In the age of inflation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly, getting concert tickets has never been more difficult. You can wait for hours in a line just to apply for a presale code. Then, you could be put on the waitlist and lose your chance to buy tickets entirely. Alternatively, someone can get a presale code, wait for hours, and still run out of tickets before it is their turn to buy them. Resellers are no better — secondhand companies will upcharge ticket prices to hundreds and thousands of dollars. All of these new barriers make it difficult for most people to see their favorite artists in concert.
2023 was known for some pretty amazing tours, including the Eras Tour, Renaissance World Tour, Love on Tour, After Hours Til the Dawn, and many more. These concerts were all notorious for high ticket prices and difficult experiences buying tickets. This led to so many lifelong fans being left out of the first major concert experience many of these artists have had in years since the pandemic. Since then, both the Eras Tour, which is still yet to complete international dates, and the Renaissance Tour, which wrapped up last month, have announced films. The Renaissance Film is yet to come out, but the Eras tour film has already shown the impact of the concert film, and the Renaissance tour documentary is sure to do the same.
When the Eras Tour film was released earlier this year (October 13, iykyk), it became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, and the highest-grossing concert film of all time, opening with 123.7 million dollars grossed internationally. This was before the tour opened in other parts of the world, particularly in many Asian countries, on November 4th. In addition to this, the fans made this an experience, just like the concert itself. Fans dressed up, traded friendship bracelets, and sang and danced the whole film. For fans who did not have the opportunity to attend the concert, the experience made them feel as if they weren’t missing out. In addition to this, movie tickets for the Eras film, at least in the US, were standardized to around $20 for adult tickets across all theaters. While this may be more expensive than the price of movie tickets in many small-town theaters, it is pretty comparable to movie ticket prices in cities, and it is significantly less expensive than a ticket to the concert itself. For every person who had financial barriers to attending the Eras Tour, the movie brought the tour to every person in every town, and the fans themselves made it a wonderful experience. In addition to this, everyone with accessibility issues had a safe chance to experience the tour. For example, in my local theater, an older man who required a scooter for mobility was at the Eras Tour film and having the time of his life. It was probably not feasible for him to go to the actual concert, as it would require travel and extra accommodations, but thanks to the movie, he was able to enjoy it like everyone else.
Apart from the benefits that concert films have for fans, they also have tremendous economic impacts, especially for the theater industry. With the rise of streaming service deals, and due to the impacts of the pandemic, theaters have been struggling. The Eras tour itself put over a billion dollars back into the American economy and helped the tourist industry in the tour cities return to pre-COVID levels. Swift’s concert film quickly became the biggest hit of the fall box office, continuing the momentum that the summer releases brought. This, along with the fact that Swift partnered directly with a movie theater, rather than going through the studios, helped theaters benefit greatly from the release of her film. If more big artists released concert films, especially in this matter, it would likely have beneficial impacts on the economy, while bringing the joy of the concert experience to fans worldwide!
The reaction of fans to the Eras Tour movie shows how important concert films are in today’s society. People have always loved live music, but it is increasingly less accessible as the years go on and as artists get bigger. A concert film makes these experiences accessible for every individual who doesn’t have the means to see their favorite artists live. Instead of feeling left out from the incredible night of live music, they are brought into this small, fun showing. And when the fans make it an experience, like the Eras Tour film was, it’s almost as if you are transported to the concert itself. While making a concert film is understandably not feasible, financially, for smaller artists, for large artists like Swift and Beyonce, this has become standard. Both artists have films for almost all of their major concerts and they have popularized it in the music industry. For large artists with the means to make a concert film, this should be a must at this point. The benefits of a concert film for major artists completely outweigh the costs. The Eras Tour movie made at least six times more money than its approximately 20-million-dollar budget, and this was just on opening weekend. In addition to this, the joy the movie brought to fans should make this idea a no-brainer. Just because there could be a film, it does not mean people will stop going to concerts; experiencing the music live is a different experience in and of itself. But for every fan who does not have the means, the concert film gives them a chance to connect with their favorite artists. I give concert films a 10/10.
