Normally, I’d start articles like this with a brief overview of the topic or situation, in an effort to give the reader some background knowledge and ease them into the discussion. 

But Taylor Swift needs no introduction. 

Her ‘Eras Tour’ is forecast to be the highest grossing music tour ever. In fact, it’s already the second highest grossing tour of all time, and she hasn’t yet performed outside of the americas yet. The tour is expected to achieve $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales and Swift could make over $4.1 billion from the tour herself. 

It’s no exaggeration to say that the tour has dramatically affected the U.S economy. The Software company QuestionPro estimates fans spend about $93 million per show, which not only includes tickets and merchandise, but also stretches to include accommodation, restaurants, and travel. This spending over the entire tour is forecast to cause an enormous $5.7 billion total boost to the US economy. To put that into context, that’s enough to send everyone in the US $17 each and it’s a greater total shift than the individual GDPs of a fifth of the world’s nations.

For major American cities, hosting a concert has meant a huge surge in consumer spending and tourism, and Swift’s positive impacts have helped a variety of industries. Los Angeles experienced a $320 million total spending boost from Swift’s six shows there, while her performances in Denver increased Colorado’s statewide aggregate demand by $140 million. Hotels in Seattle grossed a huge $7.4 million in one day when Swift performed there, beating the all-time record by over $2 million.

Her impact hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Governor of Illinois credited Swift with ‘reviving the state’s tourism industry’ after only three nights performing in Chicago. During her time both there and in Minneapolis, the cities set new all-time records for total hotel rooms occupied in a night. She’s also been praised by The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Federal Reserve itself for boosting local and national economies. She even featured in a tweet from the FBI in July. 

These significant impacts have been caused by a combination of Swift’s enormous fan base and the current state of the performance industry. Tickets at every venue have sold out in hours and Swift consistently fills out NFL stadiums, some with over 70,000 seats in capacity. There’s such high demand for tickets that average prices so far have eclipsed $450, and 91% of concert goers say they’d attend another show. Furthermore, the demand for live entertainment and concerts is high post-COVID, and Swift’s tour has been perfectly timed to benefit from this economy wide boost in demand. After people spent months in lockdown, the gradual rise in involuntary savings and pent-up demand for live events has meant the demand for Eras Tour has been incredibly high. This demand hasn’t been limited to Taylor Swift’s music; musicians and groups like Coldplay, Harry Styles, Beyoncé and Elton John have had very successful tours in the last few years, all cracking into the top 8 highest grossing music tours of all time list. However, the Eras Tour seems to have reached a new level of success. The combination of Swift’s huge fan base, the excellent advertising for the tour, and the quality of the shows themselves have meant the Eras Tour has eclipsed all expectations of revenue and popularity.

In addition to all this, the Eras Tour Film, which shows her performance in SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, has grossed $123.5 million over its opening weekend, making it the highest grossing concert film of all time already. Director Christopher Nolan has praised the film, saying it’ll help prove how valuable the cinema experience is to viewers in the streaming age. Seemingly everything she does is met with record-breaking results, regardless of which industry she’s featuring in.

Whether you’re a Swiftie or not (I certainly am), it’s undeniable that her achievements over the last year have been remarkable. She’s had an unprecedented impact on the music and film industries and on the U.S economy. Call it what you want, but Taylor Swift is one of the most influential stars of our generation.