Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is travelling around the globe and is on track to gross more than $1 billion (£770 million) by the end of 2024. Last year it became the first tour to surpass that amount.
Economists even talk about the “Swift effect” or Swiftonomics. Rumours suggest that the impact of the tour may have played a role in the Bank of England’s deliberations before cutting interest rates earlier this month. Given that nearly 1.2 million fans attend concerts in the UK, each of them spending an estimated £848 on the overall concert-going experience, the spending spurt triggered a short-term spike in inflation.
Of course, there’s a marketing machine running at full speed behind the scenes, but Swift has that extra something when it comes to connecting with her fans. Ten years ago, when Tumblr was still around, she had already mastered the art of fan engagement. Remember Swiftmas 2014? She sent 32 fans gifts.
Today, she chats with more than 280 million followers on Instagram like it’s a casual group text. Didn’t she even say in her documentary that her superfans coined the term Swiftie?