Here in the U.K., Swiftmania is upon us: the pop superstar kicks off the first of 15 concerts in Britain on Friday night.
Projected to contribute a whopping 997 million pounds (or $1.26 billion) to the U.K. economy, Taylor Swift officially descends on Edinburgh as thousands flock to the Scottish capital, donning sparkles, handmade bracelets and cowboy boots — the mark of the Eras Tour.
Her popularity has skyrocketed in recent years thanks to the rerecord of her entire discography, including 1989, Red and Speak Now — all Taylor’s Versions. The more recently released The Tortured Poets Department has made its way onto the setlist.
Ticket costs are in the thousands. The Pennsylvania-born star has sold out her shows worldwide. She is second only to The Beatles with the most weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. Everyone’s asking the same question: Why is she so popular? Her peers have an idea.
“She wants it,” fellow star Lana Del Rey told BBC News. The Born to Die singer was featured on Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights, on the track Snow on the Beach. “She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone. And how amazing — she’s getting exactly what she wants. She’s driven, and I think it’s really paid off.”
Brit Award winner Raye called Swift “an absolute powerhouse.” The singer continued: “She is just one of those rare timeless artists who gets it right every time.”
KT Tunstall, best known for her hit Suddenly I See, said Swift has the “resilience and the chutzpah to be the boss of an enormous machine, employing thousands of people.” Tunstall added: “To be able to handle that and handle what’s coming at her publicly, you’ve just got to be a one-off.”
Almost 1.2 million fans are estimated to attend the 15 U.K. tour dates with an average of 848 pounds ($1,085) spent on each ticket.
Peter Brooks, a behavioral scientist who was recently featured in a “Swiftonomics” report produced by British bank Barclays, likened Swift’s impact to the fan crazes associated with Elvis and The Beatles: “Whoever came up with the phrase ‘money can’t buy happiness’ clearly wasn’t a Swiftie. There’s growing evidence that spending on experiences boosts happiness and well-being more so than purchasing physical items, especially if that experience is shared with friends and loved ones,” Brooks said.
“When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift — like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the ’50s and ’60s — supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful. For non-fans, 848 pounds may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert — but for Eras Tour ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”
