Much has been written in the press around the world about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour which is passing through France these days. This tour is in fact the one which will have generated the highest turnover in the entire history of music: around 2 billion dollars, for around a hundred concerts in around twenty countries. In France, 250,000 tickets were sold for the four Paris concerts and the two Lyon concerts. In the United States, ticket prices can exceed 1,000 euros, which explains why some American families come to see the concert in Paris. Taylor Swift’s songs are streamed tens of billions of times on platforms every year. The singer sells hundreds of thousands of records, CDs and vinyls. This incredible success allows her to be one of the rare musicians – author, composer and performer – today a billionaire thanks to her music.
The success of this artist is spectacular because her commitment, her perfectionism and her work are. This is evidenced by the concert I attended on Friday evening at La Défense Paris Arena, the largest indoor venue in Europe which can accommodate 40,000 people – how fortunate for our capital to benefit from such an infrastructure. Taylor Swift’s economy – or “Swiftonomics” – ultimately rests on classic principles. The first is work. This dazzling spectacle of song, dance and lights lasts 3 hours without downtime. It is precise and never falls back thanks to a perfectionism and an expenditure of energy which does not weaken.
At only 34 years old, Taylor Swift has an already very rich repertoire, from country to pop to more sophisticated music, notably that of her latest album. The Tortured Poets Department, released a few weeks ago while she was in the middle of a tour. This opus is the fifth since 2019, a high pace reminiscent of the groups of the 1960s – at least one record per year. Obsessive and hard work is the condition – not sufficient – for success.
Self-sacrifice generates revenue that must then be distributed. Second spring of “Swiftonomics”: sharing of value. In August 2023, we learned that Taylor Swift had left a tip of 100,000 euros to each truck driver of the transport company Shomotion, mobilized on the first part of her tour, i.e. around fifty employees, who also received each one a personalized handwritten word.
Stay in control of your career
The third key to “Swiftonomics” is autonomy. Taylor Swift composes, writes the lyrics of her songs, and she is an instrumentalist. In her show, she alternates Madonna-style performances and folk songs for which she accompanies herself on the guitar, or even the piano. Artistic but also economic autonomy. Taylor Swift did not own the rights to her first six records and was unable to buy them back. The contracts she signed when she was 15 were obviously not to her advantage. No matter: she re-records them one after the other to resolve this economic injustice. “You deserve to own the art you create,” she said a few years ago. How can you succeed if you are not in control of your career?
A symbol of freedom and audacity
The fourth key to “Swiftonomics” is the ability to offer a unifying world view, without falling into the dullness of the discourse. We know, Taylor Swift is a feminist. This feminism encourages young women to take charge of their destiny but without aggression. It does not exclude men. Taylor Swift is a Democrat and could well call for Joe Biden to vote, which, in such a close election, could have an impact on the final result, according to American political scientists. But she comes from country, she still plays it and remains close to a fan base Republican. Editorialist Emmanuel Lechypre, who met me at this concert, told me: “This girl brings out the best in us.” In fact, the 40,000 people gathered in the room – a majority of girls wearing sequined dresses – were there to party in the most positive spirit possible.
The dictators of China or Russia see in Taylor Swift-style progressivism the symptom of a West which is becoming devirilized, sinking into entertainment, disintegrating into pacifism. It’s quite the opposite. He is the avatar of a freedom and audacity that makes North America and Europe places to which people from all over the world want to migrate. This young girl born in Pennsylvania, who became the world’s biggest pop music star, is an example for millions of young people. Everything is therefore still possible in liberal democracies.
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