[Asia Report] Aftermath of Singapore's Exclusive Concert: 'Swift Diplomacy'

150 Shows on Swift’s World Tour
Ticket Sales Alone Reach 1 Trillion KRW for the Event of the Century
Six Shows Concentrated in Singapore for Asia
Fans in Seoul, Hong Kong, and Bangkok Voice Protests
ASEAN Countries Claim “Intervention by Singapore Government”
National Strategy Emerges to Build a Cultural Hub

Taylor Swift. AP Yonhap News

‘Swiftnomics’ is a coined term referring to the 'economic effect' generated like a snowball by the global pop star Taylor Swift (34). Her world tour, ‘The Eras Tour,’ which started in the spring of last year after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue for two years until the end of this year, is grand in scale, with ticket sales for about 150 performances amounting to approximately 1 trillion KRW and an economic impact on the U.S. economy alone reaching 5 trillion KRW. It is an event of such magnitude that it surpasses our imagination to simply call it a concert by a single singer.

This tour, her sixth overseas tour, is held in major cities across five continents including the United States, but in Asia, only two cities?Tokyo, Japan (February) and Singapore (March)?were included. In Japan, there are only two shows, while Singapore was allocated a remarkable six shows, showing a clear concentration. Naturally, fans from various Asian countries clamored for the chance to see the world-renowned star’s performances. It is said that protests from fans in Seoul, as well as Hong Kong, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur, were particularly strong.

Especially, dissatisfaction was high among fans in the Philippines and Thailand, where Taylor Swift has the largest fanbases. Bangkok is a world-class tourist destination, and in the past, Filipino fans consoled themselves with nearby Hong Kong concerts, but this time even Hong Kong was excluded. As a result, enthusiastic fans from East Asia had no choice but to gather at the Singapore concert venue, purchasing expensive tickets (R seats costing 500,000 KRW), and paying additionally for costly flight tickets and hotels.

In fact, about 300,000 Taylor Swift fans visited Singapore last week, and statistics show that the economic effect they generated exceeded 500 billion KRW, resulting in a 0.2% increase in GDP. Singapore, which has been seeking a turnaround in the tourism industry after the economic slump caused by COVID-19, is beaming with joy thanks to this ‘Swiftnomics.’ During the concert period, demand surged by more than 30% in sectors such as aviation, hotels, and food and beverage. On the other hand, neighboring ASEAN countries have raised suspicions that this exclusive concert was due to “intervention by the Singapore government.”

Fans who visited Taylor Swift's world tour concert venue in Singapore on the 2nd. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

◆Rapid Growth in Sports and Entertainment= As the controversy grew, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted on the 7th, “Both parties agreed to hold this concert exclusively in Southeast Asia in Singapore.” In other words, Singapore’s government secured the exclusive rights by preemptively purchasing and even paying penalties, effectively taking away concert slots from other Southeast Asian cities. However, he emphasized that this act was merely an extension of a legitimate contract and not a hostile act against neighboring countries. ASEAN countries were outraged by this news, and voices calling for countermeasures grew louder.

Recently, the hottest countries in the so-called exhibition (MICE) industry, including sports and entertainment, are Qatar in the Middle East and Singapore in Southeast Asia. Qatar has succeeded in changing its national image through consecutive hosting of the World Cup and Asian Cup, gaining an advantage over nearby Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Singapore, on the other hand, has risen as the top financial and service hub in East Asia following Hong Kong’s decline. It has completely shed its traditional image as a dull transportation city focused on ports and aviation by utilizing cutting-edge content. In the past, Singapore heavily invested in sports, focusing on the F1 car racing event, but now it has greatly expanded into cultural content. In fact, including just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore was the city most frequently visited by Korean K-pop stars.

In January this year, the world-famous British band Coldplay held six Asian concerts, four of which were in Singapore. In April, Korean mega-star IU will hold two massive concerts in a 50,000-seat venue. Through a series of large-scale, state-of-the-art concerts, Singapore has succeeded in conveying the image that “the world’s best performances are held safely and conveniently in Singapore.” The decision to pay penalties to secure exclusive contracts for neighboring countries’ performances is based on the judgment that it is a profitable business.

◆Cultural Products as Strategic Weapons= As a result, the backlash caused by exclusive regional concert contracts is snowballing. It is still ambiguous whether this will escalate into a diplomatic issue. There are more cooperative agendas between governments than disputes over private sector concert contracts. Therefore, Thailand’s Prime Minister Thavisin laughed off the situation, saying, “If we had known this was possible, we would have brought this show to Thailand even if it was difficult.” At the same time, there are predictions that Thailand, aiming to be ASEAN’s number one in tourism, will retaliate because Singapore broke the code of honor first.

However, the emotional divide is deepening. The Singapore government and citizens have reached a level of cultural pride and superiority regarding the six Taylor Swift concerts. The city-state resembled a festival during the concert period. Meanwhile, ASEAN countries’ media continue to report discomfort with Singapore’s excessive investment and aggressive attitude that looks down on neighboring countries. In reality, Singapore’s per capita income (80,000 USD) is more than four times higher than that of other ASEAN countries.

There is also an interpretation that Singapore accepted the excessive proposal because Taylor Swift is a global star from the United States. It is said that the concert’s safety and profitability were prioritized without carefully considering fans from multiple countries. If a K-pop concert had made such a decision, it is said that anti-Korean and anti-artist sentiments would have increased throughout Southeast Asia.

Singapore’s Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Edwin Tong, told local media, “We approached this from the perspective of building Singapore as a cultural hub with strategic value through these large-scale performances, in addition to the broad economic effects.” In conclusion, this incident confirmed that cultural products can be used as a strategic weapon by a country. This is a lesson that Korean entertainment companies and the government, which possess the global cultural product ‘K-pop,’ should cautiously take to heart. Focusing only on money could lead to serious trouble.

Jung Ho-jae, Visiting Scholar at Seoul National University Asia Center

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.