According to insiders, the success of a show today depends significantly on marketing.
Ten days before its scheduled date, the "Saigon Simple Love 2025" live show was unexpectedly canceled due to poor ticket sales.
Regret
Fans of South Korean singer Baekhyun, a member of the K-pop group EXO, are currently expressing their regret. Baekhyun is the first K-pop solo artist to achieve the "triple million-seller" title, with three consecutive albums selling over 1 million copies: "City Lights," "Delight," and "Bambi." Besides Baekhyun, "Saigon Simple Love 2025" also features Vietnamese singers such as Truc Nhan, Bao Anh, Tang Duy Tan, Ricky Star, Rhyder, HURRYKNG, and others.
Recently, the overwhelming success of the two live concerts "Brother Says Hi" and "Brother Overcomes a Thousand Thorns" in terms of ticket sales has led industry insiders to believe that the live concert market in Vietnam is undergoing a surprising and positive shift. This is evidenced by the fact that Vietnamese audiences are willing to spend money to buy tickets to see concerts, even resorting to "hunting" for tickets as tickets for these two shows consistently sold out within 30 minutes of going on sale.
A performance from the live concert "Brother Says Hi". (Photo provided by the organizers)
Not only are tickets for these two shows selling out, but individual live concerts are also consistently sold out as soon as they go on sale. A prime example is Ha Anh Tuan's "Sketch a Rose" live concert, which was always a sell-out. The two most recent shows of "Sketch a Rose," held on March 8th and 9th at Global City, had ticket prices ranging from 2.8 million to 6 million VND, yet tickets were still hard to get. Meanwhile, live shows by Phan Manh Quynh, B Ray, and Vu (scheduled for late 2024) also attracted thousands of attendees with exorbitant ticket prices. The combined success of these shows has led industry insiders to believe that "the era of live concerts and live shows is upon us."
However, the organizers of "Saigon Simple Love 2025" had to announce the cancellation of the show with only 10 days left. According to the organizers, the show was canceled due to poor ticket sales. Many believe the cancellation was due to the excessively high ticket prices, while the number of well-known artists was insufficient to attract a large audience, not justifying the price paid. Previously, ticket prices were announced to be in the millions of VND or more, even before all participating artists were confirmed. After being criticized for the high prices, the lowest listed ticket price was 700,000 VND, and the highest was 3.2 million VND, but sales were very slow.
Many believe one of the main reasons for this situation is that "Saigon Simple Love 2025" coincided with 2NE1's concert in Ho Chi Minh City. After more than 10 years of hiatus, the legendary K-pop girl group's comeback to the music scene caused a sensation across Asia. In comparison, the Vietnamese-Korean concert "Saigon Simple Love 2025" seemed less impressive. Previously, the K-pop Open Air #2 program also canceled tickets just days before the show. The K-pop idols announced the cancellation because the organizers did not fulfill their contract and were unclear about obtaining performance permits. Even now, many fans are still complaining that the organizers have not processed their requests or refunded their money, even though more than a year has passed.
Analyzing the causes
The scale and organization of live shows, concerts, or even just fan meetings in Vietnam over the past year have undergone an impressive transformation, raising the standard of "idol worship" to a whole new level.
Besides the spectacular live concerts that captivated audiences, each member of "Brother Says Hi" or the talented singer of "Brother Overcomes a Thousand Obstacles" also held fan meetings. These fan meetings attracted thousands of attendees, and of course, tickets were required. However, compared to live concerts, fan meeting tickets were usually quite affordable.
The live show “Saigon Simple Love 2025” has been cancelled. (Photo provided by the organizers)
Baekhyun is also a familiar face in the Vietnamese concert market. Last year, Baekhyun held his first two-day concert at Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, overwhelming fans with emotion. However, Baekhyun no longer has the same appeal as he did last year. This has affected ticket sales for "Saigon Simple Love 2025".
The problem of low ticket sales and insufficient funding leading to show cancellations is not unique to anyone. Even world-renowned stars like Jennifer Lopez have had to cancel their live shows when ticket sales fell below 50%. Shows lacking a highlight, famous artists, or unique content often struggle to attract attention. Furthermore, if many similar events take place simultaneously, audiences may be distracted while trying to buy tickets.
Quoc Thien is a singer whose voice is universally acknowledged as "getting better and better," but ticket sales for his recent shows were far from what was expected. This clearly demonstrates that even a great singer can struggle to sell tickets if they lack the necessary conditions to meet audience demand. Similarly, singer Ha Tran sadly announced the indefinite postponement of her two concerts celebrating 30 years in the industry due to insufficient funding.
Experts explain that Beyoncé's Renaissance show in Pittsburgh, USA, in August 2023 had to be canceled after only selling 70% of the tickets. The reason for the low ticket sales is believed to be that most of the audience had already allocated their tickets to Taylor Swift's two sold-out concerts, which took place more than a month earlier.
According to experts, in the context of the rapidly developing entertainment industry, audience trends and preferences are becoming increasingly diverse and constantly changing.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/live-concert-rat-kho-luong-196250210201954012.htm
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