‘Swiftonomics,’ or the smart business choices Taylor Swift makes that affect the U.S. economy

Taylor Swift performing during the Eras tour in a bedazzled bodysuit
Taylor Swift performs during “The Eras Tour,” Friday, May 5, 2023, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. She leads the 2023 nominations with eight — seven for her “Anti-Hero” music video and the Artist of the Year category MTV announced on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. AP Photo/George Walker IV, File

Call it “Swiftonomics” or “Taylornomics,” the 33-year-old American superstar is not only smashing music industry records with her Eras tour, but also boosting the economy and getting involved in new labor compensation expectations.

“She’s a very talented performer, but a smart businesswoman at the same time,” says Alicia Modestino, associate professor of public policy and urban affairs and economics at Northeastern University.

On her latest tour, Taylor Swift is tapping into the spending power of women who have experienced increased wages coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and are eager to splurge on travel and seeing their idol live. The singer-songwriter, named by Forbes the second-richest self-made woman in the U.S. music industry, will play more than 140 concerts across five continents in 2023 and 2024.

It is already obvious, however, that Swift’s tour is smashing all sorts of records, Modestino says, in terms of ticket prices, crowds of fans and revenues. 

On average, almost 54,000 fans attended each concert on the first American leg of the tour, which concluded Aug. 9 in Inglewood, California. The average ticket price fans paid on Ticketmaster was $254, while resale prices soared to thousands and tens thousands of dollars.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour could generate $4.6 billion in consumer spending. Swifties are willing to pay “for her songs that drive people to tears,” says David Herlihy, a Northeastern University music expert, of this “weird intersection of emotion and capitalism.” #TaylorSwift #ErasTour #DeepDive

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Each Eras show grossed around $13M

Each Eras show grossed around $13 million, according to Bloomberg, bringing Swift more than $300 million after playing the first 22 concerts.

“She writes songs that drive people to tears. That’s incredible and people want that,” says David Herlihy, teaching professor in the undergraduate music industry program and the master of science in music industry leadership program at Northeastern. “So, what are you willing to pay for something that makes you want to weep?”

Herlihy believes that Swift is making more than 100% of the face value of a ticket. Besides concerts, the tour makes money from sponsorships and merchandise sales. Many fans who adore Swift, Herlihy says, want a keepsake that would remind them of the Eras experience, so they buy every available piece of paraphernalia.

Swift’s costs include things like paying for elaborate staging, costumes and venues, compensating the crew, and sharing proceeds with songwriters, and could be about 25 cents on the dollar, Herlihy says, if not more.

She is still making “huge money,” he says, and, according to Forbes, is on her way to beating Elton John, who grossed $939 million on his farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, a world record to date. Predictions are that Swift’s worldwide gross ticket sales will surpass $1 billion.

The power of the Swift supernova is such that her own economic gains also positively affect cities and livelihoods of other people (besides ticket resellers). The inflow of visitors means that they will be spending on hotels, restaurants, taxis, Uber/Lyft rides, hotdog vendors and other businesses. 

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