The Eras Tour has made US$300 million from 22 shows so far, and with ticket sales of more than US$13 million each night while on the road, it’s set to become the highest-grossing tour in music history, beating Elton John’s farewell tour – which wraps in Sweden on Saturday.
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This year has been a gigantic one for the concert business, with major tours by Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Madonna, Metallica and others filling stadiums and arenas. But for fans, the once-simple act of buying a ticket has now devolved into braving nerve-racking presale registrations and crashing websites, just to be met with exorbitant prices and fees.This however has not stopped millions of fans from clamouring for a chance to see the superstar on tour. Swift announced on June 21 that she will eventually be making stops in Tokyo and Singapore early next year – her only dates in Asia, despite having one of her largest fan bases in the Philippines.
While disappointed with the announcement, that leaves Asian Swifties with only one thing on their minds – Singapore or Tokyo?
Of course, seeing the tour first in Japan might prove priceless, but there are other factors to consider. We weigh up the odds.
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Exorbitant prices? No problem
According to Forbes, an average ticket price for the The Eras Tour is just over US$250 – so far at least – and by the end of her tour in August 2024, Swift is expected to rack up US$1.4 billion.
That means the cost of a Swift concert has more than doubled since her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018 – a growth that outpaces the industry average increase of US$37 over the same time period, according Bloomberg.
But sky-high ticket prices have evidently not stopped dedicated Swifties.
The pop star has a massive fan base in Asia and with only two options on the tour list, Asian Swifties are prepared to pay, catch flights and brace themselves for the intense competition to secure tickets. NPR reports that an American lawyer Jennifer Kinder even dubbed the race to get tickets “The Great War” – a reference to one of Swift’s songs from her latest album Midnights.
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It is speculated that the lack of large venues may have been a deterrent, according to The Young Post, citing the city’s extended Covid-19 restrictions and late reopening to the world as factors.
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The whole of Southeast Asia has its eyes on Singapore dates – here’s why
Fans from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and everywhere else have set their eyes on Singapore dates as it will be her only Southeast Asian stop for her concert tour in March 2024.
It was initially announced that she would hold three concerts in Singapore but later on added three more shows after eight million fans signed up on the first day of fans registration. In addition to the March 2-4 concert dates, the singer added shows from March 7 to 9.
The registration does not guarantee, but increase chances of getting a ticket during the general sale, which opens tomorrow (July 7) via Ticketmaster or at SingPost outlets.
Fans across Asia raced to apply for United Overseas Bank Ltd. cards, in a bid to get in on a presale that is only open to the bank’s cardholders – a while two days ahead of general sales.
UOB reported that daily average credit card applications across Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam increased by 45 per cent in the week Swift announced her concert dates, compared with earlier in June.
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Ticketmaster crashed before presale even started
Fans on Twitter poured in to express their frustration with Ticketmaster after the ticketing site crashed before the UOB presale had even started on July 5.
Seat chart drama in Singapore
Earlier this week, Ticketmaster finally revealed the seating chart and ticket prices for Swift’s shows. According to the information provided, standard tickets should cost between S$108 to S$348 (that’s HK$626-HK$2,017, or US$80-US$257) and VIP packages cost between S$328 to S$1,128 (HK$1,901-HK$7,119, or US$242-US$833).
However, UOB presale Swifties who managed to get on the ticketing site alerted the rest of the fandom that once you enter the site, you are given a completely different seating arrangement.
Tokyo rocks
Although getting tickets to her Singapore tour may seem like a hectic mess, her Japan concerts may prove even more challenging.
Swift has announced four dates at the Tokyo Dome in February next year, with tickets ranging from 8,800 to 30,800 yen (HK$476-HK$1,667, US$61-US$213) for standard seats and 52,800 to 122,800 yen (HK$2,858-HK$6,647, US$366-US$851) for VIP tickets.While prices are comparatively cheaper for Tokyo’s dates, to get the tickets, fans will need to enter the Lawson lottery system and simply hope for the best.
The drawing for the lottery tickets already started on June 27 and will end on July 10. This may all seem pretty straightforward but submitting an application for the lottery is harder than it seems, especially for international fans planning on flying to Tokyo.
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Lottery registration for her Japan concerts
The lottery registration requires
A Lawson account
An active Japanese phone number (key to securing the application and also the hardest to acquire)
An address in Japan
An AnyPASS account (this has to be verified with the same Japanese number as your Lawson account)
A smartphone compatible with the AnyPASS app
With all of Southeast Asian Swifties flocking for Singapore dates, Japan may seem like the safer (and cheaper) option for the rest – that is if you can even manage to submit your lottery application.
