A concert can be sold many times
Soobin's three concert nights in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City once attracted a total of more than 40,000 spectators. But nearly a year later, these stages continued to be built into Soobin live concert movie: All-Rounder and tickets were sold at theaters.
On the first day of screening on September 10, the work sold more than 5,300 tickets at one point, earning over 1 billion VND and leading box office revenue during the day. After that, the number of screenings exceeded 200.
What is noteworthy is not only the theater revenue, but also the way a concert continues to create value after the audience has left the stadium.
With traditional methods, direct revenue from the concert mainly comes from ticket sales and sponsorship. But when the entire program is recorded with high quality, the image and sound can become materials for many other products.
Previously, many artists had staged concerts into theatrical versions, released live albums, put each performance on digital music platforms, sold broadcasting rights, released behind-the-scenes content or sold exploitation rights to online platforms.
Concerts are therefore not just an event lasting a few hours but can become a "warehouse of content" used for a long time.
My Tam once brought Tri Am to the big screen. Son Tung M-TP also exploits performance projects through recording content, behind-the-scenes and online platforms. To Soobin, the release of concert products in theaters shows that this direction is being tested more clearly in the Vietnamese market.
From concert tickets to shirts, luminous sticks
If expanded to Kpop, the economic life cycle of a concert is even longer.
Hybe Cine Fest 2026 takes place from October 24-31, bringing the stages of Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen into theaters, and also broadcasting performances of BTS's Arirang tour from South America to audiences in many countries.
But theatergoers don't just buy tickets. At some locations, Hybe arranges merchandise sales areas, photo and lightstick decoration areas, and other interactive activities. This is how a tour generates multi-layered revenue.
Hybe's Q2/2026 business results report partly shows the scale of this model. The company's concert revenue reached 647.7 billion won, while merchandise and copyright reached 310.6 billion won. Hybe said that BTS's tour not only contributed from live performances but also expanded contact with fans through streaming and live viewing (watching live concerts at other locations).
This shows that the economic problem of today's concerts is not just "how many tickets can be sold".
A spectator can buy a live ticket, buy a shirt or light stick, pay for online viewing, continue to buy re-view tickets at the theater and use products related to the tour.
At the same time, artists have additional revenue from sponsors, distribution platforms, image rights and behind-the-scenes content.
Not every concert can be sold forever
However, Soobin's case also shows limitations. After the first screenings with more than 200 screenings per day at some points, Soobin's concert has now sharply reduced screenings and ticket sales.
The decline in seats shows that the appeal of the fan community can generate initial revenue, but maintaining it for a long time in theaters is another problem.
Concerts originally served groups of audiences who were interested in artists. When the most enthusiastic fans bought tickets, the space to expand to the general audience could quickly shrink.
Cinemas are also places to directly compete for slots with new commercial works. If the number of tickets sold per slot is not high enough, concerts are difficult to maintain the screening schedule just because of the artist's name.
This is the difference between "being able to exploit more" and "being able to create a large market".
As the Vietnamese performing arts market becomes more and more concert-oriented, the next competition may not only take place in stadiums. After the stage goes dark, artists who know how to extend the life of the concert with cinemas, music, digital content, products for fans and copyright will have more opportunities to turn a night of performance into a source of revenue that lasts for many months, even years.
