By <\/span>Jeanna Smialek<\/span> and Jordyn Holman<\/span><\/p>\n
Photographs by <\/span>DeSean McClinton-Holland<\/span> and Maggie Shannon<\/span><\/p>\n
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Beyonc\u00e9 told us that girls run the world. This summer, she and Taylor Swift seemed to prove it.<\/p>\n
Both Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u201cRenaissance\u201d and Ms. Swift\u2019s \u201cEras\u201d tours have become cultural phenomena that have swept across social media and are poised to shatter real-world records. \u201cEras\u201d could top $1 billion in sales, making it the first concert in history to cross that mark. Some estimates suggest that Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s world tour could gross even more than that by the time it wraps in October.<\/p>\n
It is the latest \u2014 and some economists think final \u2014 iteration of the \u201crevenge spending\u201d trend that took hold after the pandemic, in which people shifted their spending away from goods and toward experiences. Taylor Swift and Beyonc\u00e9 fans have been shelling out on everything from secondhand tickets that cost more than a flight to Europe to fancy fingernails to match the singers\u2019 wardrobe.<\/p>\n
While event spending overall is still just recovering to prepandemic levels, the marquee concerts this summer are spurring a lot of consumption.<\/p>\n
The survey company QuestionPro estimates that Ms. Swift\u2019s concert could generate some $4.6 billion in economic activity in North America alone, taking into account both stadium capacity and people\u2019s reported spending plans on things like tickets, merchandise and travel. That would be roughly on par with the revenues the Beijing Olympics generated in 2008, after adjusting for inflation. Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s shows are expected to spur $4.5 billion in spending, based on a separate QuestionPro survey.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t just tickets that have motivated people to open their wallets. They are staying in hotel rooms, buying elaborate outfits, spending on flashy manicures and attending sideline parties that are generating business and boosting spending in host cities.<\/p>\n
Shade Hotel, in Manhattan Beach, Calif., held a Taylor Swift pre-party where guests sported costumes, wore Swift-themed temporary tattoos and sipped on a signature \u201cLavender Haze\u201d cocktail, a reference to one of the most popular songs on her latest album. Both the hotel and its neighbors reported surging demand that pushed up room rates and sold out many properties.<\/p>\n
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Boxie Studio in Los Angeles, which offers small photo studios of carefully curated backdrops for social media, was selling tickets that allowed visitors to film TikToks or snap Instagram shots in rooms that mirrored Taylor Swift music video sets. Props included the red scarf made famous by the song \u201cAll Too Well\u201d and an \u201cI love you\u201d sign like the one that a lovelorn Ms. Swift flashed at her next-door neighbor in one 2009 music video.<\/p>\n
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Knock-on effects from the concerts have drawn the attention of national economic authorities: Sweden\u2019s statistics agency said that Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s tour helped to fuel inflation there, and a Federal Reserve survey of business contacts reported that Swifties had bolstered hotel revenues in the Philadelphia region.<\/p>\n
While concert-related spending has not been concentrated enough to show up clearly in national data in the United States, some think it could help to slightly improve the odds of a gentle cool-down instead of an abrupt stop to economic activity. The events are keeping consumers active during a summer when shrinking savings might have otherwise slowed their spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Taylor Swift is great for the soft landing,\u201d said Brett House, an economist at Columbia Business School. He noted that the concerts were evidence of what is often called \u201crevenge spending\u201d: a shift toward paying for experiences after heavy spending on goods during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Beyonc\u00e9 tour, the Eras tour, are the latest installation of that phenomenon,\u201d he said \u2014 and possibly the tail end, as consumers exhaust pandemic savings and return to more normal patterns. \u201cIt might be that Taylor Swift and Beyonc\u00e9 timed their tours perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concerts have become a big boost for local tourism, as the Fed report hinted. Airbnb reported that Cincinnati was the platform\u2019s top trending destination for July 4 weekend travel \u2014 beating out places like Mykonos island in Greece and the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The Ohio city hosted Ms. Swift that weekend.<\/p>\n
The shows have also driven broader consumer spending in cities like New York, where searches for lounges, aestheticians and nail technicians in the week leading up to Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s performance in East Rutherford, N.J., saw triple-digit percentage increases compared to the year before, according to an analysis by Yelp. Concertgoers were also booking their hair and nail appointments weeks out.<\/p>\n
Raven Voorhees, the owner of Free Edge Beauty Studio in Brooklyn, said she spent the month of July doing nails for clients attending Beyonc\u00e9 concerts in cities like Philadelphia, Nashville and East Rutherford. Her clients requested nails that aligned with the theme of the Renaissance tour: lots of silver, metallic, gold and sparkle.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s boosting business,\u201d Ms. Voorhees said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about someone who\u2019s paying about $60 max for her service to now $150 because she\u2019s doing a new set, she\u2019s getting the works, all of the nail art and then, even after that, having to come back and having to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tara Lewis, who analyzes Yelp\u2019s data around the \u201cBeyonc\u00e9 bump,\u201d said she had seen \u201cpops in every city\u201d which gives her confidence that Beyonc\u00e9 is the reason behind the lift.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s hot concert summer has been enabled, in large part, by a hot job market. Unemployment is low and wages are rising, which is helping people afford big purchases like tickets and pricey hotel rooms.<\/p>\n
