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Behind the scenes of Taylor Swift’s concert in Paris
This Thursday, May 9, 2024, Taylor Swift returned to perform in Paris, in front of more than 40,000 people. A concert that she is preparing to repeat three times, until Sunday. On this occasion, the Paris La Défense Arena team shows us behind the scenes of its tour.
A book that could shake up the publishing world
We can predict it before its release: the book The Eras Tour will be a phenomenal commercial success, as was the tour and the associated film. Once again, the pop star decided to avoid the already established routes of the industry – she thus avoided going through a publishing house. Yes: the book The Eras Tour will be self-published. And yes, the consequences of this gesture could be major for the publishing world. Taylor Swift is not the first: we can no longer count the celebrities, whether from politics, music or cinema, who embark on the great literary adventure. Whether or not these personalities write their works, the advantages are considerable: refining their brand image, re-appropriating their story, developing an additional source of income and finally accessing new professional opportunities. Need examples? Take the former First Lady Michelle Obama and his work Become (Fayard, 2018), which took him from conference to conference all over the world, or The woman in me of Britney Spears (JC Lattès, 2023), memoirs through which the pop star looked back on the thirteen years of abuse experienced under the tutelage of her father. On the publishing houses’ side, publishing books by stars is no less advantageous – hence the astronomical sums that some are prepared to spend for this. Thus, the agreement signed between Britney Spears and the American publishing house Simon & Schuster would amount, according to several media, to 15 million dollars (the book sold more than a million copies during its first week of sales).
What is the book The Eras Tour would shake up this already well-oiled system? Remember: in 2023 Taylor Swift chose to bypass the major distributors in favor of AMC, the American cinema chain, to distribute the recording of his tour. A way to choose the ticket price for the screening yourself, and recover up to 57% of the revenue – which would normally go to the distribution companies. Quickly, his gesture was reproduced by another major pop star: Beyoncéwhose film Renaissance World Tour was released on screens in December 2023 – two months later Taylor Swift. If the American enjoys similar success thanks to her self-published book, the consequences could be dire. To date, the publishing world is based on a profit-sharing model that is far from advantageous for authors – even the most famous. What do these publishing houses bring to their pens? Thoughtful marketing strategies, large-scale distribution, communication campaigns spread over several months – among others. Nothing but Taylor Swift cannot already afford it, she whose fortune today exceeds a billion dollars, and who can also boast of an immense power of influence, thanks to which her book will sell – without any partner. It remains to be seen whether this gesture will inspire other celebrities to follow in the pop star’s footsteps, thus forcing publishing houses to favor new strategies to seduce (and sign) new writers.
