I’ve already purchased three vinyl records for an album I haven’t heard a single note of.
It’s not unusual to preorder music—especially from a major artist like Taylor Swift, who typically puts together monthslong album rollouts to drum up interest in—and presales of—her forthcoming records. (Her surprise 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore were exceptions to this.)
But three vinyls is a bit excessive, even for a longtime fan like myself. At $35 a pop (plus shipping, since they were released at different times and purchased from different stores), I’ve spent close to $100 for the same 13-track record. The only difference between the three is the color of the vinyl.
But three is tame compared with fans who say they’ve purchased as many as 22 copies of the same upcoming record. And at least I have a record player so I can actually hear the music.
I could be on the hook for a lot more: As of this writing, Swift’s merch website is stocked with five vinyl variants of Swift’s forthcoming Midnights album (four of which form a clock when placed in a square; but the clock mechanics are $49 extra), four T-shirts, four sweaters costing between $65 to $75, deluxe CDs, a $35 bejeweled bracelet, a $75 duffel bag, and a “moonstone blue edition” cassette, among other products. It’s easy for an eager fan to drop a lot of money on merch—and that doesn’t even include the cost of tickets to a concert, should (fingers crossed!) Swift formally announce a world tour soon.
No one is forcing devoted fans to shell out for T-shirts or tickets or vinyl records. Still, Anna, a 29-year-old Swiftie who asked not to be identified by her real name because Swift’s fan base can be toxic online, says she has felt pressure to buy more and more merch each time there is something new, particularly when it’s presented as a limited edition.
But she’s learned over the years that a major artist’s merch is rarely as limited as it’s made out to be. That knowledge helped her set boundaries with what she buys.
“Nobody needs this $200-plus clock,” she says. “You’re not less of a fan because you don’t have a special edition vinyl.”
Why it costs so much to be a superfan
In Swift’s—and other artists’—defense, it’s tough to make a living as a musician in 2022.
As streaming has cut into the profits from their actual music sales, touring has become an increasingly important part of a musician’s income. That’s caused ticket prices to surge in recent years, particularly for popular artists such as Swift, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, BTS, and Harry Styles, among others, says Jesse Lawrence, founder of TicketIQ, a no-fee secondary ticket market, and FanIQ, a platform that helps sports teams sell tickets directly to consumers.
While the average ticket for a North American tour has increased by about $20 over the past 10 years, according to Pollstar, Lawrence says that doesn’t tell the full story, given how many types of live events there are. For big artists, the prices have climbed dramatically. And it’s not just Gen Z and millennials breaking the bank to see their favorite musicians.
Take Bruce Springsteen: When he announced his latest tour, fans complained when some ticket prices surpassed $5,000. In fact, the average price of a secondary market ticket for his concert has climbed from $290 for 2012’s Wrecking Ball Tour to $1,195 for his 2023 tour, according to TicketIQ.
There are a number of reasons for this. First, there’s the base price of the ticket, which goes toward renting out the venue, marketing, and production costs. That’s all gotten more expensive post-pandemic, with so much demand from artists trying to book the same venues to recoup money they lost when they couldn’t tour, Lawrence says.
And then there are the fees. With promoters making less on the actual concert ticket sales as artists take a bigger cut, they tack on the fees—service fees, processing fees—to recoup some of their losses.
And now ticket brokers like Ticketmaster are employing dynamic pricing. With dynamic pricing, the cost of a ticket automatically changes based on demand, meaning fans could be charged different prices for the same seat minute to minute. It’s supposed to ensure that the tickets aren’t snapped up by bots and resold on the secondary market at inflated prices; in practice, it means some fans are paying hundreds—or even thousands—to see their favorite artist. They’re just paying Ticketmaster more instead of a secondary seller.
The same strategy is used by sports teams, another area where fans feel nickel-and-dimed at every turn.
On top of that, companies like Ticketmaster have the capabilities to optimize pricing in a way that was impossible even five years ago, says Lawrence.
“Concerts were not pricing aisle seats at a premium to middle seats. Now an aisle seat is 10% more than a seat in the middle of the section,” he says. “It’s a scalpel. Promoters are really getting granular.”
All of this puts more money directly into the pockets of your favorite artists—but it has been jarring for fans. And while they direct a lot of their ire at companies like Ticketmaster, when prices spiral out of control, it’s the owner of the tickets—the musical artist, the football team—that actually sets the prices, says Lawrence.
