“If Taylor Swift were an economy, it would be bigger than 50 countries.” The phrase is from Dan Fleetwood, president of QuestionPro Research and Insights, and although it may be a bit of an exaggeration, it points to a phenomenon never seen in the history of pop. Not even rock. Nor any other style. TIME magazine, which anointed her as person of the year 2023, explains that her Eras Tour “is the biggest milestone in the history of musical tours, including Elton John’s farewell, which lasted several years and concluded with $939 million in revenue.” income”. Taylor Swift has already surpassed one billion and the tour is not over yet.
The singer moves so much money that in the heat of her cash register the term ‘swiftonomics’ was born to analyze its influence on the local and national economy: if for every 100 dollars invested in a concert, around 300 are generated in hotels, allowances, transportation and merchandising, Swift’s figures rise to $1,300. Thus, according to Bloomberg Economics estimates, Swift contributed 4 billion euros to the US GDP last year.
The influence of Taylor Swift – whose fortune Bloomberg estimates at one billion euros – extends to areas outside of harsh economic analysis. There are some examples of a cultural nature: Minneapolis was renamed “Swiftieapolis”, the Californian town of Santa Clara named her honorary mayor, the governor of New Jersey named the state sandwich with his man, and politicians from places as diverse as Hungary, Chile and Canada They have invited her as if she were a Moses capable of bringing manna to the people.
And maybe it is: the U.S. Travel Association, an association of American travel agencies, points out that the impact of $1,300 per ‘swiftie’ would be comparable to the expense of each attendee at the Super Bowl, the most important sporting event in the United States. But that event is held only once a year while Taylor Swift gave 53 concerts on the local Eras Tour. And while we’re talking about the Super Bowl, the day Swift jumped onto the field to hug Travis Kelce, her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) player, the athlete’s jersey sales increased 400% from the night to the morning.
Swift’s impact on the economy reaches geopolitical levels. Two weeks ago she transcended the unrest of Thailand and the Philippines towards their neighbor Singapore, all three members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). An angry Filipino politician recalled at a press conference that ASEAN is based on “basic principles such as solidarity and consensus” after the Thai prime minister revealed that Singapore paid an extra fee to Taylor Swift for an exclusivity agreement, that is, so that did not operate in any other country in Southeast Asia.
Without leaving Asia: the four concerts he gave in Japan have been “the largest musical event ever held in terms of expected economic impact, where Tokyo saw a minimum 25% increase in revenue each night of the tour,” according to Mitsumasa Etou , professor at Tokyo City University: the capital took the cake by welcoming ‘swifties’ from all over Japan and surrounding countries. It should also be noted that VIP tickets were sold for 122,800 yen (745 euros) when the usual figures for an American star are around 28,000, that is, 170 euros.
Such a media, musical, cultural and economic phenomenon needed a complementary personal explanation: the most rounded to date is Taylor Swfit Icon, signed by Katy Sprinkel and which Libros Cúpula (Planeta) will publish in Spain on March 27. And in May an illustrated biography of her will hit bookstores aimed at her youngest fans: Taylor Swift. The era of the swiftie generation (Lundwerg), in which the cartoonist Patricia Agüero studies her songs to reflect on topics such as self-esteem, toxic love, identity or self-acceptance.