In 2023, American singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift made history with her landmark Eras Tour. In that year alone, Swift made a whopping $1.04 billion with over 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 dates, a testament to her innate talent as both a musician and a businesswoman. Yet the economic benefits do not just end here.
Does The Eras Tour mark a turning point in economics and marketing?
So, exactly how big is the tour’s economic impact?
According to Oxford Economics, for every $100 spent on a live performance, $300 in local spending is generated. This would include transportation, food and merchandise. However, the Era’s Tour is seeing an average of $1,300 per person spent on the concert experience alone, with some hardcore fans raking in close to $20,000 of spending. Why? Because Swift’s concert is more than just a performance but an experience.
For starters, Swifties believe this is a once in a lifetime experience that money cannot buy. Individuals hence go all out from spending exorbitant amounts for customized outfits inspired by Swift to engaging professionals for hair and makeup. It’s also customary to “make the friendship bracelets” to trade with fellow Swifties, inspired by her song “you’re on your own kid”, even if you are not even a fan. Spending beyond just the concert tickets is already a norm, at least for the Era’s Tour. In fact, individuals who failed to get tickets will often be seen in “Cat 100” , crowding right outside the stadium all dolled-up to experience Swift’s live performance.
Furthermore, Swift’s “Surprise Song” segment has also compelled individuals to go for multiple shows. By performing acoustic versions of her songs not found on the setlist, and more recently producing mashups of multiple songs, Swift manages to make every show non-substitutable. With this comes thousands of fans traveling both domestically and internationally to catch the performance, creating an all time high in economic revenue for the host country or state in terms of accommodation and tourism spending.
Still not convinced? Each of these significant peaks in hotel bookings correspond with her tour dates in each state!
Image Credits: STR
It has been estimated that the Era’s Tour American leg has generated close to 5 billion in consumer spending, and more will be made in the international tours moving forward.
A business opportunity
The Era’s Tour may be Swift’s concert, but many local businesses have found unique ways to make this an economic opportunity for themselves. In essence, businesses small or big have incorporated Swift into their products and experiences to leverage on the spending tendencies of fellow Swifties. In fact, some have even grown a new business just through this. A prime example is Filipino drag queen Taylor Sheesh who rose to fame following her performance of the “The Error’s Tour” in the Philippines in August 2023. In just a matter of weeks, Sheesh became an internet sensation, gaining international media coverage and scoring opportunities to perform worldwide both publicly and for private events.
This points towards the new marketing strategy in the 21st century: The Fan Economy. To summarize, Fan Economy marketing recognises the significance of fans in driving economic activity and capitalizes on their loyalty and enthusiasm to their idols in their marketing campaigns. Even though the concept of fanship is not new, in recent years, youths have become inclined to the life ethos of “You Only Live Once”(YOLO), especially after the pandemic, where individuals are aware of the importance of living in the present. Unsurprisingly, this also translates to a greater willingness to spend on things that bring happiness, in this case, anything related to their idols.
Swift’s economic gains are heavily driven by the Fan Economy, similar to the Hallyu Wave in the K-Pop industry. However, it is worth noting that Swift’s individual achievements have outperformed the majority of the international music industry, amassing one of the strongest fan bases in history. In fact her reach is so phenomenal that she was ranked 1st in the most number of streams on popular streaming platform, Spotify. How? This goes to the very foundations which have built her career: her personal voice.
Since her debut album, every single song Swift has released under her name is written by herself. With over a hundred songs under her belt, this is in no way an easy feat. Economically speaking, this is extremely time consuming and not cost-effective, which perhaps explains why the majority of singers in the late 2000s to early 2010s did not write a large proportion of the songs they released. Yet time has proven the audience's preference for self-written songs. As of 2020, 95% of songs on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles were written by the singer themselves. In fact, popular singers in Swift’s generation like Ariana Grande did not write the majority of her songs in her early musical career. Fast forward to 2024, and 100% of the songs in Grande’s new album Eternal Sunshine credits her as the songwriter. Clearly, Swift knows what audiences want since the very beginning, and has leveraged on the head start to develop her unique personal voice that the audiences love her for.
In addition, longtime fans will know that Swift bases the majority of her songs off her own experiences in life and love. From the experience of teenage crushes in You Belong With Me, to fears of long-term commitments in Champagne Problems to a much deeper discussion on misogyny in The Man, Swift’s music are akin to diary entries, deeply authentic, raw and very emotional. Her first-hand experiences allows her heartfelt performance to touch the masses, allowing individuals who have experienced similar things to find solace in knowing they are not alone in their vulnerable times. Even though you do not really know her, Swift is a friend, a sister, the therapist you never knew you needed. All it takes is one song you resonate with to form this unbreakable bond between you and Swift.
