Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have made business deals to put concert films for their Eras and Renaissance tours into movie theaters. That’s good business.
Beyoncé is one of one — but when it comes to moving the economic needle, she’s one of perhaps two pop stars.
Queen Bey and Taylor Swift have proven their ability to drive ticket, merch, and hotel sales this summer with their Renaissance and Eras tours; the former could generate an estimated $4.5 billion in economic impact, while the latter could generate $5 billion, according to research firm QuestionPro.
Now, the artists are going to prove their power on the big screen.
In August, Swift announced that an Eras concert film will be released October 13. For the film, $26 million worth of tickets were sold in the first 24 hours, shattering previous records. After much speculation, on Sunday night Beyoncé announced her own concert film: The Renaissance tour’s film is set to debut December 1.
It’s something that only the biggest of the big draws can do — and that’s why it’s so impressive. “Not every music star can pull this off,” Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst, told Insider. “Taylor Swift ignited the spark. If there is anyone who has fans around the world on that order of magnitude, it would be Beyoncé.”
It’s a shrewd move from the two musicians. While there are a number of entertainers who who would make a “best of business” list — billionaire Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Kim Kardashian, and George Clooney to name a few — Swift and Beyoncé have surely joined the ranks.
In the past, both Swift and Beyoncé have sold concert films to Netflix. The streamer aired Swift’s “Reputation” in 2018 and reportedly paid $20 million for Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” in 2019.
While it’s unknown if the streamer would still pay that kind of money for concerts — Netflix has been reining in its content spend — it doesn’t really matter, as the pop stars stand to make a lot more money this time around.
