It might seem about now that everyone is a fan of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
After all, Swift’s concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, quickly became the highest-grossing domestic release of a concert movie ever upon its release last week, which makes complete sense, because the in-person version of her tour is on pace to be the most lucrative in American history. And — we know you probably know — but there’s also the Travis Kelce hubbub and the upcoming release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The “Cruel Summer” songstress is everywhere, even Saturday Night Live.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, a superstar herself who notably supported Swift at her Los Angeles movie premiere, announced this month that a film capturing her latest record-breaking shows will arrive in theaters Dec. 1. Her supporters are already snapping up tickets for Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé.
And yet, though the Yahoos here have been known to jam out to Swift and we definitely love Bey, many Americans wouldn’t call themselves fans of either of the women. In a new poll from Yahoo/YouGov, 23% of Americans said they are fans of Swift and the same number, 23%, said they were fans of Beyoncé. Just 12% said they were fans of both.
Upon further questioning, 10% of respondents said they planned to see Swift’s movie, up from 4% of those who said they had managed to snag tickets to see her show live. For Beyoncé, the numbers were identical: 10% of those polled planned to see her film, while 4% had seen it in person.
Of the 1,675 U.S. adults polled, just 5% planned to see both concert movies.
However, there are plenty of people who will go see them, maybe because they want to recapture the excitement of seeing their favorites onstage or because movie tickets are a car payment or two cheaper. Both women notably produced their own wildly successful movies rather than going through a studio, which means they’re taking home more profit than they would be.
Not that that’s a problem for either of them. Both Swift and Beyoncé are two of the music industry’s biggest stars, who are being credited with helping to bring people back to movie theaters following the pandemic.
They got the beat. Should they?
They’re such big stars, in fact, that Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain based on circulation, last month was seeking reporters to cover each of them solely from USA Today and the Nashville Tennessean. The reporters would look at each of their significant impact on culture.
Lark-Marie Anton, chief communications officer at Gannett, told Yahoo Entertainment, “Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter are artists and businesswomen whose work have tremendous economic and societal significance. As Beyoncé and Taylor continue to influence multiple industries and our culture, they are shaping a generation. Our role at the USA Today Network is to cover the newsmakers who impact lives across the nation in the communities we serve and provide our audience the content they crave.”
While the beats might seem unimportant at first glance, especially at a time when newsrooms face serious job cuts, the job descriptions explained that they’re anything but. For example, the one for Beyoncé read: “The international superstar and icon’s impact is felt across generations. She has been a force in everything from how the country views race to how women think about their partners.”
The Yahoo/YouGov poll respondents had a different take on the subject, though. When asked whether major news organizations hiring reporters to cover Taylor Swift and Beyoncé is a “bad idea,” “good idea” or “not sure,” 40% said it was bad. While 38% said they were unsure and only 22% thought it was a good idea.
Either way, we’ll be reading about them — and their concert films — for years to come.
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The Yahoo Entertainment survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,675 U.S. adults interviewed online from Oct. 12 to 16, 2023. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to Nov. 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 27% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.7%.
