Concert Streaming as a Digital Business Tool: in the Context of Hybe

Hellen da Silva Machado; Natan de Souza Marques

DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202602985

Article derived from a Final Course Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the E&S Magazine with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by Instituto Pecege for textual synthesis and organization.

Abstract

The digitalization of entertainment, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted the adoption of new consumption models, such as Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) applied to musical shows. This study analyzed the live broadcasts of shows by the South Korean group BTS, managed by HYBE, from the perspective of Customer Experience (CX) and digital engagement. The objective investigated the contribution of the TVOD model to monetization and to maintaining emotional engagement with the BTS group’s audience. The research adopted a mixed approach, combining a case study with documentary analysis of HYBE’s institutional reports and specialized website reports, and a field survey with 120 Brazilian consumers. Perceptions of value, satisfaction with the model, and impacts on consumption behavior were evaluated. The investigation identified the success factors of the business model and the mechanisms for converting emotional engagement into consumption. The results revealed that the model generated financial profit and high engagement, with user experience being a central pillar. Audiovisual quality was highly valued, but chat interactivity proved to be a weak point. Emotional engagement with the brand overcame technical limitations, driving monetization and conversion into merchandising. It was concluded that HYBE’s success in the digital environment stemmed from its ability to convert emotional engagement into sustainable financial results, establishing a new standard of engagement and proximity with the global fandom of the BTS group.

Keywords: BTS; Consumer Behavior; Fan Engagement; Hallyu; TVOD.

1. Introduction

The rise of K-pop, or Korean pop, represents a global cultural and economic phenomenon, known as Hallyu, which has redefined consumption and engagement in the entertainment sector. This cultural movement acts as “soft power” through worldwide communication, encompassing the popularity of K-pop music, dramas, and films (Samosir and Wee, 2024). The consolidation of K-pop as a global phenomenon throughout the 2000s was driven by a South Korean governmental strategy, which aimed to transform national culture into a strategic export asset, an initiative that gained momentum after the 1997 Asian economic crisis (Nunes, 2021).

Starting in the 2010s, the digitalization of the music and entertainment industry provided the necessary infrastructure for this cultural investment to transform into a globally reaching growth model. In this scenario, the South Korean group BTS, managed by the company HYBE (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), stood out not only for its artistic success but also for its innovative approach in relating to the public. The group’s success is intrinsically linked to its “fandom”, the fan community known as ARMY, which is characterized by a highly participatory culture and intensive use of digital platforms to promote and disseminate the group.

The interaction between BTS and ARMY transcends the mere consumption of music, evolving into a consumption of objects and experiences that symbolize participation and belonging to a community. This dynamic is the basis on which HYBE structures its monetization and loyalty strategies, where strong ties of belonging directly influence consumer behavior. Fan economy, as Liu (2022) pointed out, grows by integrating physical and virtual experiences, where engagement is not just an audience metric, but generates value and visibility for the brand.

The global entertainment landscape has undergone significant digital acceleration, especially after the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of physical venues, such as stadiums and concert halls, the industry was compelled to seek digital means to maintain audience connection and generate revenue. Musicians of various genres began broadcasting their shows on social media, popularizing the live streaming format (Terra and Raposo, 2022).

However, what emerged as an emergency alternative in the West faced long-term sustainability challenges, with a “rise and fall” trajectory due to model saturation and the overlap of domestic routines, leading to an exponential loss of audience and the abandonment of the practice after the end of restrictions (Ferreira et al., 2022). In contrast, HYBE, like other K-pop industry companies, maintained this trend, positioning live streams as a fundamental revenue stream (Kim, 2020). For these companies, the model was not treated as something temporary, but as an integral part of the product’s Lifetime Value, achieving success by offering a high-value digital experience that justified charging for a ticket and provided the audience with a sense of belonging.

The “live streaming” of shows, in this context, fits into the Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) model. Nelson (2013) defines TVOD as a model in which the user pays per transaction, buying or renting the media once. The combination of this model with audience engagement results in higher revenue and user participation. This model is highly strategic for shows, as it allows the company to capitalize on the exclusivity of the event, maximizing revenue per transaction.

The effectiveness of the TVOD strategy, however, depends on the display platform’s ability to offer a Customer Experience (CX) that justifies the cost for the customer. Customer Experience (CX), as Botelho and Guissoni (2020) explain, encompasses the set of perceptions a consumer has about the company based on their interactions. In addition to quality products and services, CX needs to be a competitive differentiator, making the consumer feel valued and have an experience superior to what is expected. Madruga (2021) reinforces that consumers should not be seen merely as numbers, but as individuals with emotions that must be considered in building a differentiated consumption journey with high added value. This business model, although applied for at least six years in the music market, has been little studied by reputable authors, which highlights a gap in the literature and the need to deepen the understanding of its opportunities and challenges.

