What the success of the Eras Tour and the Barbie movie reveals about the untapped female market
Anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to the cultural sphere in 2023 will be aware of the massive success brought about by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and director Greta Gerwig’s live-action Barbie movie. In decades past, many people would have scoffed at the idea of allocating so much money and attention to projects which are basically synonymous with glitter and the colour pink. But the numbers speak for themselves, and no one can deny the enormous impact of either of these things. This phenomenon has many people evaluating the fact that there seems to be a massive, mostly female, gap in the market that people have been overlooking.
It is not surprising that Swift’s Eras Tour is set to be the biggest tour in history. But how much revenue is this tour actually generating? This all-stadium tour, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is expected to eclipse Elton John’s farewell tour in terms of the gross revenue generated by tickets, merchandise and sponsorships. While John’s tour generated a whopping $853 million, it has been estimated that Swift would gross a total of $1.4 billion, according to concert data tracker Pollstar. Swift has since added even more tour dates to the 106 dates which were set at that time. The Barbie movie is also joining Swift in the Billions club. According to the film’s distributor, Warner Bros, the movie hit the billion-dollar mark only 17 days after its release. This makes Greta Gerwig the first woman to reach this milestone achievement as a solo director, reports BBC.
Both the Eras Tour and the Barbie movie are significant because of the way that they relate to girlhood. At the Eras Tour, you can find everyone from four-year-olds to 70-year-olds who know every single word to Swift’s 3-hour, 40-song set, scream-singing along the entire time. While many of her fans, or “Swifties”, have endured ridicule for liking the pop star’s music, every single stadium she has played has been completely sold out. Her music speaks to the experience of what it means to grow up as a girl. Swift released her first album in 2006 when she was 16 years old, and many of her fans have grown up alongside her and her music.
Similarly, theatres of the Barbie movie are filled with different generations of women and girls. Mothers who played with Barbies in their childhood are now taking their daughters to see the movie. The themes of the movie also focus heavily on motherhood, girlhood and feminism.
None of this is to say that Taylor Swift or the Barbie movie is without valid criticism. However, it is also difficult to deny the severe lack of media that centres around the female experience and girlhood. And where these projects do exist, they are not awarded the big budgets that their counterparts are, or they are dismissed as being unserious and unimportant. Movies in the same category as Barbie are hardly ever given the same widespread acclaim as movies like The Godfather, or anything made by Quentin Tarantino. Furthermore, Swift and other female pop stars are often disregarded, with their music being viewed as shallow and annoying.
Regardless of whether you are a supporter of Taylor Swift or plan on watching Barbie, their cultural impact cannot be denied. The importance of representation in popular media cannot be understated. People are desperate to see themselves and their experiences on-screen and onstage – and they are willing to pay for it too. The message is clear: no one puts Barbie in a corner (or in a box).
I’m Kirsten, a law student who loves writing, making spreadsheets and consuming an unhealthy amount of caffeine.
I love writing about student issues and current events.