Tasfiah Tasneem Richi
While K-pop stars may seem extremely far away from U.S. fans, a recent report on the artists’ concerts indicates America is increasingly becoming a priority to touring Korean acts. Diving into the numbers, which examines from 2013 to present day, East Asia still holds the most K-pop concerts in the world, but the numbers appear to be slightly tapering off as about 50 less K-pop shows were performed in the territory (that includes Korea and Japan) last year compared to 2014. Meanwhile, areas like North America, South America and Europe have all had three consistent years of K-pop concert growth since 2013; with North America (including the U.S. and Canada) marking the second largest territory for K-pop acts. Currently Japan holds the most K-pop concerts abroad, with China in second and the U.S. in third.
A deeper look into the artists performing these concerts spotlights most of these touring acts are male groups. Of the 1,456 counted, 1,209 shows were held by groups (versus the 249 held by solo acts) and of those 1,209 concerts, only 181 of them were performed by female groups.