Canada is (finally!) in its K-pop era
And yet, I still have a bit of skepticism...
Whenever a K-pop act announces a North American tour, Canadian fans will almost always hold their breath with anticipation, only to find out the dates are all in the United States.
“What about Canada????!!!” I often hear in response.
“Or maybe just come to Toronto?” others say.
But given a string of tour announcements in the last few weeks, I think us Canadians can simmer down on our complaints for now.
From May to August, a number of K-pop/Korean R&B acts including P1Harmony, LUCY, ITZY, ONF, AB6IX, GSOUL, I.M from MONSTA X, Colde, and ATEEZ will be making their way to the Great White North.
Granted, most of these acts are only going to Toronto, with a handful of them making stops in Vancouver and Montreal as well.
However, if there’s one band that has completely exceeded my expectations, it is Purple Kiss.
In late April, the girl group announced a North American tour, with more than HALF of those dates in Canadian cities including Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax.
As someone who has lived in Regina for work (and felt extremely isolated as an Asian person in a city with very few), that feels unprecedented to me. I can only hope that more touring companies can take the same risks and start conservatively with smaller venues to see what the demand is like.
However, the only thing that gives me a bit of pause with all these concert dates being announced so quickly is whether it’s going to succeed in Canada.
Considering that the U.S. market has experienced an oversaturation of K-pop concerts in recent months (see Tamar Herman’s piece here), the nagging voice in my head worries the same might start to happen here.
I know it sounds a bit crazy and premature to say, given that this is what Canadian fans have wanted for so long. But the increased rate in which these shows are being announced have me feeling a bit worried that it could all come crashing down.
The truth is, concerts are getting more expensive, and K-pop shows are no exception. Just this week alone, people in my circles have complained about how much ATEEZ tickets have cost in Toronto, with the highest tier of VIP going at $1000 Canadian.
With dynamic pricing and service fees added into the mix, buying tickets are a privilege. And with the rising cost of inflation, most people cannot justify paying that much to see an act they are merely just curious about.
What unfortunately ends up happening is that the K-pop acts that do come to Canada are not always able to move ticket sales the way they want to.
In fact, OnlyOneOf recently dropped $26 dollar tickets weeks before their shows in order to fill seats. And when I look at what is happening to P1Harmony’s Toronto in concert in May, it appears that there are still rows and rows of empty seats still open to be purchased. (Though as of writing, it now looks like a special promo has since been placed on certain tickets, in order to move sales.)
In other cases, some acts overestimate their demand, booking bigger venues and then not selling out. Toronto saw this in 2019 with GOT7, which struggled to sell seats at Scotiabank Arena.
Given all of this, I can see why K-pop companies may be hesitant to come to Canada. But to me, the issue is a lot simpler than that.
K-pop concerts are flat out not marketed well.
These days, social media is the main platform to promote shows, which in large part relies on the fans to like, comment and share content with others. Fans also do a lot of the work themselves, hosting fan events and handing out freebies, often out of their own pocket for the love of their favourite artist.
What a lot of promoters fail to do is go back to old school ways, hanging up flyers and posters in Asian grocery stores, restaurants and cafes across the city. And by that, I don’t just mean downtown. Lots of East Asian communities in the Greater Toronto Area hang out in suburbs like Markham, Scarborough and Richmond Hill. Broaden your reach!
And given how little appetite and knowledge mainstream media has for K-pop overall, there are also very few ways to promote these shows here in this country when K-pop songs aren’t played on the radio and TV stations.
I think the issue also lies within the K-pop companies as well, who are incredibly selective when it comes to who has access to the idols themselves. Many publications run by Asian writers would jump at the chance of interviewing a K-pop artist. After all, it’s content directly targeted for their audience.
But what ends up happening is K-pop agencies don’t think these platforms are good enough, as social media following and branding is not up to their standards.
Mainstream K-pop artists like TWICE, ATEEZ and ITZY probably do not need the extra access to get seats filled. But groups starting out can probably afford to be more flexible and creative when it comes to how they promote shows. The prestige of a publication may be important, but I also believe that agencies need to diversify the ways in which they pitch and promote artists.
With all that said though, I remain cautiously optimistic about the future of K-pop shows in Canada, and am hopeful that there will be even more in the future.
But in order to continue the momentum and popularity of the genre right now, tour promoters and K-pop companies need to move forward with caution, make smart decisions and be more creative in the ways they market concerts in this country in order to succeed.
Min Hee-jin vs HYBE continues… a viral striped sweater has now sold out + a conspiracy theory has now emerged
ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin has reportedly demanded the right to terminate HYBE’s contract with NewJeans, according to reports.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, Min’s request was done without approval from HYBE’s board.
This news comes after a viral press conference Min gave last week, where she claims that HYBE has made it impossible for her to leave ADOR due to her shares within the company. HYBE currently owns 80 per cent of ADOR, Min 18 per cent and other executives of the label two per cent. Min has also denied that she had planned to takeover control of HYBE during her press conference. You can read the entire summary of what went down last week here.
Since the press conference, Min has gained the sympathy of many Korean citizens, who see her as a worker who is standing up for herself. Her impact was so strong that even the viral striped green sweater she wore during that press conference has since sold out.
In a stranger turn of events, there’s now also a conspiracy theory circulating about HYBE, and some citizens believe the conglomerate is involved with the Korean cult known as Dahn and Min is using NewJeans’s songs to expose it.
I will not place much weight on the latter, to avoid going further down a rabbit hole.
But in other slightly related news, NewJeans did have a comeback at the heels of this drama. And while it was certainly bad timing, it doesn’t seem to be hurting the girls at all.
The song “Bubble Gum” has since garnered more than 22.7 million views on YouTube, and it is such a cute bop! I am loving the breezy city pop vibes of the track.
“Bubble Gum” is one of two singles in the group’s upcoming May 24 album titled, How Sweet.
What I’ve been up to:
I recently chatted with the K-pop group CRAVITY about their latest album EVERSHINE, their first 1st place win at Music Bank, their excellent TikTok game and their hopes for the future. Read the piece on Joysauce.
I also recently spoke to singer thuy, who made history as Coachella’s first Vietnamese American female to perform at the famed music festival. Read the piece on The RepresentASIAN Project!
And with that, let’s have a great Asian Heritage Month this year!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Accountability is important to me, so please address corrections and concerns by sending me an email at bunnipopnewsletter@gmail.com. Continue the conversation by following bunni pop on Instagram, Tiktok and Twitter.
This post reminds me, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed I can get an Itzy ticket for much cheaper than where it's at right now - I certainly am not paying over $300 for a concert like I did for Twice LMAO.