It was a big summer for news in the entertainment industry. From record-breaking tours by Taylor Swift and Beyonce to the biggest box office hits in years from Barbie and Oppenheimer…to writer’s strikes in Hollywood.
As the fall semester ramps, there’s still plenty to sort through as we look back on the last several months….and look toward the future.
We turned to experts in Kogod’s Business and Entertainment program for perspective:
John Simson, program director, 50-year music industry veteran, and former executive director of SoundExchange; Professor Jesse Kirshbaum, founder and CEO of Nue Agency, author of industry newsletter Beats + Bytes, and juror for the upcoming Clio Awards; and professor Linda Bloss-Baum, an expert in public policy, government relations and public relations in the music and entertainment industry.
Taylor Swift’s summer tour garnered one superlative after another, topping $1 billion in revenue, and by the time an international leg and a second US leg is done, that could be just the beginning. The tour was marked by fans in costumes, donning friendship bracelets—many of whom will see the concert all over again in theaters next month.
What should we make of such a culturally significant tour?
Jesse Kirshbaum: Summer 2023 is being defined by women’s empowerment, from the Barbie remake to Beyonce’s earth-shattering world tour. But nothing had the impact of Taylor Swift, whose tour will go down as the most impactful in the history of music to date. It was a full-fledged, multi-generational experience.
Taylor broke numerous box office records. She entertained millions of fans. And she gave life-changing money back to her entire staff through bonuses.
Off the back of this tour, Taylor Swift has officially become the biggest person in music.
Like Swift, Beyonce’s tour brought screaming fans and sold-out stadiums. Both had a marked effect on the GDP in what some economists predict might be the final push for ‘revenge spending’ emerging from the pandemic, as fans stayed in high-priced hotel rooms, booked plane tickets, and otherwise forked over large amounts of money for these experiences.
Of course, this also came as the Fed has tried to cool the economy to fight pesky inflation. So, is all the spending these tours brought ultimately a positive or a negative?
John Simson: Taylor Swift and Beyonce have had a major effect on local economies everywhere they've traveled. Are they contributing to inflation or helping economies stay robust and healthy?