Furthermore, Swift is well-known to diversify her portfolio. Over the years, Swift has transitioned from country music, to rock, pop, hip hop and indie folk genres, all while staying true to the Taylor Swift brand of authentic storytelling. This diversity has allowed her to stay relevant amidst the ever-evolving music trends, appealing to the tastes and preferences of the youths at each time period. Teens and tweens in the 2010s would describe catchy pop songs like Shake it Off and Back to December as iconic anthems of their youths. Meanwhile pandemic-era youths would definitely find themselves singing along to the relatable lyrics of “midnights become my afternoons” in Swift’s 2023 TikTok hit, Anti-Hero, a true description of their struggles in quarantine. Swift tops the charts year after year because she gives the audiences exactly what they like, allowing her to become the iconic song of the year that people associate their memories with. Thereafter, it does not really matter if her music still appeals to your liking, you will always remember her. It is no wonder non-Swifties still pay to watch the Era’s Tour, just to get a chance to hear whichever era they grew up to to re-experience their youth once again.
Spot any subtle references such as the lover house and the reputation snake?
Image credits: @taylorswift13 on X
Of course, no article on Swift’s marketing success can go without crediting her Easter Eggs, hidden messages Swift enjoys to weave into her music, posts and even public speeches. The marketing mastermind she is, Swift began hiding messages in her lyric booklets through capitalizing random letters to form messages like “I CRIED WHILE RECORDING THIS” in the song Fifteen in her Fearless album. This later grew to astrology, time stamps and even hand signs, with the most recent peace sign for The Tortured Poet’s Department representing her surprise drop of a double album at 2am. By forming a mega puzzle for her fans, Swift engages her fans consistently whilst also managing to create hype around her future work as fans speculate what exactly everything she does means. This has brought insane search volumes to anything Swift-related, and encourages fans to buy and stream her work to unlock all the clues. Even before her newest album (TTPD) dropped, Swifties have been speculating the drop of Reputation TV at every chance they get despite the album not even being in existence yet. One can only imagine what happens when it actually comes out.
Nonetheless, Swift does not do this only because of marketing. As she said in an ABC interview, finding hidden messages in lyric booklets was an experience she enjoyed as a child which she wanted to bring to her fans. Ultimately, everything she does is for the fans and her passion for music, not so much the money. It is the genuine love she has for her fans that makes fans willing to splurge on her.
That is not to say that Swift’s journey has been smooth sailing. With fame, comes the inevitable scrutiny of the public eye, and the twisted politics of Hollywood. Once in the deep pits of hell of Cancel Culture, where Swift was involved in a set-up smear campaign by Ye and the Kardashians, ever since clearing her name Swift has been ever so vigilant when it comes to championing causes while steering well clear of the Cancel Culture. Some notable causes include advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, racial injustice and female body positivity. Using her influence amongst her fans to spread her word and causes, Swift delicately balances the fine line between outright advocacy and inaction, by cleverly using lyrics to promote her causes, most famously in “Anti-Hero”, where she sings “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never at the mirror” to convey the issue of self-image and body negativity. Whilst doing this, she avoids the depths of Cancel Culture and for a few years now, has truly beaten it, becoming TIME’s Person of the Year 2023.
What the future may hold for the worldwide economy & entertainment industry
To summarize, Swift’s economic success is based on 2 big reasons: her passion for music and her fans and her knack for making use of the Fan Economy as her main marketing strategy.
Given Swift’s achievements, it is believed that the post-pandemic years will be a significantly different era for the entertainment and marketing industries. Marketing will likely place higher priority on building lasting relationships with consumers, relying on authenticity to ensure longer-term success.
As for the worldwide economy, entertainment related tourism such as concerts is likely to grow in popularity and become crucial to promote economic recovery and growth. It is highly probable that governments will have to step up to secure hosting opportunities for unique events rather than businesses themselves as witnessed recently in Southeast Asia.
Ultimately, it all boils down to whether we are ready for this new era.
References
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Fastuca, D. (2023, July 9). Inside the Marketing Brilliance of Taylor Swift. https://www.forbes.com.au/life/entertainment/inside-the-marketing-brilliance-of-taylor-swift/
Kaplan, J. (2023, July 8). How Much Taylor Swift Fans Spend at Concerts During the 'Eras' Tour. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-taylor-swift-fans-spend-concerts-eras-tour-2023-7
Merinuk, M. (2022, October 22). Taylor Swift Easter Eggs and Hidden Messages. https://www.today.com/popculture/music/taylor-swift-easter-eggs-hidden-messages-rcna51887
Riley, M. (2023, June 12). U.S. Hotel Performance Enchanted by Taylor Swift's 'The Eras' Tour. https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/u-s-hotel-performance-enchanted-by-taylor-swifts-the-eras-tour/
Siegel,B. (2023, December 12) The Era of Songwriting in Pop Music. https://machronicle.com/the-era-of-songwriting-in-pop-music/#:~:text=In%20the%20past%20decade%2C%20mainstream,the%20artist%20as%20a%20songwriter
Sherman, M. (2023, December 9). Taylor Swift's 'Eras' Tour Sets Billion-Dollar Record. https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-eras-tour-billion-dollar-record-52945111233438b1f2166aa19eee365f
Zhao, S. (2022, December). The Case Study of Marketing Strategies by Fan Economy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366298239_The_Case_Study_of_Marketing_Strategies_by_Fan_Economy
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