 |
| BTS' "Permission to Dance On Stage" concert unfolds at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles last Nov. 29. The four-day mammoth show series, which was the band's first in-person concert held in two years, sold 214,000 tickets and grossed $33.3 million. Courtesy of Big Hit Music |
Sales of concert merchandise plummet in wake of pandemic
By Park Han-sol
Even COVID-19 could not make a dent in K-pop's global rise, as seen in the robust sales of physical albums, which surpassed $220 million in exports last year for the first time in history, according to Korean Customs Service data.
This growing physical album market has coincided with the surging sales of soundtrack albums, magazines and outdoor advertising all featuring K-pop groups, recent data showed.
Last year, Ktown4u, an online sales platform for K-pop albums and merchandise, sold a total of 28,939 copies of soundtrack albums for hit dramas and films ― a remarkable increase from 2,624 in 2019 and 8,784 in 2020.
This meant that the profit generated from these albums also soared from 39.5 million won ($33,000) in 2019 to 480.6 million won last year.
Collaborations between K-pop and the movie and TV industries in the form of soundtracks has been going strong in recent years, with theme songs and the original content continuing to feed off each other's popularity.
Magazines and outdoor advertising featuring idol members also joined this tide of popularity. Publications saw their sales jump 10-fold from 459.6 million in 2019 to 4.05 billion won in 2021, while the revenue from outdoor billboards which fans placed through Ktown4u increased to 150.7 million won last year from 3 million won in 2020 ― a nearly 40 percent increase.
"With Korean movies and dramas in vogue globally, famous K-pop artists' participation in their theme songs has resulted in the rising sales of the soundtrack albums," Ktown4u said in a statement.
"The company is also witnessing an increase in the number of purchases made by overseas fans for billboard ads."
However, the same data from the company also revealed a huge downside of the lingering pandemic that has recently hit the two-year mark ― notably a plunge in sales of K-pop merchandise due to a string of delays and cancellations of in-person concerts.
One of the most prominent parts of every K-pop concert is a constellation of different-colored LED lightsticks, each representing the groups and their fandoms.
With many of the concerts put on a two-year-long hiatus, the number of lightsticks sold by the platform plummeted to 15,971 last year from 88,459 in 2020. The revenue similarly dropped to 504.2 million won in 2021 from 2.63 billion won the year before.
But some expect things to turn around soon, with the gradual resumption of in-person live performances, including juggernaut BTS' "Permission to Dance On Stage" scheduled to be held next month at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southeastern Seoul.
![[INTERVIEW] Reform, foreign talent crucial to revitalizing Korean economy: McKinsey](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b6015d6d242a4b9399ee2ed3f94d6ba1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Korea, Netherlands to sign multiple deals in chip, energy, defense on Yoon's state visit: Dutch ambassador](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/15208505b4dc4e918fb52aeecd0a840c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Allgot hits jackpot with frozen gimbap in US](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/1df9ff6b3481420ea192de6aa1d5c3ed.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
