World Tour Just 16 Months After Debut

BABYMONSTER, which officially debuted in April 2024, launched its first world tour, “HELLO MONSTERS,” on January 25, 2025, at the KSPO DOME in Seoul’s Olympic Park—just 9 months after its debut. This timeline is significantly shorter than the average 16 months it takes for fifth-generation new IP groups to hold their first solo concerts and embark on world tours. Compared to third-generation groups (21 months) and fourth-generation groups (28 months), the time required has been reduced by up to 12 months, indicating a substantial decrease in the period needed for new artists to establish themselves in the market, exceed break-even points, and generate substantial revenue.

Global Fanbase Formation and Viral Growth Pattern

BABYMONSTER has built a global fanbase from day one of its debut and quickly moved on to the concert stage, which serves as a major source of income. This is driven by a viral growth pattern where content shared on short-form platforms such as TikTok rapidly converts into a strong Spotify fanbase. This strategy differs fundamentally from how previous third- and fourth-generation artists built up their presence step by step based on domestic fans before gradually expanding overseas tours.

Diversification of Additional Revenue Streams

Once a world tour is established, various supplementary business activities emerge in addition to ticket sales at the concerts. These include sales of official MD (planned merchandise) targeted at fans attending the shows, as well as operation of local pop-up stores. By combining concerts, distribution, and offline events around a single IP, the profitability per unit increases significantly through diversification. According to financial results disclosed by JYP Entertainment for the first quarter of 2026, the company’s MD sales surged by 85.2% year-on-year to 60.6 billion won, surpassing the revenue from concerts—traditionally the core source of income—at 40.9 billion won.

Shift in the Entertainment Industry Paradigm

Localized MD product lines, such as those tied to TWICE’s overseas tours and pop-up stores in various cities, as well as STRAYKIZ’s relay pop-ups using its own character IP “SKZOO,” have been identified as key drivers of strong performance. Concert-related revenue also saw explosive growth. JYP’s concert revenue for the first quarter of 2026 reached 40.9 billion won, a sharp increase of 88.7% compared to the same period last year. This growth reflects the combined impact of TWICE’s world tours in North America and Taiwan, along with the success of concerts and fan meetings by other major artists such as DAY6, ITZY, NMIXX, and NiziU. This development calls for a shift in the industry’s approach to concert business. While in the past, the number of concert performances and total audience attendance were the primary metrics, today, the extent to which concerts can generate additional consumer spending and IP product sales has become a crucial factor in determining performance.