Taylor Swift is so important to the economy that she’s in the latest Fed report
Taylor Swift has such a notable impact on local economies that she’s mentioned as a specific factor in a Wednesday report by the Fed. The Eras Tour, the singer’s first global tour in five years, has taken the world by storm and has proven to be both an economic and cultural phenomenon.
The Fed’s latest Beige Book—a summary and analysis of recent economic conditions—mentions that Swift’s concerts supercharged Philadelphia’s tourism revenue despite a lull in the industry overall.
“Despite the slowing recovery in tourism in the region overall, one contact highlighted that May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the onset of the pandemic, in large part due to an influx of guests for the Taylor Swift concerts in the city,” the report read.
The Fed isn’t the first to notice Swift’s economic star power. Analysts have coined the revenue bump cities receive from her concerts as the “TSwift Lift.” When The Eras Tour came to Chicago, the city enjoyed its highest post-pandemic public transit ridership, with Swift’s three-night stay from June 2-4 generating over 43,000 extra rides.
Similarly, the Midnights songwriter made $90 million for the Greater Cincinnati Area during her two-night stint in the city. $2 million of the revenue was in extra hotel stays, with downtown Cincinnati hotels hitting 98% of their booking capacity. Overall, Swift could add over $4.6 billion in consumer spending to the U.S. economy, according to research firm QuestionPro.
Eras has been widely reported by journalists as a multigenerational cultural event. Swift has been producing music since she was a teenager,and has maintained global popularity for nearly two decades. Eras is a tour de force, in which the singer is performing smash hits from her latest album, Midnights, alongside nostalgic fan favorites from her past “eras”—hence the tour’s name—like old chart-toppers “All Too Well” from Red and “Blank Space” from 1984.
People are still flocking to get tickets to the tour—and people who can’t get tickets are standing outside Swift’s concert stadiums by the thousands to try to hear overflow music. On Tuesday, overwhelming demand for the tickets to Swift’s France concerts caused Ticketmaster Europe to pause the presale entirely. Before the company shut down the sale, there were over a million fans in the ticket queue.
“The on-sale date and time for Taylor Swift The Eras Tour in France is being rescheduled and tickets are still available,” Ticketmaster France tweeted on Tuesday. “This morning’s sale was disrupted by an issue with a third-party provider, and they are working to resolve this matter as soon as possible.”
Swift, who has won 12 Grammy Awards, is making roughly $13 million per night of The Eras Tour, which is projected to make over $1 billion overall. If the tour’s profits match expectations, it would be the highest grossing tour ever, and would make Swift the world’s top-grossing artist.
The average cost of an Eras ticket is $254, but they can resell for much higher, with some listed for over $20,000 on StubHub. The average fan spends over $1,300 to attend a concert on the tour, including ticket price, merch, hotels, and travel costs. Fans have also been dropping hundreds on elaborate outfits for the shows themed around their favorite albums or songs.
Swift, 33, will perform 131 concerts across 17 states and five continents until the tour’s close in London in August 2024. Wherever she goes, she can be expected to crash ticket sites and boost local economies.