Taylor/Swiftonomics

Are you one of the Swifties? 

I've flirted with a short unit on geographies of music before, and have previously written for Collins on the subject in a series of KS3 updates which schools could subscribe to, and which I enjoyed writing back in around 2011. I have copies of them and still refer to them even now.

This definitely connects with my GA Presidential theme of Everyday Geographies as music is an everyday experience for many - whether experienced through radio playing in a public place or supermarket, or a particularly focussed listening experience with headphones - perhaps on public transport.

The ticket below is from a Peter Gabriel show in 1993 which was one of the best live experiences I have ever had. For this year's tour, many people complained about the high ticket prices, but the shows were still pretty much sold out, and the US leg of the tour starts next month. I remember people moaning even then that £20 was quite a lot.

Simon Oakes has also written about musical instruments for the RGS-IBG and journals.

Oxford Economics piece here talks about the impacts of the music industry. It dates from 2019.

There are a number of examples of the impact of an event on the local economy. Drawing in music fans for an event can have a significant impact on the local economy through the money spent on transport, accommodation, meals, souvenirs, clothing and merchandise and also the money spent on preparing in some cases e.g. outfits, feathers etc.

Some of them include some quantifiable impacts:

Arctic Monkeys' Sheffield gigs provided £4m boost to city economy. https://t.co/sewPMmC6YE

— Brian Groom (@GroomB) July 10, 2023

Arctic Monkeys celebrated the 20th anniversary of their first gig at The Grapes pub in Sheffield on 13 June 2003. I've seen quite a few bands there myself over the years, although not the Arctic Monkeys.

Elton John has just finished a tour which grossed almost $1 billion. This exceeded money made by Ed Sheeran and U2 previously.

Taylor Swift is likely to exceed that with her current ERAS tour.

Some estimates say that by August 2024, when the tour reaches the UK, it will gross $1.4 billion.

Some suggest that there are also some downsides to such events, particularly environmental issues:

Car races... more noise, pollution, disruption, and a lot less benefits than promised. Everywhere.
Below, analysis of NASCAR in Chicago. 1/3 the economic impact of the Lollapalooza music festival. 1/4 hotel bookings as Taylor Swift concerts.
Air shows? Similar story. https://t.co/I4ogaTg257 pic.twitter.com/Ln16boRf7S

— Gil Penalosa #Cities4Everyone (@Penalosa_G) June 30, 2023

Coldplay aim to reduce the impact of their tours, as do Massive Attack.

The Economics of Coldplay: MY vs SG

MY (or rather PAS mostly):
Coldplay concert "brings no benefit to race, religion or country" - Nasrudin Hassan, PAS central working committee

SG:
Agoda said it observed 8.7x search increase for accommodations in SG during Coldplay's concert… pic.twitter.com/NRiuVeMIvj

— The Coffee Break | Grow Smarter Daily (@BreakMyCoffee) June 25, 2023

Taylor Swift's tours attract thousands of people who don't even have tickets but want to experience the atmosphere of the show from outside the venue.

Also bear in mind, as the Variety piece says that:

The actual amount of money being spent on the Swift tour by consumers is far, far higher, with nearly all resold tickets going on the secondary market for several times their original value.

The total impact of the tour in the USA could add $5bn to the economy. There are a great many other factors here.

The average concert goer spent about $720 more than their budget for a total average of $1,327.74, including expenses such as tickets, outfits/costumes, merchandise, food & drink, and travel.

Wall Street article with some good pictures. It also introduces a good phrase called Taylornomics.

Her fans have been filling hotels, packing restaurants and crowding bars during Swift’s 20-city Eras Tour in the U.S. Cities say the tour has helped them recover from the economic toll of the pandemic by bringing back tourists and their wallets.

The Eras Tour, which started in March and ends in the U.S. on Aug. 9, is on track to become the biggest in concert history, potentially grossing $1 billion. It’s filling football stadiums that hold more than 70,000 people, and Swift is often staying in town for several days, giving local businesses time to soak up the Swiftie money.

To get fans in their stores, they’re selling doughnuts with Swift’s face on them or concocting cocktails named after her songs. A museum in Nashville rushed out an exhibit of Swift’s costumes to coincide with her performances there.

Nearly 41,000 people went to a Cincinnati-based event called Taygate, where more than 2,000 got free hair braiding and glitter makeup for the show. 

The crowds benefited nearby waffle restaurant Taste of Belgium, where fans could sip on Lavender Haze cocktails, named after Swift’s 2022 song. Taste of Belgium said it had its best two days of sales since that location opened seven years ago.
 

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/taylor-swift-taylornomics-concert-eras-tour-local-economy-9fa1d492
 

I'm going to work up a resource on this for our students for the next academic year... here's the title slide...