How pop stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are embracing the social media concert

When Diana Nada arrived at the airport in Stockholm last week, a customs agent asked her what the purpose of her trip was. The Toronto marketing professional gave the most honest answer she could muster.

"Well, there's really only one," Nada recalled saying. "It's to see Beyoncé."

The pop star's Renaissance tour kicked off in the Swedish city on Wednesday, her first solo concert tour since 2016. As with many artists who have large followings, every detail from that Beyoncé concert was posted for the world to see and dissect to their heart's desire.

"If I could be there first one to see it and witness everything, I wouldn't have to get spoiled on the Internet for months to come if I had to wait til the Toronto show in July," Nada said, noting that concert "spoilers" are increasingly difficult to avoid on TikTok, Twitter and other platforms.

"I just think that the way that social media has kind of blown up and the way that content is consumed nowadays, if you're not looking for it, it's going to be fed to you."

Social media, especially TikTok, is changing the way we consume live concerts — and your favourite artists know it. 

From Beyoncé to Taylor Swift, to Dua Lipa and BTS, pop stars are approaching their concerts with social media audiences in mind, engaging fans who aren't there in person but who are intently watching concert footage from their phones.

Some people might notice that their social media feeds — regardless of your affinity for artists like Beyonce or Swift — have become inundated with footage, photos and commentary about their concerts.

"We're kidding ourselves if we don't think that these artists take advantage of these three-hour opportunities to sort of do a brand offensive," said Sydney Urbanek, a culture critic in Toronto who writes the pop star-centric newsletter Mononym Mythology.

"I think at this point in 2023, stars are very aware that when they go out on stage, the people there right in the room with them are in some ways the least of their concerns," she added. "There's much more of a live feed into other people's phones and homes than there previously was."

Taylor Swift embarked on her Eras tour in March, a concert concept designed to revisit her entire discography as well as her past public personas (red lipstick, side swept bangs and a guitar, anyone?). Thanks to its self-referential nature, the tour has become something of a social media phenomenon itself. 

Swift's infamously dedicated fan base has been razor-focused on finding "Easter eggs" that the singer seems to be leaving during each show, sometimes by wearing t-shirts that hint at upcoming album releases, or pairing thematically related songs together during her surprise two-song acoustic set, which features different tracks in each city.

"It's definitely [keeping] with Taylor's affinity for, you know, having her fans play games and crack codes all the time," Urbanek observed.

Cassie Leonhardt, a 33-year-old Taylor Swift fan from Vancouver, went to the opening night concert of the Eras tour in Glendale, Calif. She said that all of the social media activity around the tour has boosted curiosity in Swift's performances beyond her most passionate fans.