Taylor Swift Singapore exclusive deal criticised by Philippines official

A lawmaker in the Philippines has criticised Singapore and Taylor Swift over their exclusive deal that makes the island country her only ‘Eras‘ tour stop in Southeast Asia.

Last month, Thailand’s prime minister claimed that Singapore reportedly agreed on a deal with the pop star that means she “can’t perform in any other countries in Southeast Asia”.

Srettha Thavisin has said that promoter AEG informed him of an agreement that means Swift will not perform any other dates of her ‘Eras‘ tour in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises 10 countries, according to Sky News.

Swift is set to perform six shows at Singapore’s National Stadium from March 2-9, the only Southeast Asian location on the Asia leg of her tour.

Now, Philippines representative Joey Salceda asked the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to formally protest against the grant (per The Straits Times). “[This] isn’t what good neighbours do. Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt,” he said.

Though Salceda recognised that the “policy worked” for Singapore, he said the Philippines needed to improve its infrastructure to be able to host global superstars. “In the long run, though, we need to step up our game,” he added.

Salceda’s critiscim of Singapore’s deal with Swift follows Thailand’s complains after enquiring why the tour would not be stopping in their country.

Thavisin, Thailand’s prime minister, who was speaking at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok, claimed that he was told the Singapore government offered between $2million to $3million (£1.6million to £2.4million) per show in exchange for exclusivity.

“The Singapore government is astute,” Srettha said, adding: “If she came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organise it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand. Even though we would have to subsidise at least 500m baht, it would be worth it.

“If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand,” he continued in a keynote speech. “Concerts can generate added value for the economy.”

Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour are projected to raise a total of $5.7billion, which would be enough to send everybody in the US $20.

The estimate, cited by the Washington Post, came from Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College in Massachusetts. The numbers suggest that Swift’s income from the tour would be larger than the annual GDP of 42 countries in the world.

The record-breaking tour had a significant impact on the US economy too, with ticket sales, merchandising and travel all contributing to the overall total. The software company QuestionPro has calculated that each show raised around $93million for the local economy.

“Swift and her ‘Eras’ tour have redefined entertainment economics,” said Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at the ticket retailer SeatGeek, in an interview with Washington Post.

Her ‘Eras’ tour made history by becoming the first tour to gross $1billion (£796million).

Swift has now set the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time. The pop star hit the ten-digit threshold after 60 shows and eight months of being on the road.

The magazine also claimed that Swift sold a “mind-boggling 4.3million tickets at an average ticket price of $238.95”, and calculated that the singer grossed roughly $17.3million for an average show for the North American leg of her tour.

In other news, AMC Theatres’ CEO recently revealed that the increased revenue is “literally all” from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé‘s concert films.