Wealthier international fans reshape power dynamics in K-pop

They help expand the industry’s financial scale through streaming numbers and global tours. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SEOUL – With K-pop boy band BTS’ full-group comeback less than two weeks away, Chinese fan communities have recently announced large-scale promotional campaigns that will dominate some of Seoul’s most visible digital billboards.

Jungkook’s official Chinese fan club said it will broadcast a congratulatory video for the singer’s comeback on the 60m landmark megascreen at the Koreana Hotel in central Seoul from March 20 to 22.

Chinese fan club Baidu V Bar has planned an even larger campaign for V, securing the massive LUUX digital billboard on the exterior of the Dong-A Media Center in Gwanghwamun, where the video will run 70 times from early morning until midnight on March 21.

While the exact costs are undisclosed, industry estimates suggest Jungkook’s fan club spent between 30 million won (S$26,000) and 45 million won over three days. V’s fan club is believed to have purchased a high-frequency “one-day special package”, costing roughly 20 million to 35 million won for a single day.

As fan support campaigns increasingly reach tens of millions of won, the influence of fandoms from wealthier markets has grown. Their power extends beyond advertising projects to album purchases, merchandise sales and concert attendance.

In that sense, South Korean fans – despite being based in K-pop’s home country – often lag behind Chinese and Japanese fans in terms of direct spending power. Financial influence has, in many ways, placed fans in those countries on a more parallel footing with what was once the dominant fan base.