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TWICE during their world tour. / Source: JYP Entertainment

K-pop concerts are rapidly transforming into large-scale “brand events,” expanding beyond music and performance to create fully immersive fan experiences.

Modern shows now integrate augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) technologies with real-time subtitles, fan zones, photo booths, and app-based services tied to official merchandise. These elements combine to form a unified brand identity, and stadiums have become the prime stage to realize such spectacles.

The results are striking. TWICE completed the first-ever North American stadium tour by a K-pop girl group with last year’s “Ready to Be” tour, which included SoFi Stadium and MetLife Stadium. Building on that success, their ongoing “This is For” world tour features 360-degree stages, allowing fans to enjoy performances from any angle. BLACKPINK also drew more than 100,000 fans to two sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in July.

Stray Kids’ “Dominate” tour has staged 54 concerts in 34 cities this year, with half of them in stadiums. Notably, the group became the first K-pop act to perform at LA’s BMO Stadium, Arlington’s Globe Life Field, and Toronto’s Rogers Centre, marking milestones for both K-pop and the venues themselves. Groups like TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ATEEZ, and ZEROBASEONE are also taking their tours to stadiums worldwide.

Industry insiders say this shift underscores K-pop’s position as a global standard-setter rather than a passing trend. “The stadium tour movement shows K-pop is redefining global protocols in concert planning, technology, and fan experience,” one music executive said. “K-pop is no longer a consumer product responding to demand—it has become a supplier shaping the very structure of the music industry.”