It’s been about a year since Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour began to grow into a bonafide global phenomenon, transcending entertainment news to dominate economic, political, and social discourse worldwide. Much of the narrative throughout the year focused on the unprecedented levels of fan spending and the miraculous post-pandemic resurgence of the concert economy. Alongside this were heated political debates in Asia involving figures in Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, all triggered by the mega stardom of the American singer.
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Now, with the highest-grossing concert tour in history set to conclude in four months, it’s time to refocus the narrative away from the spectacle and onto the massive footprint these concert “monsters” have left behind around the globe.
Messy Swifties
The core audience for Taylor Swift’s concerts consists of female Americans in their late teens and early twenties. Refusing to wait for their turn at power, these young fans have united to crown a “concert queen” for their generation, worshiping her in their own way.
The storm began on November 1, 2022, when Taylor Swift announced on Good Morning America that she would be performing 27 shows across 20 North American cities from March to August 2023 on her Eras Tour.
The cultural phenomenon of Swift’s tour…
Initially, the chaos was confined to North America. From system crashes and exorbitant ticket prices to rampant scalping and footage of teenage girls packing subways, it became a major cultural phenomenon across the U.S.
Swift’s fan base grew up in the era of social media — Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok — unlike the older generation that relied on traditional outlets like Billboard and Rolling Stone for artist information. These young fans use their online communities to exchange details about set lists, special tracks, and even the rituals Swift expects from her audience. The cultural phenomenon of Swift’s tour, amplified by international media and social media, soon expanded to 152 dates across multiple continents, becoming the first tour to gross over a billion dollars.
Live Nation, a major player in the concert industry, announced that concert demand in 2023 reached record highs. Ticketmaster, its largest platform, sold 77 million tickets in the first quarter alone, with transactions totaling billion.This success, however, has drawn scrutiny. The U.S. government, which previously approved the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, has now filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, accusing it of monopolistic practices that have damaged the live music industry.
Singapore singularity
Yet, even as one giant is challenged, others are rising. Southeast Asian Swifties: The unique Singapore phenomenon has triggered fierce competition for Swift’s concerts in Southeast Asia. The Singaporean government secured six exclusive shows with a staggering million subsidy per concert, in order to secure that Singapore would be the sole location in Southeast Asia for fans to experience the tour in person.
Taiwanese producer Chen Yu-chia, a fan of Swift, observed that during the concert week, “it felt like Singapore existed solely for Taylor Swift,” with her music playing everywhere and themed merchandise flooding stores.Swift’s team’s negotiating prowess, leveraging geopolitical tensions, allowed them to land these exclusive shows while saving on production and transportation costs.
Fans from across Asia flocked to the shows.
For Singapore, the million subsidy brought in an estimated 0 million in economic benefits, as fans from across Asia flocked to the shows. Chen noted that while many attendees were white teenage girls similar to those at U.S. shows, the audience in Singapore spanned a broader age range, from 10 to 60, with many fans flying in from neighboring countries.
Singapore’s success has triggered a competitive race among other Asian countries to build mega venues. Hong Kong is constructing the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Sports Park, set to open in 2025, while Taiwan’s newly-opened Big Dome can accommodate nearly 10,000 more spectators.
Macau’s Chief Executive, He Yicheng, recently announced plans for a new performance venue with a capacity of up to 80,000.In the Philippines, the government quickly responded to Singapore’s success by announcing plans for a “Taylor Swift-ready” venue in the Clark Freeport Zone, to be completed within four years.However, the hastily conceived project drew criticism when it was revealed that the design had been copied from a U.S. venue.
But what happens after the Gold Rush? As the race to build mega venues continues, some are questioning the allocation of government resources. In the Philippines, a social media user compared the country’s rush to build a concert venue with China’s infrastructure projects, sarcastically commenting: “China builds high-speed railroads, Japan builds highways, and the Philippines gets ready for a party.”
Money well spent?
Others lamented that the focus should be on improving education and infrastructure instead of hosting mega-concerts.
Meanwhile, the global concert market is showing signs of strain. Jennifer Lopez abruptly canceled her 2024 world tour, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. The Black Keys, despite a successful new album, downsized their tour to smaller venues. Even Coachella, once a guaranteed sellout, took weeks to sell out this year.
Other artists and events that have been overshadowed may find the spotlight.
These trends don’t necessarily signal the end of concert fever. In some cases, poor ticket sales may be due to the crowding-out effect of massive, expensive concerts like Swift’s. For instance, the cancellation of Melbourne’s Groovin the Moo festival coincided with Taylor Swift’s concerts in Australia.
If the concert craze does begin to cool, other artists and events that have been overshadowed may find the spotlight. Yet whether governments that have invested heavily in new mega-venues will reap the rewards is still an unclaimed ticket.
