How exorbitant ticket prices are impacting K-pop fandom

“It’s fairly typical for these big tours at this point to find tickets in the $1,000s, $2,000, etc., especially for those really valuable seats,” Billboard editor Taylor Mims said in a recent conversation with Vox about how concert experiences are turning into luxury goods. “It’s been slowly going up over the years, but it really became normal following the Covid-19 pandemic. Concerts were so in demand, still are in demand, and people really want to be there. They will pay good money to have a good seat at a good concert.”

But the demand isn’t always there, especially for smaller or even medium-sized acts. The United States is seen as a place where pop musicians can make a lot of money, but many K-pop shows have been canceled in the past few years, often due to low ticket sales. In a K-shaped economy where the top 10 percent of earners are responsible for nearly 50 percent of the spending, most Americans can’t afford a few hundred dollars on a concert ticket—or, if they can, they are going to save it for their “ult” group. If they can’t, they may just purchase an expensive ticket anyway. According to a 2025 Billboard Pro article, approximately 60 percent of Coachella attendees purchased their tickets through “Buy Now, Pay Later” services. It’s easier than ever to go into debt for a concert experience that you really can’t afford.

Mathieu Berbiguier is a visiting assistant professor in Korean Studies at Carnegie Mellon University who researches the power dynamics within K-pop fan communities. Talking to JoySauce about the current state of K-pop concert culture, he points out that, when fans have the conversation on rising prices, we are often looking at the most expensive tickets. He posits that the greatest price surges have been in the “VIP experience” category, which might involve a closer seat, sound check, or even a meet and greet with the artist, reminding me of the recent news that major K-pop company HYBE is developing a “new experience model based on scarcity.” “Entertainment companies take advantage of (this demand for more intimate experiences with the idols) and gouge the prices because they know that those tickets will sell out first,” Berbiguier says.

Scarcity sells. James notes that, while there are more K-pop acts than ever touring in the United States, in some cases, fans can still have a scarcity mindset. “The ‘FOMO’ of it all is intensified by the fear that this kind of show from this artist might never happen again, whether or not that's the case,” she says. “Add to that the inflation surrounding concert venues when they're booked, and fans aren't able to go to multiple tour stops the way they might've in the past. While high prices don’t push people out of the fandom entirely, they do push them out of certain modes of participation. The cost intensifies in-fandom hierarchies that already existed around things like VIP perks or hi‑touch events.”

Competitive consumption over creative community

So how does this impact all of us as fans? In some activities, like concertgoing, it can encourage fandom hierarchies that don’t always feel great and can take away from the experience you paid for. “Even by paying, for example, the price for the most expensive tickets, there is actually no guarantee of getting what is promised,” says Berbiguier. “I remember going to NCT 127’s show in Newark with a VIP1 ticket and having to ‘compete’ with the other people of the same tier to get to talk to the members during the send-off. I remember not enjoying at all this feeling of competition, and the experience in itself was very disturbing.”

When a consumer experience costs a good chunk of money, it can increase the pressure for that purchase to have been “worth it.” For some fans, this might just mean letting loose and having a good time or getting aesthetic shots for social media. For others, it may lead to feelings of entitlement that have them prioritizing their own experience at the expense of the experiences of fellow fans. When fandom becomes a competition rather than a community, we lose something in the transition. 

As James points out, there is so much more to the K-pop fan experience than concerts. “I think it’s important to note that K-pop fandom exists in the same hybrid space that we do in our daily lives,” she says. “So much of what influences our experiences of the world is what we see on social media. Fans are expert planners and co-consumers of their fannish object, in this case K-pop. So whether that’s through digital watch parties, cup sleeve events, streaming goals, fan-made merchandise sharing, or underground economies, fandom has always been about creativity and connection, not just consumption. I would like K-pop companies and ticket hosting platforms to realize that watching the show is only part of the fan experience.”