Hot Tour Summer sees Taylor, Beyonce eye $1 bln mark

NEW YORK

It's a pop queen's world and we're just living in it: Industry watchers are speculating over whether Tay or Bey could post the first billion-dollar tour, as 2023 witnesses an explosion of shows.

Taylor Swift and Beyonce are among the dozens of stars who've hit the road and fueled a booming arena market, as demand for live entertainment soars after years of pandemic-induced cancellations and postponements.

From Pink to Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen to Drake, and SZA to The Weeknd, stadiums across the United States and beyond are setting the stage for what's poised to be the biggest year for live music on record.

"I have never seen as many artists out at the same time, in the same space," Stacy Merida, a professor at American University who studies the business of music, told AFP.

Madonna - who in the early 1990s created the contemporary tour as we know it, with elaborate sets and costumes - was set to embark on a career-spanning tour in mid-July, but postponed it due to illness.

The 64-year-old is slated to start her European leg of shows in October, and reschedule the North American concerts for later dates.

So it's the 33-year-old Swift who is now within striking distance of the billion-dollar mark, with 106 current dates on her "Eras" tour.

Odds are also favoring Beyonce as she commences the North American leg of her "Renaissance" tour.

If either cross the history-making line, they'd jump past Elton John.

His just-ended "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, which began in 2018, had grossed more than $910 million as of June 18, a few weeks before his final show in Stockholm on July 8, according to Billboard Boxscore.

John had surpassed the previous record-holder, Ed Sheeran's 2017-2019 "Divide" tour, which nabbed $776 million.

Tickets for Bey and Tay are averaging out to be more than double that, for basic seats.

Recent data from research company QuestionPro suggests Swift's tour could generate some $4.6 billion in consumer spending in the United States alone, pumping dollars into local economies including hotels and restaurants.

And Queen Bey's "Renaissance" tour caused a "Beyonce blip" when she performed in Stockholm in May, driving up Sweden's inflation about 0.2 percentage points.

"Beyonce's start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have colored May inflation," said Michael Grahn, chief economist for Sweden at Danske Bank, at the time.