Ronald Goseco l March 22, 2024 l The Manila Times
THIS business concept is named after Taylor Swift who is a highly acclaimed American singer-songwriter known for her country and pop music. She rose to fame in the mid-2000s with hits like “Love Story” and “You Belong to Me.” Swift has numerous awards, including Grammys, with her celebrated storytelling lyrics and catchy melodies. She is also known for her philanthropy and advocacies. Estimates by Bloomberg on her net worth amount to $1.1 billion as of October 2023.
Swiftonomics refers to the economic influence of Swift and her impact on various business sectors, particularly on the impact of her global series of shows in 2023, that have become the highest grossing tour on record, grossing more than $1 billion in less than a year the concerts referred to as the Eras Tour, started in March last year in Arizona and are expected to conclude this December in Vancouver.
The Eras Tour has been credited with boosting local economies across all the cities that hosted the concerts. Swift fans have spent money on lodging, food, transportation and merchandise. One study showed that the average spend for an Eras Tour attendee in the United States is $1,327. Ahead of Swift’s six concerts in Los Angeles, the California Center for Jobs and the Economy estimated the tour would result in a $320-million increase in the Los Angeles County gross domestic product (GDP).
Estimates in Denver, Colorado, showed that the tour was expected to contribute $140 million to the Colorado GDP. The tour also made a stop in Sydney, Australia, where the Destination New South Wales estimated an economic benefit of $52 million. Swift’s shows in Melbourne were estimated at $783 million, according to the city’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Hosting the Eras Tour has become so lucrative that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Swift via X (formerly Twitter) to add tour stops in Canada, which she did.
Curiously, data from travel and experience app Klook showed that Filipinos were the top buyers globally of Klook ticket bundles for Taylor Swift’s concerts in Singapore accounting for somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of the ticket bundles sold. In comparison, the percentage of sales from other Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries was only in the single digits per market according to Michelle Ho, general manager of Klook Philippines and Thailand.
She said that the cheapest Klook ticket bundle which comes with two concert tickets and a room night in a four-star hotel reached $542 or around P30,000. This high price point did not deter Swifties as Klook sold out in less than six hours.
A Swift controversy was reported last month when Philippine Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente “Joey” Salceda asked the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to formally protest against the grant that the Singapore government authorized in exchange for Swift agreeing not to perform elsewhere in Southeast Asia during her world tour.
Some Swifties got upset after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Tharisin disclosed that the concert promoters had told him that the Singaporean government allegedly offered up to $3 million for each concert under the condition that Swift will not perform in any other Southeast Asian country. The Singapore Tourism Board later confirmed that the concerts had the support of the authorities but stopped short of disclosing the actual amount paid.
Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), which runs the Singapore National Stadium, had reportedly courted Swift’s team in early 2023 before the international venues had been confirmed. According to KASM Chairman Keith Magnus, they initiated the idea for the tour to come to Singapore and led the discussions in Los Angeles.
A few months later, the Singapore team clinched the deal to deliver Asia to Swift which set in motion the exclusive concerts. Magnus added that “we were the proactive tip of the spear for the Government in these discussions.
“Once the discussion had progressed and we saw the opportunity of holding an only — in Singapore event, we then thought it made sense to take a whole of nation approach and brought in other agencies to rally Team Singapore to bring in Team Taylor.”
He proudly elaborated that “it is proven model that if you are an artist and you want to be in Asia to cater to your Asian fan base, you really have to come to Singapore.”
Salceda, an economist, later acknowledged that the Singapore policy worked for the city state as it boosted hotel and air travel sales. He further admitted that this challenges Manila to improve its infrastructure to host concerts for world-class acts like Swift. “In the long run though, we, we need to step up our game,” he said.
The largest concert venue in the Philippines is the Philippine Arena, which has the same 55,000-seat capacity as Singapore National Stadium, but does not have the football field-size staging area needed for the Eras Tour.
Furthermore, unlike Singapore, our Philippine Arena can only be accessed by roads and is not connected by subway or rail lines. In fact, during the Coldplay concert last January, enormous traffic jams were experienced, which inspired an impromptu song by Coldplay’s Chris Martin about the “insane traffic in Manila.” Clearly, we really have to get our act together and step up our game.
*** Ronald Goseco is a Finex Foundation trustee. His opinions are his own. Photo from Pinterest.