It’s Taylor Swift’s world, and we’re all just living in it. In an economy racked with corporate greed-induced hyperinflation and a population evermore saddled with student loan debt, younger generations are apparently more interested in shelling out for experiences over at-home tech luxuries—and Best Buy’s CEO says the business is taking a hit.
“’Funflation,’ Taylor Swift… those experiences are really where people are willing to pay,” said Best Buy CEO Corie Barry at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit last week. “[B]igger ticket items in electronics are not right now where people are interested.”
Barry’s use of the term “funflation” refers to a trend in which consumers are willing to shell out on fun experiences over at-home products like Best Buy’s TVs and computers. Take a look at the cultural phenomenon of Barbenheimer, in which the dual release of two of this summer’s largest blockbusters spawned an expectation of dressing up in an exuberant costume, buying two tickets, and sitting in a theater for six hours.
While consumers are interested in making up for time lost during the pandemic lockdowns, companies like Best Buy are apparently taking a hit. Best Buy revenue fell nearly $US1 billion in Q2 year-over-year with sales at stores open for at least 14 months also fell by 6.2% year-over-year, according to Insider.
Barry is specifically referring to Swift, who embarked on her massive The Eras Tour in March before finishing the (first) U.S. leg in August. Just a few short weeks later, Swift announced that we’d all get a chance to relive/experience the production in movie theatres as the concert film would be screening in cinemas all across the world.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened last Friday—bumping The Exorcist: Believer from the spooky Friday the 13th spot—and the numbers are in. Swift’s concert film raked in $US95 million in one weekend, becoming the highest-opening concert film ever, according to AMC Entertainment, and becoming the highest-grossing film released domestically with just one weekend’s worth of ticket sales.
While tickets for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie were only $US19.89—a nod to Swift’s upcoming re-recorded album with the same numerology— actual concert tickets were much harder to obtain. Ticketmaster crashed as Swifties flocked to the tour’s presale last November, but while Ticketmaster outages were understandably enraging for fans, many Swifties were also dismayed by the excessive ticket prices. These prices did not dissuade the Swifties enough to forego purchasing tickets, however, with an average Eras Tour concertgoer also potentially buying lodging and possibly a plane ticket, an expense sheet that likely tallied well over $US1,000.
Across the board, the average ticket to live entertainment has risen 14% since 2019 to a total of $US79.42, according to Pitchfork, with the outlet claiming the ticket prices have risen faster than consumer goods under inflation.