also Netflix live streamed the event to more than 190 countries (ie nearly all the planet) including South Korea itself.
And these days, of course, BTS aren’t the only Kpop band to have broken the international market. They face competition from Blackpink, Stray Kids and Seventeen, as well as the fictional Kpop Demon Hunters, the phenomenon that dominated the singles charts of both sides of the Atlantic last summer.
Talking of the latter, Netflix are said to be planning a Kpop Demon Hunters world tour that could coincide with the inevitable sequel to the film that is tentatively pencilled in for 2027.
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