Taylor Swift and Beyonce are raking it in with tours that are giving local economies a boost
(L-R) Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Taylor Swift attend the "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" Concert Movie World Premiere at AMC The Grove 14 on October 11, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Image: John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS
Three years after the pandemic wiped out the live music scene, fans are flocking again to see their favourite stars on stage, with Taylor Swift and Beyonce raking it in with tours that are giving local economies a boost.
The tour itself, which finishes in December 2024, is poised to become the first tour to make $1 billion.
According to Maria Psyllou, an economist at Britain's Birmingham University who has written about the trickle-down effect of Swift's tour, the six concerts in Los Angeles added $320 million to that county's GDP.
"A big phenomenon," was how New York Federal Reserve President John Williams described the Taylor Swift effect last month.