The relevance of this study lies in the need to understand how the TVOD model contributes to the monetization and maintenance of emotional engagement in a digitally transformed sector. The investigation into HYBE and the BTS group offers an exemplary case of how fans’ participatory culture can be converted into economic value and loyalty. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the contribution of the TVOD model to the monetization and maintenance of emotional engagement with the BTS group’s audience, assessing the impact of virtual broadcasts on HYBE’s financial performance and customer experience, understanding how digital content consumption contributes to consumer loyalty and continuous engagement within the brand’s ecosystem.

2. Material and Methods

The present research adopted a mixed methodological approach, combining qualitative and quantitative elements for a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon studied. This methodological choice, based on Creswell (2010), allowed for the integration of the depth of case study with the collection of quantifiable data, aiming for a more complete analysis of the research problem and fans’ perceptions of the Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) model.

The research strategy consisted of a case study, focused on the broadcasts of shows by the South Korean group BTS held by the company HYBE, complemented by a field survey. The case study enabled the analysis of HYBE’s strategies and results through a detailed documentary analysis, seeking to understand the contribution of the TVOD model to monetization and audience emotional engagement.

For the case study, institutional documents from HYBE were analyzed, including press releases and financial reports. Document collection focused on the periods of the company’s main “live streaming” events, with special attention to the results of 2020, 2021, and the first half of 2025. These documents were accessed directly on the official HYBECORP website, serving as the primary source of data.

Additionally, articles and reports from specialized and widely circulated media outlets, such as Reuters and Star Daily News, an important Korean newspaper, as well as an article from Rolling Stone magazine, were used. These materials addressed the success of BTS’s online concerts, citing specific events like ‘BTS MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E’, ‘BTS 2021 Muster Sowoozoo’, and ‘Bang Bang Con’, and provided competitive contextualization, comparing revenue with Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour.

The documentary analysis was conducted using the content analysis technique, following the phases proposed by Bardin (2016). Pre-analysis, exhaustive material exploration, and systematic treatment of results were carried out. The main focus was the extraction of monetization and engagement indicators, such as the volume of paying users, the geographical reach of live streaming events, and data on the growth of the Weverse platform, all found in financial reports and press releases.

Competitive contextualization was established by collecting comparative data, such as that provided by the Rolling Stone article, to size the financial impact of HYBE’s TVOD model in the global entertainment market. This step sought to position HYBE’s findings within a broader industry landscape.

The field survey was conducted by applying an online questionnaire, carefully designed to collect data directly from consumers. The questionnaire was distributed in discussion groups of BTS fans, known as “ARMY”, on various social networks, aiming to efficiently reach the target audience of the research.

The sampling was non-probabilistic in nature, using convenience and snowball criteria, as described by Malhotra (2012). Initial participants were encouraged to share the questionnaire with other community members, expanding the research’s reach within the desired demographic profile and ensuring the participation of engaged fans.

The research involved 120 Brazilian consumers who had already consumed “lives shows” by the BTS group. Selection criteria included being a fan of the group, residing in Brazilian territory, and being 18 years of age or older. Data collection occurred over four weeks, following the dissemination of the instrument in digital communities.

The online questionnaire contained nineteen questions, carefully subdivided into four thematic blocks. These blocks addressed the demographic and behavioral profile of the respondents, the consumption and monetization dimension, the measurement of satisfaction with the “streaming” experience using a numerical semantic differential scale, and the sense of belonging and engagement with the fandom.

The specific objectives of the questionnaire included collecting data on motivations for watching “live streams”; satisfaction with the “streaming” experience, evaluating audio and video quality, interactivity, and additional features; perception of the value of tickets and digital “merchandise”; and the sense of belonging to the community and interaction with other fans during the event.

Regarding ethical considerations, the research ensured participant anonymity and did not collect sensitive or identifiable data. Ethical guidelines for research with human subjects were rigorously followed, and the Free and Informed Consent Form (FICF) was presented in the first section of the form, characterizing the research as minimal risk for those involved.

The analysis of the data collected through the online questionnaire focused on understanding the perceptions and behaviors of this specific group of digital consumers. It sought to identify who the consumer audience is, how the model impacts the sale of “merchandising” products, and whether the model contributes to an increased sense of belonging to the fan group.

