Trend Analysis
August 21, 2024
Design by Clotilde Pedron
These days, it’s quite easy to spot when someone’s on their way to a concert. Think pink sparkly cowboy hats for Harry, friendship bracelets for Taylor, or metallic mania for Beyoncé. These three tours have been the biggest in recent years, with Love on Tour bustling out a gross total of $617.3 million, The Renaissance World Tour grossing out $579 million and The Eras Tour becoming the first tour to surpass $1 billion. While dressing up for concerts is not anything new, suffice to say that curating one’s concert outfit has increasingly become a quintessential aspect of the live music experience.
But what does playing dress up for our favorite artists actually entail? From community building and creative branding to economic and environmental consequences, concerts occupy a focal role in many different ways.
A recent phenomenon that has raised concerns is the ongoing disappearance of third places. Coined in 1989 by sociologist Ramon Oldenburg, he defined third places as “existing outside of the home and the ‘work lots’ of modern economic production”. Put even more simply, a third place would be a place in which one could gather with a community which is not within their first place, their home, nor their second place, their work.
One could argue that concerts and other forms of live music experiences could be considered as a third place. After all, they incorporate the characteristics of playfulness and a ‘home away from home’. Nevertheless, it’s important to underline that other characteristics such as accessibility–ticket pricing for example– do not allow for concerts to be a third place in its entirety.
It’s still interesting to study the place of concerts in terms of the sense of belonging and togetherness that it ignites in fandoms, with artists tying in such a mass of people. Concerts are a playground for music lovers and a reflection of the artist’s creative branding. This explains the significance of an artist’s image; people love aesthetics, and are initially drawn by signals put out. Additionally, this accounts for whether an artist is distinguishable enough from others trying to break through. Chappell Roan has been our Midwest Princess recently, rightfully so, and one key element that has set her apart is her persona and costume. She extends this to her concerts; assigning songs as the themes of different tour stops, she invites her listeners to imagine a world and universe behind each one of her titles, inciting creativity and self expression.
Perhaps it is a mixture of the concert drought during the pandemic as well as the facility in putting out trends via social media, but concerts have expanded their initial function of listening to live music - it is now so much more.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has sparked numerous conversations across fields, headlining several articles discussing the economic impact as well as even the geopolitics involved. While some say that the tour definitely contributed to the economies of different countries, others would counter that money would have been spent towards other products regardless. With my background as a senior undergraduate in Economics, I would say that the economic impact in terms of rapidity and willingness to pay is undeniable. In a time plagued by nostalgia, fans are willing to spend money as in the end, the memory of it all surpasses any monetary value.
The economic impact of a concert involves several sectors, which is one reason as to why it makes it so pertinent. Besides ticket purchases, fans spend money on transport, accommodation, merchandise, food and beverages, and concert outfits. According to CNN “862 people who say they attended at least one “Eras” concert said they spent an average of $291.62 each on their outfit”. Concert goers have also used traveling for shows as a vacation opportunity, contributing even more to the tourism sector.
It is no wonder as to why Swift’s tour has hit the geopolitical scene - one case is the exclusivity of Singapore being the only Southeast Asian stop on the tour with six dates. While Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated that it was not to be seen as a hostile act towards its neighbors, this didn’t prevent some grumbling from surrounding countries. It makes sense: Nomura’s report reveals that smaller economies, like Singapore, will feel the economic impact much more than bigger ones.
The multifaceted impact of concerts highlights its significance in nourishing certain industries as well as contributing to broader geopolitical narratives, outlining the tango between cultural events and global economies.
While we may have seen detailed bedazzled costumes floating across TikTok that demand laborious hours of work and access to materials to do so, the reality is that most concert-goers turn to fast fashion when seeking their picture-perfect outfit. Only so many platforms offer unique, extravagant and affordable wear, and this is at the cost of the environment - you can only wear a pink sparkly boa so many times. If only used once, concert fashion can quickly become a negative externality to the concert experience.
It’s difficult to ensure that such big numbers will strive towards sustainability when they’re already dropping so much to just be there, and this is where an artist’s accountability comes in. Take Coldplay for example, they announced that they had reduced their touring carbon footprint by 59% compared to their 2016-17 tour. Such an achievement is remarkable, and was done with the extensive use of different technology like kinetic dancefloors or reusable LED wristbands. I do think that others should take example, considering the power that tours and concerts withhold.
As the word steadily recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and the music industry continues to evolve, concerts and music festivals are key players in not only fan experience, but artist development and the economy. I’m excited to see how artists continue to switch up the game to enhance experiences, as well as see creativity soar all whilst hoping for more sustainable practices on either side.
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