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Virus Deals a Blow to K-Pop, Punishing Stocks and Fans Alike

Virus Deals a Blow to K-Pop, Punishing Stocks and Fans Alike

(Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus outbreak has all major K-Pop labels canceling their concerts in the region, sending industry stocks spiraling down and disappointing millions of fans.

Pia Corp., which provides event ticketing services in Japan including those for K-pop and J-pop concerts, lost a quarter of its value in just five days, its worst rout since October 2008. SM Entertainment Co. and JYP Entertainment Corp. have tanked about 15% in nine days.

Major K-pop acts that have canceled or postponed their Asia concerts include massively popular BTS, JYP’s nine-member girl band Twice, SM Entertainment’s Red Velvet and NCT Dream.

Virus Deals a Blow to K-Pop, Punishing Stocks and Fans Alike

“Concerts by various artists have been canceled, which would have quite an impact,” said Soichiro Tsutsumi, a trader with eWarrant Japan Securities. “It’ll likely take a month or two from here for the situation to peak.”

Things are looking similar in Japan. Three-member girl band Perfume called off a concert just hours before it was planned, following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s request to scale down major cultural events over the next two weeks.

Japan’s Amuse Inc. has lost almost 13% this week, the most since March 2018, while a 15% plunge in Avex Inc. is taking the stock to its biggest weekly drop since August 2013.

To contact the reporter on this story: Min Jeong Lee in Tokyo at mlee754@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Cecile Vannucci

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