The KPop community, local and international, is complaining about the steady rise in concert ticket prices.
According to MRG Online, tickets have risen nearly 20% since 2019 and before the pandemic. From 2013, it rose by approximately 60%. In Korea, VIP tickets cost more than 200,000 won, or $151. The report by The Korea Times stated that COVID-19 is a major contributor to these price hikes. The global health crisis that set the world into a plunge made it almost impossible to hold live concerts and performances over the past few years. This drove many affiliated companies and their employees to fall into debt, in some severe cases, leave the entertainment industry. Although live shows have returned, organizers raise ticket prices to bring back their employees and produce high-quality performances similar to their concerts before COVID.
In Thailand, the average price of KPop concert tickets is approximately 5,270 baht, or $155.6. Comparing the ticket price a decade ago being 1,050 baht, the most expensive can run to 6,000 baht. BLACKPINK’s VIP Ticket at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, the largest stadium in Thailand, costs 14,800 baht, or $436.61.
Some Thai fans have asked the Consumer Protection Agency to resolve the issue. Stays, the fandom of KPop boy group Stray Kids, raised the issue last October, standing firm as the tickets to the group’s February concert was too high, with the most expensive ticket reportedly purchased at 8,500 baht, or $250.81. However, the agency couldn’t intervene as the government couldn’t control the prices. Currently, they do not have any law to regulate the ticket prices. The price is set based on the consensus between sellers and consumers.
The KPop fan culture is becoming hard to participate in as many do not have that kind of money. In the report, a fan stated that the prices would continue to rise because many fans would buy them regardless, and KPop labels can raise the price as there is more than enough demand.
Source: The Korea Times
