Shares in HYBE, the company behind K-pop boy group BTS, have fallen sharply following a much lower number of fans attending the highly-anticipated concert than expected.
The free concert in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on Saturday saw all seven members of the band – Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook – perform for the first time since they went on hiatus in 2022 due to mandatory military service.
However, investor sentiment soured after attendance failed to meet initial estimates.
Initially, the concert was projected to garner between 200,000 and 260,000 attendees.
However, according to Seoul’s real time urban data system, quoted by Korea Times, actual attendance strictly within Gwanghwamun Plaza reached only 46,000 to 48,000.
Even when including crowds gathered in front of Seoul City Hall and the Seoul Metropolitan Council, total attendance amounted to approximately 83,000.
Meanwhile, organisers later stated that about 104,000 fans actually attended the event.
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Disappointing turnout
HYBE’s shares had risen in recent months ahead of the comeback tour and the release of BTS’s new album, Arirang.
But on Monday, shares fell by 15.5% as attendance projections failed to meet reality.
The event, which marked the beginning of the band’s sold-out world tour, was live-streamed on Netflix to more than 190 countries, including South Korea.
According to the BBC, that, along with strict crowd control measures, may have had an impact on in-person attendance.
Netflix is expected to release viewership figures later this week.
A day after the concert, Big Hit Music, the music label run by HYBE, announced that Arirang had sold 3,98 million copies on the first day of its release, which was on Friday, March 20.
Arirang also garnered over 110 million streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours, breaking the record for most-streamed K-pop album in Spotify history, Spotify announced on Instagram over the weekend.
BTS remains HYBE’s main source of revenue, with the company’s operating profit having faced a slump during the band’s extended hiatus.
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Angelica N. Hall 
Carmela Calling