K-pop Concert Revenue Soars 300%: The World Tour Strategy That Overcame Album Sales Crises

The K-pop industry is overcoming the crisis of declining album sales by relying on world tours and increased concert revenue. Rising earnings from K-pop artists’ concerts are enabling them to create new revenue streams through direct engagement with global fans. HYBE, the leading agency, saw its concert revenue in the first quarter of 2025 reach 155.2 billion won, a 252.3% increase compared to the same period last year (44 billion won). This stands in sharp contrast to a 5.9% drop in album and music streaming revenue, which fell from 145.1 billion won to 136.5 billion won during the same time. As a result, HYBE’s concert revenue ratio (30.99%) surpassed its album and music streaming revenue ratio (27.27%) for the first time. SM Entertainment’s concert revenue in the first quarter also increased by 58.0% year-on-year, while YG Entertainment saw its concert revenue rise by 292.7% during the same period. Behind K-pop’s focus on world tours are structural changes within the industry. Last year, K-pop album sales dropped by 17.7% compared to the previous year, and music streaming usage declined by 7.6%. This was a consequence of excessive album sales strategies. Previously, agencies would use various photo cards and event entry coupons to encourage fans to purchase multiple albums at once, but over time this approach increased fan fatigue. In fact, photos showing hundreds of discarded K-pop albums piled up on streets in Shibuya, Tokyo, sparked significant public outrage. Concerts provide a stage where artists can truly showcase their skills. They can perform the skills honed over years during training periods in front of large audiences to captivate them. Most importantly, the value of direct interaction with fans is immense. Being able to speak directly to fans, hear their cheers, and share a moment together plays a crucial role in uniting and strengthening fanbases scattered around the world. Recently, most of K-pop artists’ schedules have been arranged overseas, and existing plans alone are insufficient to meet the soaring demand, leading to continuous additions to world tour schedules. World tours are also connected to new trends in the music market driven by YouTube. Global fans no longer want to consume music only through audio; they desire to experience it visually through videos and enjoy it fully through live performances, engaging all their senses. In particular, foreign fans highly appreciate K-pop dance routines, and those who have witnessed groups’ dazzling performances on world tour stages are deeply impressed by the perfection of these moves. Government efforts to expand infrastructure are also underway. Won Moon, the elected leader of the Democratic Party, proposed building K-pop arenas capable of holding over 50,000 people as a key policy goal. Since South Korea currently lacks any permanent concert venues dedicated to K-pop with more than 10,000 seats, constructing super-large arenas is considered one of the key factors for significantly expanding the concert industry. At present, most of K-pop artists’ concerts are held in large sports stadiums such as Jamsil Stadium, Goyang Stadium, Incheon Inspire Arena, and Incheon Munhak Stadium. The only permanent venues available are KSPO DOME (with a capacity of up to 15,000 people) and Gocheok Dome (with a capacity of up to 25,000 people). As global interest in K-pop grows, there is an increase in overseas artists coming to South Korea. In January alone, various foreign artists such as the Japanese idol group Naniwadan-shi, Japanese singer-songwriter Asuka, American hip-hop star Kanye West, and hard rock band Guns N’ Roses visited South Korea to meet local fans. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, as of April, 1,707,113 foreign tourists visited South Korea, a 104.4% increase compared to April 2019 before COVID-19 (835,000 visitors). The impact of world tours is expected to grow even further. Overseas industry insiders who have witnessed K-pop artists’ world tours are approaching them with requests to perform at global festivals or collaborate with popular pop artists. Most positively, there are signs that China’s ban on K-pop content, known as the “Hanbanryeong,” which began in 2016, may be lifted. Last month, the boy group EPEX, under C9 Entertainment, held a concert in Fuzhou, China, marking the first sign of lifting this ban in 9 years. With K-pop already spreading rapidly in markets such as the United States and Europe, opening up China—a massive market—will likely have an even greater impact.