“For consumers, that sticker shock is hitting them,” says Lawrence. “But the reality is because of the bots…real fans weren’t getting access to those tickets anyway” before dynamic pricing.
And don’t forget about inflation. Between rising gas, hotel, crew wage, and transportation prices, it’s costing artists a lot more to tour right now (so much so that many have canceled legs of their tours because it just isn’t financially feasible for them)—money they need to make up somewhere. Enter high-priced merch.
“It’s market-based demand, and market-based demand in 2022 is at a premium,” Lawrence says. “It’s a perfect storm.”
Merch sales depend on the relationship between artist and fan
So it costs more to go to many events. And then there’s all of the add-ons.
There’s no industrywide data on merch sales, but it was a savior for many artists, particularly indie artists, during the lockdown phase of the pandemic, industry insiders say.
This isn’t unique to musicians: Fans are going all in on merch for their favorite comedians, TV and movies, sports teams, and even podcasts.
While an artist of Swift’s stature doesn’t necessarily rely on the sweatshirts and T-shirts she sells to make ends meet, the vinyl variants and deluxe CDs help her drum up more album sales, pushing her to the top of the charts. Die-hard fans who want her—or Harry Styles, or whoever their favorite artist is—to succeed and keep smashing records are all too happy to buy more copies to help; vinyl collectors feel compelled to acquire all of the colors of each album. A translucent orange variant of Reputation—the most coveted of Swift’s discography—can go for over $1,000 on resell platforms like eBay or Discogs.
And it doesn’t always matter what the merch is—for beloved artists, fans will buy anything. This summer, when Beyoncé announced the release of her Renaissance record, members of the Bey Hive quickly sold out a $39.99 “mystery box,” which they eventually learned included a T-shirt and copy of the CD.
“I rarely do anything before I have coffee—but this morning the ancestors told me to check IG, and I saw there was some new Beyoncé drop,” 29-year-old Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a Brooklyn-based poet and political consultant, told Buzzfeed News. “I went to her website and bought ‘box one’ with a swiftness that would’ve knocked a wig off.”
Other artists have turned their fandom into a lifestyle brand. Think Travis Scott’s streetwear-inspired merch and Cactus Jack line. A fan may buy a T-shirt displaying the face of Taylor Swift or Harry Styles to wear to a concert, but a Travis Scott stan will wear the fashion line and sneaker collaboration to school every day.
Even Spotify is getting in on the act, sending an email reading, “Celebrate being a top fan with merch” to artists’ top streamers. The platform does this via its Fans First initiative, which “uses Spotify data to identify and reward the artist’s most passionate fans with an exclusive offer”—often, ticket sales or merch.
“Fandom is about more than just listening to music; for fans, it means interacting with their favorite artists, nerding out with fellow diehards, singing along to every lyric at shows (whether IRL or virtually), and of course, showing off their dedication with merch,” reads the Spotify for Artists site.
“Selling merch isn’t just about commerce, it’s about connection, too.”
Anna, the longtime Swift fan, says there is a certain pressure in Swiftie communities to show off the so-called hauls of records and apparel purchased. That pressure doesn’t come directly from Swift herself—but there is the hope among some fans that spending the most on merch will endear you to the artist herself. In the past, she has hosted Secret Sessions where superfans were invited into her home to listen to her albums before they officially drop. Some Swifties worry if they don’t publicly post about all the merch they buy, they’ll miss an invite (which has usually been extended to the most vocal and supportive fans—not necessarily those who spend the most—on social media sites like Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram).
“Part of it is fans encouraging other fans, but another part is to show off to others and to Taylor Swift and her team, ‘Hey, look what a big fan I am,’” says Anna.
Swift is far from the only artist whose fans do this. A subreddit for Harry Styles includes a weekly thread where fans discuss his merch, which is similarly priced to Swift’s: $40 for a “Love on Tour” T-shirt, $60 for a long-sleeve tee. The merch is then shown off in haul videos on TikTok and other platforms—alongside other videos of fans strutting around in their new concert attire.
And with users of TikTok, YouTube, and other social media sites rewarding the most extreme fan behavior, the costs can add up for those who want to show how devoted they are—and maybe grab a moment of recognition from the artists they love.
“[Swift] isn’t as active on social media as she used to be,” says Anna. “So that’s one of the few ways left to get her attention these days.”
For me, three vinyls is more than enough with this album drop—I’ll add them to my collection of her past records (anyone selling an orange Rep vinyl…hit me up). Until she announces her next tour, of course.