3. Results and Discussion

The research conducted revealed that the Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) model, applied by HYBE for BTS group shows, proved to be an effective tool for both monetization and maintaining emotional engagement with the audience. Initial findings indicated that the consumer base for this model is predominantly female, representing 95% of responses. This characteristic corroborates the literature by Jung (2011), who describes how Korean idols, by combining traits of sweetness and vulnerability, primarily attract a female audience. Furthermore, the fan community, known as ARMY, acts as an active ecosystem where women exercise agency and participate actively, as pointed out by Michelle Cho (2019), transforming digital consumption into a form of identity and belonging.

The age range of consumers was quite diversified, with 25.2% between 18 and 24 years old, 31.5% between 25 and 30 years old, 27.3% between 31 and 40 years old, 10.5% between 41 and 50 years old, and 5.5% above 50 years old. This age distribution suggests a mature and digitally native consumption profile, indicating a low technological entry barrier for the platform. The presence of segments with different levels of digital maturity and purchasing power demonstrates the product’s ability to reach an extended lifecycle, which, according to Liu (2022), allows companies to cultivate loyal users and ensure predictable consumption, maintaining close contact and influencing potential consumers.

Price perception emerged as the main barrier for consumers, with a significant majority of 54.9% of respondents classifying the ticket price, in the R$200 range, as “Very expensive”. Another 36.7% considered the price “Expensive, but acceptable”. In total, 91.7% of consumers perceive the ticket price as high. However, consumption persists, demonstrating that the exclusivity of the live event, a central characteristic of the TVOD model according to Nelson (2013), is capitalized by HYBE, with fans willing to pay for the unique transaction due to the value of the real-time experience and the sense of belonging.

When crossing the perception of ticket value with age group, a possible elasticity of price for the digital product was observed. While younger age groups, between 18 and 24 years old, indicated greater price sensitivity, mostly classifying it as “expensive”, segments over 31 years old showed a higher acceptance trend, considering the value “correct” or “acceptable”. This behavior suggests that the more mature audience has a higher Lifetime Value (LTV) potential, where fan loyalty, according to Jenkins (2009), reduces price resistance barriers and enhances consumption, converting participatory culture into sales.

The general perception of the online show model is positive, although the data reveal specific points of dissatisfaction. In the evaluation of the pillars of Customer Experience (CX), audio and video quality obtained the highest satisfaction average, with 4.41, followed by satisfaction with the Weverse platform, with 4.14. Curiously, chat interactivity presented the lowest rating, with an average of 3.18. These results indicate that infrastructure stability and the delivery of high-quality main content are critical success factors, surpassing the need for secondary social features in the consumer’s perception of value.

From Jenkins’s (2015) perspective, the chat provided by HYBE does not fully meet the needs of users, who, as active subjects of participatory culture, seek interactivity and, upon not finding it on the platform, migrate to other social networks, such as WhatsApp and X, to complement the experience. High technical satisfaction is crucial to sustain the event’s capacity to offer a high-value digital experience that justifies the cost, aligning with Botelho and Guissoni’s (2020) perspective that Customer Experience (CX) should be a competitive advantage. However, the persistence of operational bottlenecks in aspects such as interactivity generates consumer dissatisfaction.

The analysis of friction points in the consumer experience highlighted four main challenges. The broadcast schedule, influenced by the time zone, was a problem for 52.5% of respondents. The absence of the possibility to watch the show again, i.e., the importance of on-demand content, was cited by 40.8%. The lack of direct interaction with the artists was a point of dissatisfaction for 36.7% of fans, indicating a need for greater connection during the event. The experience with live chat interactivity was scored as a consumption barrier by 32.5% of consumers, suggesting that current tools do not contribute to a positive experience, reinforcing the importance of considering customer emotions in building a unique journey, as highlighted by Madruga (2021).

The perception of price regarding post-show merchandising proved to be even more negative than that of tickets, with 69.2% of participants rating the prices as “Too expensive” and the remaining 30.8% as “acceptable”. Besides price, the purchase and delivery logistics in Brazil also presented a major obstacle, preventing the conversion of purchase intent into sales. However, the effectiveness of HYBE’s digital ecosystem is corroborated by the conversion rate into physical products after the digital experience, with 31.7% of viewers making purchases of merchandising motivated by the online show.

