Surge in Popular Music and Musical Sales
Decline in Theater Ticket Revenue
The performance market recorded its highest-ever sales in the third quarter of this year. The upward trend was led by popular music and musicals.
According to the 'Performing Arts Integrated Computer Network (KOPIS) 2025 Q3 Ticket Sales Report' released by the Arts Management Support Center on October 29, ticket sales from July to September amounted to approximately 461.5 billion won. This is the highest third-quarter figure since statistics began in 2019, representing a 20% increase compared to last year.
This growth was driven by popular music and musicals. Popular music sales reached 263.7 billion won, up 22.8% year-on-year, while musicals posted 138.7 billion won, a 14.9% increase. Dance performances also surged to 6.4 billion won, up 96.2%.
In contrast, theater saw an increase in the number of performances to 1,124, up 23.4%, but ticket sales fell by 13.5% to 18.3 billion won. While supply increased, audience numbers declined, highlighting the disparity between genres.
Among the top 20 ticket sales in the third quarter, there were twelve popular music performances and seven musicals. The top spot went to the musical 'Wicked' Korea Tour, followed by 'Aladdin' in Busan at second place, and 'Phantom' in Seoul at third. K-pop performances also remained strong, with BLACKPINK's Goyang concert ranking fourth and Psy's 'HumBakShow' in Goyang coming in fifth.
The Arts Management Support Center analyzed, "While demand for performances has fully recovered, consumption is increasingly concentrated on large-scale productions."
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