Psy's 'Wet Bomb Show' sweeps the Q3 concert market

Psy [Newsis]
Psy [Newsis]

Psy was once again the undisputed king of summer. The singer's signature outdoor water show, "Wet Bomb Show," swept the concert market in the third quarter of 2026.

Total ticket sales in the third-quarter concert market reached about 427.4 billion won ($320 million), according to a report on Q3 concert ticket sales released Sunday by the Korea Arts Management Service, based on data from the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System. Popular music accounted for 59.4 percent of total ticket sales, or 254 billion won.

Across the first three quarters of the year, the number of popular music performances and tickets booked each slipped 0.4 percentage points, while the number of showings and total ticket revenue edged up 0.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. The third quarter told a different story: compared with the same period a year earlier, the number of performances and showings rose 0.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, but tickets booked and ticket revenue fell 5.9 percent and 3.8 percent. Supply expanded even as demand contracted.

Average ticket revenue per showing came to about 122.98 million won, down 10.2 percent from the same period last year. The average price per ticket, however, rose to 132,669 won from 129,835 won a year earlier, an increase of 2,834 won.

Psy dominated the popular music concert market from July through September, claiming four of the top 10 spots — 40 percent — by ticket revenue in the popular music segment.

Psy's shows ranked third (Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Aug. 15–16), fourth (Suwon World Cup Stadium auxiliary field, Aug. 1–2), fifth (Gwacheon Seoul Grand Park parking lot, July 17–18) and eighth (Mokwon University main athletic field, Aug. 22–23) in the overall rankings. Expanding to the top 20, Psy's Incheon and Daegu dates also made the cut.

In the popular music top 10, BIGBANG's Goyang tour (Aug. 21–23) took first place, followed by Lim Young-woong's Goyang concert (Sept. 4–6) in second. Stray Kids at KSPO Dome (July 25–Aug. 2) ranked sixth, DAY6 at KSPO Dome (July 3–5) seventh, PLAVE at Incheon Guhak Stadium (Sept. 12–13) ninth, and aespa at Gocheok Sky Dome (Aug. 7–8) tenth.

Excluding popular music and other popular arts genres — which are heavily weighted by large-scale concerts from K-pop acts with strong fan bases — the remaining market logged 5,242 performances across 32,506 showings, up 3.3 percent and 6.5 percent year on year, respectively. Tickets booked came to about 4.2 million and ticket revenue to about 169.2 billion won, down 1.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.

Among individual genres, theater stood out for its growth. The number of theater productions rose 13.5 percent, showings 21.5 percent, tickets booked 22.1 percent, and ticket revenue 42.8 percent. The period drew audiences with productions starring familiar faces: Cha In-pyo in "Dead Poets Society," Shin Gu and Park Geun-hyung in "The Merchant of Venice," Lee Dong-hwi in "The Lives of Others," Jeon Mi-do in "The Seagull," and Choi Su-jong in "Oedipus."

The top 10 productions by ticket revenue in the third quarter of 2026 generated about 122 billion won combined, accounting for 28.5 percent of the total — up 3.4 percentage points from 25.1 percent in the same period last year. Among the top 20, 15 were popular music acts and five were musicals: Kim Jun-su in "Dracula," Park Hyo-shin and Hong Gwang-ho in "Beethoven," "Elisabeth," "Frozen" and "Dear Evan Hansen."


shee@heraldcorp.com