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Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing has caused a stir before. For example, fans of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles already complained about the almost unaffordable prices for concert tickets, and now criticism is also coming from fans of K-pop. HYBE, the label of BTS, TXT, SEVENTEEN, NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM, among others, has announced that it wants to continue using this system, much to the dismay of fans.

In the news: Earlier this week, held a conference call for its investors. There the first quarter earnings of 2023 were discussed and the label also gave a glimpse of its plans for the future. In doing so, it made it clear that it will continue to use dynamic pricing in the future, as was already the case with and concerts.

Dynamic pricing

How it works: Dynamic pricing is a system uses to determine the price of a concert ticket.

  • Instead of standard prices, which are communicated in advance and remain the same, it involves varying prices. The price is thus determined based on the demand for tickets.
  • If there is less demand for tickets, the price goes down; if there is more demand, the price goes up.

Perverse price effect: According to Ticketmaster, this should increase the chances for fans to see their artist perform live. But for very popular artists, such as Taylor Swift, Harry Styles or BTS, demand for tickets is so high that prices are pushed to hallucinatory heights, while the chance of lowering prices is virtually non-existent.

#NoDynamicPricing

The protest: Fans of HYBE's groups then reacted disgruntled to the news that the label will continue to use dynamic pricing in the future. Using the hashtag #NoDynamicPricing, they shared their displeasure on Twitter.

  • Many fans refer to the fact that ten years ago, HYBE was a small agency that managed to grow into one of South Korea's largest companies thanks to the support of their groups' fans (especially BTS). So it feels like a slap in the face to fans that the agency now wants to abuse their loyalty by charging them high amounts of money for concert tickets.
  • It didn't stop with the hashtags either. Many fans decided to cancel their merchandise orders, giving as their reason that they are dissatisfied with the dynamic pricing. For now, there has been no response from HYBE.

© The Content Exchange, source News