Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Tuesday that a closed-door deal for Taylor Swift to perform within the city-state ensured she wouldn’t perform in other Southeast Asian countries during her Eras tour.
“(Our) agencies negotiated an arrangement along with her to return to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia,” he said at a press conference at a regional summit in Melbourne, in keeping with Reuters.
The statement is the primary confirmation from the city-state that the agreement for Swift to perform in Singapore contained exclusivity terms stopping her from performing in other countries.
On Monday, Edwin Tong, Singapore’s minister for culture, community and youth, declined to reply this query twice during a parliamentary session.
He also didn’t reveal the scale of the grant to Swift, but stated the quantity is “not anywhere as high as speculated.”
“Because of business confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal the particular size of the grant or the conditions of the grant,” he said.
The difficulty gained prominence on Feb. 16 when Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin alleged Singapore gave Swift’s team between $2 million and $3 million per show, in exchange for not performing in other regional cities, in keeping with The Bangkok Post. Â
A diplomatic thorn
The payment of a grant to Swift’s promoters has change into a diplomatic thorn for Singapore, prompting criticism from neighboring countries for brokering a deal that shut them out from the highest-grossing tour of all time. Â
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives Joey Salceda said this “is not what good neighbors do” and added that such agreements are contrary to ASEAN principles, in keeping with local media.
Lee on Tuesday disputed this characterization, saying, “It has turned out to be a really successful arrangement. I do not see that as being unfriendly.”
Taylor Swift performs at Singapore’s National Stadium on March 2, 2024. Singapore and Tokyo are the one stops Swift is making in Asia during her global Eras tour.
Ashok Kumar/tas24 | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Swift’s six concert events in Singapore are expected to pump between $260 million and $372 million into the island’s economy, assuming 70% of concertgoers come from overseas.
During her first three concert events in Singapore, Swift asked her audience to applaud — first the locals, then those that had traveled from overseas to return to the show. In every instance, the applause of travelers was far louder.
Average day by day rates at hotels in Singapore rose from $256 to $400 this week, with bookings up 92% from travelers coming from Malaysia, 111% from Thailand and 189% from Indonesia, in keeping with the travel software company RateGain.
Swift’s tour prior to Eras, her Status Stadium Tour in 2018, included just one stop in Asia — Tokyo.
But her previous tours — Speak Now, Red and 1989 tours — included stops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.
Shrewd or selfish?
Singapore’s agreement has sparked a debate on whether that is just smart dealmaking or greed. Â
“It actually was a daring, shrewd strategic move for Singapore,” said Selena Oh, a Singapore-based communications director.
But others say a winner-takes-all mentality harms regional tourism industries, that are still recovering from the pandemic, in addition to fans who cannot afford the steep travel prices to see Swift in person. Â
“Barely selfish with ONLY Singapore in mind and never the broader region. Clearly [Singapore authorities] aren’t very caring for anyone other [than] themselves,” said Christian de Boer, a Cambodia-based hotel managing director.
You’ve to make your calculations and work out what’s in Singapore and Singaporeans’ best interest.”
Edwin Tong
Singapore Minister for Culture, Community and Youth
Some liken the deal to how cities vie to host major sports events, corresponding to the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
“Did anyone protest when F1 decided to return to Singapore? Â Is anyone pretending that there have been no monetary or other material considerations?” said Irene Hoe, a Singapore-based editorial consultant.
Concert events — which see artists traveling from city to city to succeed in their fans — have not at all times been this competitive.
But that could be changing as experience-led tourism pushes concert events into money-making juggernauts, with fans willing to travel across continents to see their favorite artists.
A ‘mean’ deal?
During Monday’s Parliamentary session, Singaporean politician Gerald Giam asked Tong whether the Singapore government negotiated to make the island Taylor Swift’s only “blank space” in Southeast Asia, referencing her smash hit of the identical name.
“And did it realize that this may increasingly be perceived by a few of our neighbors as being mean?” he asked.
Tong replied, “You’ve to make your calculations and work out what’s in Singapore and Singaporeans‘ best interest.”
