K-Pop stars BTS – whose label Big Hit Entertainment is headed for a $4 billion-plus IPO this month – drew nearly 1 million viewers to their pay-per-concert over the weekend, likely banking at least $35 million in the process.
The two-day, live streamed ‘MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E’ event, which took place on Saturday (October 10) and Sunday (October 11) in Seoul, attracted 993,000 viewers from 191 regions, according to Big Hit.
This event follows BTS’ record breaking ‘BANG BANG CON The Live’ virtual concert in June, which saw them attract 756,600 concurrent viewers from 107 regions, generating close to $20 million in ticket sales.
Ticket prices for this weekend’s MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E event ranged from $44.55 for a one day ticket, to $81.00 for a weekend ticket (offered in 4k and HD multi-view) for non-fan club members.
For Saturday and Sunday combined (in 4k and HD multi-view), plus entry to an online exhibition, the price was $90.89 for non-fan club members.
Tickets for the online exhibition alone were priced at $13.50. MBW understands that fan-club members got a discount on all the tickets.
Big Hit haven’t released an official breakdown of how many tickets were sold for each priced “tier” of ‘MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E’, nor have they released an official total revenue figure for the event.
However, if we applied the same $9 discount given to fan club members for June’s livestreamed event to the standard one day ticket price of $44.55 for this event, and, if every one of those 993,000 viewers then paid $35.55, the virtual concert easily generated in excess of $35m.
The weekend’s event saw Big Hit and BTS team up with US-based live streaming and video production company Kiswe again following their partnership in June on BANG BANG CON The Live.
Kiswe’s video technology is used by the likes of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Globo, Major League Soccer (MLS), PGA Tour, Next Generation eSports (NGE), Turner Sports and other broadcasters, media companies, sports and eSports leagues.
‘MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E’ saw BTS deliver a total of 23 performances across 150 minutes on each day using technology such as 4K resolution, AR and XR.
Viewers were also able to choose which camera shot they wanted to see, in addition to being able to interact with each other by forming private “watch party” rooms.
Big Hit claims that the event marks the world’s first online streaming concert that used both multi-view and 4K/HD technology.
In addition to the live-streamed event, Big Hit Entertainment offered “Delayed Single-view streaming” that gave viewers access to the replay of the livestream, and live viewing events at theaters in Japan.
BTS said: “The concert crossed countless emotions. Our first march began with seven boys who gathered for a small dream.
“And together, we will march on forever, each of us waving flags of various colors and singing different stories in different languages. BTS is not a story of only seven, but is about you, me and everyone.”Music Business Worldwide
