Adam Smith, the "father of capitalism," would be proud of the Korean pop music industry (K-Pop). Krowdpop, a website similar to crowd-sourcing sites such as Kickstarter, allows fans in countries all over the world to woo their favorite K-Pop acts into coming to their city. Fans win, because they get to see their favorite acts. But the acts also win, because their tours are being scheduled for them essentially, and the system also guarantees them high concert attendance.
Fans are directed to send requests for the act to perform in their hometown. Once Krowdpop confirms that there's enough interest in an area to justify a concert, they enter talks with the appropriate Korean music agency. Theoretically, any city could rack up enough votes for a show. Obviously a New York City is more likely to get support than Point Pleasant, WV however. The show is still theoretical at this point. A number of tickets are put on sale for Krowdpop users, and if enough of them are bought up, then the show goes forward. If not enough tickets are bought, the show gets cancelled (and the buyers get their money back). The good news is that it's not a competition. A group could decide to do five shows, or they could do 27 shows if Krowdpop results suggest that there'd be an audience.
Back to capitalism: Essentially, fans are begging performers to come to their city so they can give the acts money. Genius.
The concept is currently on display with boy band Teen Top, a Korean N'SYNC if you will (they dance better than One Direction). The group gathered attention with its appearance at KCON 2013 in Los Angeles. As of publication, New York City was the top vote-getter, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Orlando and Toronto. The site lists the top six vote-getters, although it doesn't reveal numbers ahead of time.
Music Times is located in New York, so looks like we're set.
