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Singapore defends an agreement that guaranteed Taylor Swift would not perform in neighboring countries.
Ashok Kumar/tas24 | Getty Images Entertainment | fake images
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday that a behind-closed-door deal for Taylor Swift to perform in the city-state ensured she would not perform in other Southeast Asian countries during her Eras tour.
- The statement is the city-state’s first confirmation that the deal for Swift to perform in Singapore contained exclusivity terms that prevented her from performing in other countries.
- “It was certainly a bold and astute strategic move for Singapore,” said Singapore-based communications director Selena Oh.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday that a behind-closed-door deal for Taylor Swift to perform in the city-state ensured she would not perform in other Southeast Asian countries during her Eras tour.
“(Our) agencies negotiated an agreement with her to come to Singapore and perform and make Singapore their only stop in Southeast Asia,” he told a news conference at a regional summit in Melbourne. according to Reuters.
The statement is the city-state’s first confirmation that the deal for Swift to perform in Singapore contained exclusivity terms that prevented her from performing in other countries.
On Monday, Edwin Tong, Singapore’s Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, refused to answer this question twice during a parliamentary session.
He also did not disclose the size of the grant to Swift, but stated that the amount “is not as high as is speculated.”
“For reasons of business confidentiality, we cannot disclose the specific size of the grant or the conditions of the grant,” he said.
The issue gained prominence on February 16 when Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin alleged that Singapore gave Swift’s team between $2 million and $3 million per show in exchange for not performing in other regional cities, according to Bangkok Post.
The payment of a subsidy to Swift’s promoters has become a diplomatic thorn in Singapore, drawing criticism from neighboring countries for negotiating a deal that excluded them from the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives, Joey Salceda, stated that this “is not what good neighbors do” and added that these types of agreements are contrary to ASEAN principles, according to local media.
Lee on Tuesday disputed this characterization, saying: “It has turned out to be a very successful agreement. I don’t see it as anything hostile.”
Taylor Swift performs at the National Stadium in Singapore on March 2, 2024. Singapore and Tokyo are the only stops Swift makes in Asia during her Eras world tour.
Ashok Kumar/tas24 | Getty Images Entertainment | fake images
Swift’s six concerts in Singapore are expected to generate between $260 million and $372 million in the island’s economy, assuming 70% of concert attendees come from abroad.
During her first three concerts in Singapore, Swift asked her audience to applaud: first the locals and then those who had traveled from abroad to attend the show. In all cases, the applause from the travelers was much louder.
Average daily rates at hotels in Singapore rose from $256 to $400 this week, with bookings up to 92% from travelers coming from Malaysia, 111% from Thailand and 189% from Indonesia, according to travel software company RateGain.
Swift’s tour before Eras, her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, included just one stop in Asia: Tokyo.
But their previous tours (Speak Now, Red and 1989) included stops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
The Singapore deal has sparked debate over whether it is simply a smart deal or greed.
“It was certainly a bold and astute strategic move for Singapore,” said Singapore-based communications director Selena Oh.
But others say a winner-take-all mentality hurts regional tourism industries, which are still recovering from the pandemic, as well as fans who can’t afford the high travel prices to see Swift in person.
“It’s a bit selfish having ONLY Singapore in mind and not the wider region. Clearly (Singapore authorities) don’t care much about anyone but themselves,” said Christian de Boer, managing director of a hotel based in Singapore. Cambodia.
“You have to do your calculations and determine what is best for Singapore and Singaporeans.”
Edwin Tong
Singapore Minister for Culture, Community and Youth
Some compare the deal to the way cities compete to host major sporting events, such as the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
“Did anyone protest when F1 decided to come to Singapore? Does anyone pretend there were no monetary or material considerations?” said Irene Hoe, a Singapore-based publishing consultant.
Concerts, in which artists travel from city to city to reach their fans, have not always been so competitive.
But that may be changing as experience-based tourism turns concerts into gigantic money generators, with fans willing to travel across continents to see their favorite artists.
During Monday’s parliamentary session, Singaporean politician Gerald Giam asked Tong if the Singapore government negotiated to make the island Taylor Swift’s only “white space” in Southeast Asia, referencing her smash hit of the same name. .
“And did you realize that some of our neighbors may perceive this as a bad thing?” she asked.
Tong replied: “You have to do your math and figure out what’s in Singapore and Singaporeans.”‘ best interest.”