Do Lady Gaga’s Singapore shows signal end to ticket-buying mayhem, slow demand?

Demand for resale tickets for Lady Gaga’s Mayhem concerts is lukewarm, compared with the Taylor Swift and Coldplay shows, analysts say

Singapore’s concert boom may be cooling with reports of underwhelming resale prices for Lady Gaga’s shows, as tourism experts point to geopolitical uncertainty and softer demand putting the brakes on the city state’s runaway success as an live entertainment hub after it hosted megastars Taylor Swift and Coldplay last year.

Ahead of Swift’s Singapore-only concerts in March last year, fans from around the region and beyond competed feverishly to catch the American singer during her Eras Tour, with about 300,000 tickets for all her six shows sold out.

In contrast, some resellers had advertised prices for Lady Gaga’s Asia-exclusive Mayhem shows in Singapore that were far below ticket value, according to media reports.

Coldplay had earlier broken Singapore’s record for the most number of tickets sold by an artist in a single day, with more than 200,000 tickets snapped up for four of the British rock band’s concerts in January last year. All 300,000 tickets for Coldplay’s six concerts in the city state were sold out after two shows were added in response to overwhelming demand.

Lady Gaga’s return to Singapore after more than a decade initially drew feverish anticipation, with over 2 million fans reportedly queuing online for presale tickets in March.

Originally billed as a one-night-only event on May 18 at the 55,000-seat National Stadium – the same venue for the concerts by Swift and Coldplay – strong initial sales prompted organisers to add three more Lady Gaga shows on May 19, May 21 and May 24.

A check by This Week in Asia at the time of publication showed that tickets for Category 12 and Category 13 seats for Lady Gaga’s show on Saturday, priced at $268 and $218, respectively, were still available.

This Week in Asia has reached out to Live Nation Singapore, which oversees tickets sales for Lady Gaga’s Singapore concerts, for comment on demand for the shows.

What was widely expected to be a frenzy among Lady Gaga fans for tickets and hotel rooms in Singapore failed to pan out as attested by the slower resale activities and modest accommodation demand, tourism analysts told This Week in Asia.

They cited a slowdown in consumer demand over the past year arising from geopolitical and economic uncertainties.

“Like most ‘fevers’, they fade or diminish over time. The fan base, popularity, intensity and recency of hits all contribute to this ‘fever’ and willingness to travel to attend a concert,” said Kevin Cheong, an adjunct lecturer at the Singapore Management University’s business school.

“However, given the current economic and financial climate and uncertainty, some might think twice about spending on luxury indulgences and focus on essential travel,” Cheong said.

Analysts agreed that the recent sweeping tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump had worsened global economic sentiment and dampened consumer spending, including for entertainment and travel, even though Washington and Beijing took steps earlier this month to reduce their trade tensions by slashing import levies.

Benjamin Cassim, a senior lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic’s business school, said: “This has led to a more cautious approach by consumers globally, and curbed spending on non-essentials, including entertainment-based activities. The demand for Lady Gaga concerts may have been impacted by the cautious sentiment.”

Some fans acknowledged the buzz surrounding the Lady Gaga shows felt relatively more subdued. Prashain, a 28-year-old Singaporean who works in customer tech support, said anticipation for the US singer’s concerts was not as intense as what he had experienced ahead of Swift’s Eras Tour.

“I didn’t manage to go to Taylor Swift because I couldn’t get tickets – that was crazy. But for Lady Gaga, I thought it was going to be crazy because when I was in line, it was like [a queue number of] 100,000 or 600,000 and I managed to get it,” he said.

The success of Swift’s concerts in Singapore grabbed international headlines and sparked envy elsewhere in Southeast Asia, with the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia accusing the city state of signing exclusive concert deals and urging their own governments to adopt similar measures.

The concerts by Swift and Coldplay were estimated to have generated tourism receipts of between S$350 million (US$258 million) and S$450 million (US$330 million), according to estimates by private-sector analysts, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in April last year.

The success of Swift’s Singapore shows might have been fuelled by her earlier stops in the region, according to analysts.

“The build-up to the Lady Gaga shows in Singapore was probably not as strong in the region compared to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which had already gained significant momentum through shows in Japan and Australia before coming to Singapore,” said Joshua Loh, the course chair of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s tourism and resort management programme.

Though ticket prices for the Singapore leg of Lady Gaga’s Mayhem tour were comparable with those for Swift and Coldplay, Loh observed that hotel room rates in May did not surge as much as during the previous mega concerts last year.

Echoing Loh’s sentiments, Cassim said: “By the time the Eras Tour reached Singapore, it had already been running for nearly a year. It had garnered a lot of attention and media coverage.”

Timing also mattered as the concerts by Swift and Coldplay were riding on the strong rebound in consumer demand after the pandemic, he added.

Calling 2024 a “watershed year” for the tourism and entertainment industries, Cassim said: “The pandemic period created pent-up demand for activities that contributed to an individual’s emotional, physical, mental and spiritual well-being.”

With regional consumers becoming more discerning, they would explore more travel destinations such as Thailand or Bali, SMU’s Cheong said: “If Singapore is targeting the regional tourists, their own domestic holiday destinations are also compelling options and competing with Singapore.”

But the challenging geopolitical and economic climate is the furthest thing from the minds of Lady Gaga fans like 21-year-old Singaporean Ethan Kan.

“I’ve always felt like I can do anything when I’m listening to her music, so seeing her was a must. And obviously I was ecstatic when I found out she was coming, and that it aligned with my summer dates,” said Kan, a self-described superfan of the singer behind hits like “Shallow” and “Bad Romance”.

“[It was] S$370 for a Category 1 ticket after eight years of waiting. I think it was well worth it.”