Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour: Managing a Billion-Dollar Symphony

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour began on March 17, 2023, and quickly gained popularity, becoming the highest-grossing tour of all time and generating over US$1 billion. The Eras Tour was designed to immerse the audience through each of the eras of Swift’s life as she transitioned through 10 unique sets spanning over three hours. The Eras Tour was a big step up from Swift’s previous tours, incorporating extravagant costumes, elaborate audiovisuals, and a complex stage design. The show featured a giant catwalk, moving platforms, and several different sets for each scene, enabling the audience to feel connected to each era. Behind the scenes, Swift’s production crew worked to ensure the show ran smoothly, with one team backstage, two teams on the floor managing the show, and a third team under the stage, managing costume changes and performer placement. The Eras Tour had seen unprecedented demand, with millions of fans trying to secure show tickets. On November 17, 2022, Swift’s team faced scrutiny around its partnership with Ticketmaster, as the platform became overwhelmed by 14 million fans seeking tickets and an unprecedented number of bot attacks.<br><br>For Swift and her team, questions arose: How could the team continue to bring joy to fans, potentially attract new audiences, ensure smooth operations and sales for future performances, and further strengthen Swift’s brand, popularity, and reputation? Which other markets should Swift visit? How could the team sustain and even elevate the success of the show? How was success defined at a global and societal level? What came next?

This case has been designed for use in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on project management, marketing, and strategy. This case should be taught toward the end of the course as a comprehensive case that students can apply project analysis tools to.<br><br>The case enables students to analyze the impact of The Eras Tour on the concert industry through its unprecedented level of demand and media attention. Students will learn how effective project management is employed on a large scale, simultaneously overseeing numerous moving parts, and understand that even successful projects must overcome hurdles, putting them in a position to recommend the best future course of action. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>recognize the unique complexity of designing and delivering cultural products;</li><li>identify the key success factors of this record-setting global tour;</li><li>learn about the challenges and opportunities of ticket sales and content distribution; and</li><li>recognize the managerial, operational, and logistic aspects found in creative industries.</li></ul>

• art and music
• media and entertainment
• cultural product
• creative industry
• project management