This data indicates that the business model transcends pure entertainment, configuring itself as a mechanism for declared purchase intentions of merchandising, motivated by the show. According to Kotler, Kartajaya, and Setiawan (2021), the use of video interfaces for sales combines the convenience of digital with the interactivity and trust of visual contact and live demonstration. According to Li, Wang, and Cao’s (2022) Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, the visual elements and interactivity of the live stream act as stimuli that affect the consumer’s emotional state, resulting in impulse buying. In HYBE’s ecosystem, this dynamic is enhanced by the exclusivity of the products, transforming the show experience into a sales conversion environment, where emotional engagement reduces the purchase friction caused by the product’s high value, integrating the consumption of digital and physical goods into a unified customer journey.

Positive aspects were observed, such as the strong sense of community and the consumption of generated content. Streaming acts as a stimulus, driven by the desire to follow the artist and the feeling of belonging to the community. The main motivation for purchasing the ticket was “To follow most of BTS’s content,” cited by 80.8% of respondents, followed by “To watch the live show without interruptions,” with 55.0%. Regarding the sense of belonging, 80.0% of fans stated that they “feel closer to other ARMYs by watching the shows,” highlighting that the shared experience is a central value of the TVOD model.

The value of connection and the motivation to “Actively participate in the fandom”, with 35.8%, are significant, reinforcing that TVOD is not just a content consumption event, but a platform for social engagement. The qualitative analysis complemented these insights, revealing the emotional motivations and detailed frustrations of the fans. Although technical quality is valued, current interactivity is seen as poor and superficial, and the price barrier for merchandising is confirmed, as is the logistics of purchase and delivery in Brazil, which presents a major obstacle to converting purchase intent into sales.

The sense of belonging is centered on the social and global experience of the event, where the emotional value of TVOD resides in the simultaneous and global experience, reinforcing the fandom’s identity and sense of community. Interaction, however, occurs predominantly in channels external to the streaming platform, with the viewing platform’s chat being largely ignored or considered unsatisfactory, leading audiences to migrate to platforms like WhatsApp and X to seek the desired social experience. Strategically, the results suggest that HYBE can maximize revenue through premium packages targeted at segments with higher purchasing power.

The conversion into merchandising, which reaches 31%, proved to be independent of satisfaction with social interactivity tools, such as chat. This highlights that the user experience should prioritize transmission stability and audiovisual quality to sustain the perceived value of the digital event, as emotional engagement with the brand overcomes technical limitations of interactivity at the moment of purchase. HYBE’s financial growth trajectory between 2020 and 2024 demonstrated an increasing curve of revenue and operating profit, even after the critical pandemic period of 2020-2021.

This phenomenon is explained by the “hybridization” of the business model, where HYBE does not replace in-person shows with digital ones, but adds to them, using show streaming (TVOD) as an additional layer of high-margin revenue. This allowed the company to scale globally without the proportional logistical costs of a physical tour, resulting in the observed financial robustness. The 2021 report indicated a 77% increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter, totaling KRW 21.6 billion.

The global fan community platform Weverse also showed significant growth, with a 9% increase in its Monthly Active Users, reaching 5.3 million users, and a more than 50% increase in the average monthly value paid per user. Consumer retention on the Weverse platform can be analyzed through the Hook Model, proposed by Nir Eyal (2014), which describes a four-step cycle for creating digital habits: trigger, action, variable reward, and investment. In HYBE’s case, notifications of artists’ live streams and comments act as triggers that drive immediate access.

The variable reward manifests in the possibility of exclusive interaction with the artists, while the investment occurs when the fan dedicates time to personalize their profile or acquire digital content, such as the “Army Membership”. This digital subscription on Weverse offers benefits such as live stream captions in 16 languages, automatic comment translation, live stream downloads, discounts on online show purchases, and the possibility of sending unlimited digital letters to the artist. Eyal (2014) argues that the greater the user’s investment in the product, the greater the accumulated value and the lower the probability of platform abandonment, which supports HYBE’s strategy of centralizing the entire fan journey in a single proprietary ecosystem, converting emotional engagement into financial recurrence.

A large part of the disclosed revenue was driven by events such as “BTS 2021 Muster Sowoozoo”, which attracted an audience of 1.3 million people in 195 countries. Market data published by Billboard Brasil (2024) indicated that, in the first half of 2025, after the return of group members and the holding of four online concerts, second-quarter 2025 revenue reached KRW 705.6 billion, an increase of 10.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Concert revenue, specifically, reached KRW 188.7 billion, an increase of 31%.

