[K Changers]⑬ Two Earth Circuits with World Tour... ATEEZ Expands K-pop Territory

80,646 km. This is the distance traveled by the 8-member boy group ATEEZ during two world tours since last year. It’s equivalent to circling the Earth about twice (one lap is 40,000 km). They toured 30 cities across 11 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. At every venue, overseas fans responded by singing along in Korean, creating a chorus effect. Each member has used 2 to 3 passports over the past five years.

World Tour Amsterdam Concert (Photo by KQ)

ATEEZ is an artist expanding K-pop’s overseas territory. They boast strong ticket power in Europe, where K-pop’s popularity is relatively weaker. Only a handful of singers can hold arena-level (10,000 to 20,000 seats) tours in Europe, and ATEEZ is one of them. Last year, they ranked 4th in K-pop concert attendance, following Seventeen (740,000), NCT (540,000), and BLACKPINK (470,000), with 380,000 attendees. In the U.S., they have appeared five times on the main album chart, the Billboard 200, peaking at number 2. Ninety-six percent of their YouTube views come from overseas. All eight members are Korean with no foreign members, and their success is built on songs in Korean.

ATEEZ is signed under KQ Entertainment, which was founded in 2013. Last year, KQ recorded sales of 46.3 billion KRW and an operating profit of 4.4 billion KRW, growing 78% and 57% respectively compared to the previous year. Concert revenue accounted for the largest share at 18.3 billion KRW (39.5%). Most entertainment companies have concert revenue at around 20% at best. This shows they maximized their ticket power. Compared to 2018, when ATEEZ debuted, KQ’s staff has tripled to about 70 employees.

Starting from the Bottom... A Rookie Who Worked Hard

ATEEZ was the first idol group launched by KQ since its founding. They literally started from scratch, meeting fans by going out on foot. In their early days, they held “free hug” events and performed busking. Like many rookies from small and medium-sized entertainment companies, they often appeared on music shows every other week. Every move and every second on stage was precious to showcase their performance.

However, the domestic response was not significant. Their debut album’s first-week sales were about 5,200 copies. Compared to Stray Kids (31,200 copies) and The Boyz (24,100 copies), who debuted around the same time, this was a lower score. KQ then turned their eyes overseas. They decided to embark on an overseas tour just four months after debut. They believed it would take a long time to succeed in the crowded domestic market. It was also a time when K-pop was rising thanks to BTS.

Success Through Word of Mouth as ‘Concert Masters’

World Tour Berlin Concert (Photo by KQ)

There is a saying that while some people may not have seen an ATEEZ concert, no one has seen it just once. They are called “concert masters” who captivate audiences with sharp choreography and explosive performances. They also hold the unique title of being the idol with the most wins (4 times) on the singing competition show “Immortal Songs.” Their first overseas tour in 2019 was a success through word of mouth. They toured 12 countries including North America, Europe, and Australia, with full houses. Initially, venues had about 1,000 seats but later doubled in size. In 2020, ATEEZ ranked 5th among the most mentioned musicians on Twitter in the U.S.

KQ had faith in ATEEZ’s talent. Two members were former trainees of Big Hit Entertainment (the predecessor of HYBE). Although the company was small, they spared no support to create the best environment. Before debut, the members went to the U.S. for a month to learn dance, and the practice room was expanded and relocated several times. During the COVID-19 period, they eased fans’ disappointment with self-produced content using Zoom and XR (extended reality) online concerts.

Their concert skills, the narrative of growing from the bottom, and lyrics representing the voice of youth are also cited as reasons for their success. The group’s name, ATEEZ, means “A TEEnage Z,” representing everything about teenagers. Their unique marketing also received positive responses. They once attracted attention with fedora costumes and carefully crafted Halloween cosplay. Recently, to promote their new song “Bouncy,” they played recorded member voices from a truck carrying Cheongyang chili peppers, inspired by the song’s lyrics mentioning the chili. They also appeared on the TV program “6 O’Clock My Hometown.”

Album Sales Grow 300 Times in 5 Years

ATEEZ broke the usual success formula of entering Asia (including Japan), then North America and Europe. Their overseas popularity was “re-imported” back to Korea. Their 9th mini-album released on the 16th ranks 15th in K-pop’s all-time first-week sales with 1.52 million copies. Compared to about 5,200 copies of their debut album, this is about 292 times more. Their domestic concert scale also grew from Olympic Hall (around 3,000 seats) to Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium (around 10,000 seats). KQ’s rookie group Psykers also achieved a Billboard 200 ranking of 75 within two weeks of debut, benefiting from the “ATEEZ junior” halo effect.

Shin Dong-young, KQ’s vice president, said, “In the second half of this year, ATEEZ will have their first Asia tour and a Latin America tour, and notably, they will hold a solo concert in Saudi Arabia as the first 4th generation group. We will do our best to support them to successfully complete all of these.” He added, “KQ will work with artists, their fandoms who are their driving force, and employees to increase the IP (intellectual property) value of existing artists. Through active activities such as digital music, albums, and concerts, we will expand our base in the global music market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.