In a survey fielded for The New York Times, QuestionPro found that about 50 percent of Taylor Swift fans used regular income to buy tickets and outfits, while 9 percent used savings built up during the pandemic. A bigger share used savings amassed before or after the public health crisis or relied on family help. Just a small share \u2014 4 percent \u2014 borrowed money to afford the tickets.<\/p>\n
Beyonc\u00e9 fans also funded tickets heavily out of their income, and spent $1,800 on average for the concert.<\/p>\n
Many companies have figured out how to capitalize on the hype. Ahead of Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s New Jersey appearance, Circle Line Cruise \u2014 a New York staple known for ferrying tourists around Manhattan \u2014 transformed into a dance floor where boat riders learned the Renaissance concert choreography. The 78-year-old cruise line has been trying to find ways to attract new customers and give locals a reason to step on board, said Alexis Melendez, Circle Line\u2019s marketing director.<\/p>\n
The event, which took place the Thursday before Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s MetLife performances, sold out. The three-level cruise ship held about 300 people who had paid $25 for the two-hour ride where attendees grooved to a DJ playing Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s thirty-year discography and followed directions from the dance instructor Byron Freeman.<\/p>\n
Circle Line doubled the amount of bartenders, who were making $16 Beyonc\u00e9 themed cocktails with names like \u201cAlien Supermarg\u201d and \u201cRum the World.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Los Angeles, companies also seized on Taylor Swift\u2019s concerts to host branded activities. Truly LA, a venue showcasing the hard seltzer brand, hosted a friendship-bracelet making event on the sidelines of Taylor Swift concerts.<\/p>\n
Swifties wear and trade the jewelry as a reference to a lyric in a song from Ms. Swift\u2019s latest album, in which she instructs listeners to \u201cmake the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.\u201d The events, which took place on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3, also encouraged attendees to trade their bracelets while listening to Ms. Swift and consuming specialty seltzer drinks.<\/p>\n
Tara Vasquez, 39, stood outside of the Beyonc\u00e9 show in late July in sparkling bejeweled eye make up, explaining that she has \u201ca credit card for Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d She has gone to shows in each Beyonc\u00e9 tour dating back to Destiny\u2019s Child, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyonc\u00e9 is a splurge because she understands me; We grew up together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyonc\u00e9 says show up, and we show up,\u201d she said. The artist has not released a visual album with Renaissance like she had for her previous albums, but Ms. Vasquez said: \u201cWe are the visual.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cBeyonc\u00e9 got a lot of money out of me: At this point, I\u2019m going to claim her as a dependent on my taxes,\u201d Kalen Allen, 27, said outside of the MetLife stadium as he prepared to see Renaissance for the second night in a row. Professionally styled in a red and black ensemble, he estimated that he was spending $15,000 across multiple shows in multiple cities.<\/p>\n
Bibi Peterson, 16, was attending Taylor Swift\u2019s concerts in Los Angeles three times \u2014 including on Aug. 4 with her grandmother, brother and other family members. Her outfit cost her only about $25 in materials from Amazon, she estimated, because her grandmother sewed it. It was meant to look like the outfit Ms. Swift wore while singing \u201cHow You Get the Girl\u201d during a previous tour, complete with glow lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a young woman, she really inspires me,\u201d Ms. Peterson said. \u201cI love just watching her go out there and shimmer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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With thousands of people descending on stadiums across the country, transportation to the summer\u2019s big concerts also became an enterprise.<\/p>\n
The founders of Foolonia, a New York-based event company founded in 2019 that focuses on providing inclusive spaces and unique outings, decided to offer group transit to Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s New Jersey concert. The entry fee was $100 and included Beyonc\u00e9 trivia, giveaways like official tour merchandise and enough space to practice dance moves. <\/p>\n
\u201cHave we done a party bus before? No! But that\u2019s what we do,\u201d said Riley Wilson, a co-founder of the company. \u201cWe do divergent experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in Los Angeles, public transit stayed open late to ferry concertgoers. \u201cWe\u2019re enchanted that Taylor Swift fans have given a big boost to public transit across the United States this year \u2014 and we\u2019re looking forward to spending our midnights with many of you very soon,\u201d the city\u2019s metro system punned on its website \u2014 referencing Ms. Swift\u2019s song \u201cEnchanted\u201d and her recent album \u201cMidnights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spending on the concerts may partly be taking the place of other events, vacations and consumption in general this summer: About half of respondents in both the Taylor Swift and the Beyonc\u00e9 QuestionPro surveys said they would cut back elsewhere to afford the experiences, with many reporting that they were eating out less or skipping unnecessary entertainment.<\/p>\n
Many attendees made it clear that having fun at the tours would be their priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are looking to experience a fun and groundbreaking way to celebrate their identity, to celebrate music,\u201d said Ozzie Henderson, a co-founder of Foolonia and a Beyonc\u00e9 fan who started putting together his concert outfit since she announced her tour. \u201cThey\u2019re investing their money in a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeanna Smialek<\/span> writes about the Federal Reserve and the economy for The Times. She previously covered economics at Bloomberg News. More about Jeanna Smialek<\/span><\/p>\n
Jordyn Holman<\/span> is a business reporter covering retail for The Times. She previously worked at Bloomberg News, where she covered retail and diversity in corporate America. More about Jordyn Holman<\/span><\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"