Only Eras shows in the region
Singapore denies high subsidies for Swift tour
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Taylor Swift is currently on a sold-out world tour. The singer also performs in Southeast Asia – but only in Singapore. Several countries are now accusing the state of having negotiated a monopoly through subsidies worth millions.
The government of the South Asian city-state of Singapore is fighting allegations that it only secured superstar Taylor Swift's current concerts thanks to millions in subsidies. “There has been some speculation online about the size of the grants,” Singapore's Culture Minister Edwin Tong said in Parliament. “I can say that they are not correct and nowhere near as high as suspected.”
Taylor Swift has been in Singapore with her gigantic “The Eras Tour” since the beginning of March.
(Photo: IMAGO/AAP)
“Due to business confidentiality,” Tong added, he could neither disclose the amount of the grants nor their conditions. At the same time, he emphasized that the investment in the US singer's concerts was worth it. The economic benefit to Singapore has been assessed and classified as “significant” and will “make up for the amount of the subsidy”.
Swift, who has a huge fan base around the world, is currently in Singapore for six concerts of her world tour “The Eras Tour”. All concerts are sold out and a total of around 300,000 spectators from Singapore and the entire region are expected.
Allegations from Thailand and the Philippines
Media reports had speculated that Singapore had paid several million dollars per appearance in order to be the only country in Southeast Asia to secure the show event. A report said Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, citing a concert promoter, said Singapore had offered Swift up to $3 million (approximately €2.767 million) per concert if she performed exclusively in Singapore during her tour. A lawmaker in the Philippines reportedly accused Singapore of saying the move was not something “good neighbors do.”
According to Culture Minister Tong, his government's subsidy payments may not have been a decisive factor in the decision to stage the concerts in Singapore. “Concert organizers of top artists make their own calculations and check where they want to perform and for how long,” he said, pointing to the good infrastructural conditions in Singapore. Since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of top musicians have given concerts in Singapore, including Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and the bands Coldplay and Blackpink.
