BTS fans, also known as ARMYs, are expressing their anger and frustration over the concert ticket policy and excessive monetization of content by their agency. They have taken to social media with hashtags such as “#NoDynamicPrice” and “#OpposeHYBETicketScalping” to launch a movement and voice their opposition.
On May 3rd, numerous ARMYs took to social media to voice their objections to the “dynamic pricing system” and “Weverse service improvement” announced by BTS’s agency during a conference call the day before.
HYBE’s “dynamic pricing system” refers to a system that allows ticket prices to fluctuate. During the conference call, HYBE announced that the system had already been applied to concerts by artists such as BTS and TXT and would be applied to all of their artists in the future.
The concert ticketing company Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system, which increases ticket prices when demand goes up, has caused controversy since its introduction. It was even the subject of a parliamentary hearing after being used for concerts by artists such as Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Coldplay, and BLACKPINK. Ticketmaster claims that this system was introduced to prevent “ticket flippers” (people who buy tickets and resell them for profit) and to give more revenue to artists.
Recently, fans who purchased expensive tickets for BTS member Suga’s solo concert have been expressing their dissatisfaction. They described the day of the concert as a “day of chaos.” One fan wrote, “I was frustrated after paying 2.5 million won for the ticket, which I had purchased directly from Ticketmaster, but my anger turned towards HYBE after seeing the inflated ticket prices.” Another fan wrote on their blog, “We have the right to buy our favorite artist’s concert tickets at the original price. We oppose the intentional inflation of ticket prices that are determined under the control of the agency.”
Another issue that fans have raised is related to the improvement of the fan community platform Weverse. HYBE announced at a conference that it would make Weverse services, such as live captions, DMs, ad removal, fan letters, artist handwriting posts, and early access to live broadcasts, a paid service. HYBE also announced plans to introduce a virtual currency called “jelly” for this purpose.
Fans argue that charging high prices for communication with fans who have contributed to BTS’s global success is unacceptable. While fans have been hesitant to speak out about their agencies’ misconduct in the past, they have expressed their determination not to remain silent this time.
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