The growth was driven by a series of successful fan tours and concerts. In the consolidated report for the first three quarters of 2025, HYBE’s total revenue reached KRW 1.93 trillion, driven by promotions with direct artist participation, totaling KRW 477.4 billion, which represented 66% of total sales. Concert revenue tripled compared to the previous year, reaching KRW 245 billion. Merchandising also showed significant growth, with a 70% increase compared to the previous year, reaching KRW 168.3 billion.

The success of the TVOD model was already evident in 2020, with the online show ‘BTS MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E’, which attracted 993,000 viewers from 191 countries, surpassing the previous record of “Bang Bang Con”, which had been watched by 756,000 people in 107 countries (Star Daily News, 2020). The news agency Reuters (2020) indicated that these shows were responsible for a 27% jump in profits in the first half of 2020, with KRW 49.7 billion in operating profit and KRW 294 billion in revenue, exceeding 2019 figures and allowing the company to proceed with its initial public offering (IPO) plans.

A comparison by Rolling Stone of Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour, which grossed $775.6 million over 2.5 years, suggests that BTS’s virtual show could achieve similar revenue in less than 40 dates with lower expenses. This phenomenon is explained by the relationship between digital engagement and profitability, where fans engaged in digital ecosystems show a 55% higher propensity to spend than the average, transforming consumption into an investment, according to PwC (2025). HYBE’s business model, therefore, reveals a strategic distancing from the Western music market.

While Western artists, such as Ed Sheeran, primarily used live broadcasts as tools for reach and marketing during the pandemic, reducing these actions with the return of in-person events, HYBE consolidated streaming as a complementary and mandatory revenue stream. This divergence highlights that, in the South Korean context, TVOD was not treated as a temporary substitute, but as an extension of the digital product ecosystem. While the Western model focuses on accessibility for the masses, the business architecture of the Weverse platform prioritizes the monetization of loyalty.

The TVOD model acted as a monetization catalyst by reducing logistical costs and expanding global audience reach. Simultaneously, engagement was enhanced by content exclusivity and the integration of interactivity tools, converting consumption into brand loyalty. HYBE not only maximized its profits through the TVOD model but also established a new standard for engagement and proximity with the global fandom of the BTS group, creating a proprietary ecosystem where it owns the platform and content, retaining the audience. The user experience was the central pillar for the success of these operations, with the integration of technological elements and the narrative of exclusivity overcoming the screen barrier through digital consumption.

Fans perceived a real and immersive value experience, and HYBE’s monetization strategy was sustained by a strong consumer loyalty base, validating the business model, even with the difficulties presented, such as schedule and prices. HYBE’s success in the digital environment stemmed from its ability to convert emotional engagement into sustainable financial results, transcending technical infrastructure. High-performance streaming, aligned with a consumer-focused experience design, constituted a crucial competitive advantage, residing in global scalability with a higher contribution margin than physical events for entertainment companies in the digital economy era. From a managerial perspective, the integration between digital monetization strategies and building an emotional bond with the consumer can significantly expand revenue generation potential in the digital environment.

4. Conclusion

The study evaluated the contribution of the Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) model to the monetization and maintenance of emotional engagement with the audience of the BTS group. It was found that TVOD established itself as an effective tool for both purposes, boosting HYBE’s financial performance and consumer loyalty. The findings revealed that audiovisual quality and platform stability were central pillars of the customer experience, overcoming the perception of high prices for tickets and merchandising. It was identified that emotional engagement with the brand and a strong sense of belonging to the ARMY community were crucial, converting participatory culture into consumption and sales, even in the face of limitations such as broadcast times and low satisfaction with chat interactivity, which led fans to seek external channels for social interaction. HYBE demonstrated growing financial robustness, attributed to the “hybridization” of the business model, which combines show streaming with in-person events, allowing for global scalability with superior contribution margins.

The study’s main contribution lies in demonstrating how HYBE established a new standard for engagement and proximity with BTS’s global fandom, monetizing loyalty through a proprietary digital ecosystem. From a managerial perspective, integrating digital monetization strategies with building emotional bonds with consumers significantly expands revenue potential. However, the study was limited to a specific case, and the sustainability of the TVOD model proved strongly associated with the high level of emotional engagement of consolidated fandoms, which may limit its replicability in other contexts. For future studies, it is suggested to investigate the effectiveness of TVOD in market niches with lower engagement, analyze its digital inclusion and accessibility perspective, and explore cybersecurity and anti-piracy strategies to ensure long-term financial sustainability.

Bibliographic References

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Article originating from the Final Course Work of Specialization in Digital Business from the MBA USP/Esalq

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