The J-Music Lovers' International Assembly

[DMNDS&PRLS]

Not to knock anyone success, but it always tickle my stomach how easily kpop idols get Domes and Arena tours. While actual J-artist have to wait years. 

I don't really pay attention to numbers, but do they legitimately be selling out these concerts. I know Japan is full of concert goers. 

[DMNDS&PRLS]

I think a lot of it was a posturing exercise by the k-pop industry. I still remember an article about 2PM having some "sakuras" to fill in the empty seats to give off the impression that they're popular in Japan than they actually are.

 

Anecdotally, I actually went to a Big Bang concert in Kyocera Dome Osaka back in December last year which happens to be one of the biggest venues in Japan. The venue was only half-full with only the arena and 1st level being relatively filled out. The second level and balcony seats were unused and covered. Which leaves me thinking why they couldn't have gone for a smaller venue if they knew they didn't have the demand to fill the venue. 

In the same month, I went to a Kuwata Keisuke's tour in the same venue and the whole dome was filled to capacity. Concert attendance is a pretty good proxy for measuring an artist's popularity in Japan. It goes without saying that Kuwata-san has a significantly bigger pulling power than Big Bang. 

I thought so. I hear a lot about kpop concerts being half full despite selling out the whole concert. They basically sold out the portion they were trying to selling and not the whole venue. 

 

Honestly, with Japanese artists, I feel like it comes down to whether the companies want to, rather than whether or not they can. It makes sense for kpop to do so many big tours since it's probably the fastest and easiest way to make their money since they aren't staying in Japan long term.

 

Like with Keyakizaka, even though they always sell a buttload of copies and a bajillion people always go to their handshake events, the biggest concert they've done so far is Nippon Budokan. If they REALLY wanted to, they probably could have jumped straight to an arena or dome by now.

 

That being said, if you were to compare idols, kpop is still really popular in Japan so they're going to have a relatively easier time doing arenas/domes. Most Japanese girl groups aren't even that popular so it's not like they can even get to the point of being able to decide to do a dome/arena in the first place. 

That makes sense as well. Seeing as how kpop idols are getting dome tours after 2 years compare to the j-artist who been around now getting a dome tour. i.e OOR.