Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. whopping
    • ex. He won a whopping prize after winning first place in the contest.
  2. approximately
    • ex. She will receive the package in approximately two to three days.
  3. merch
    • ex. The shop sells official merch, such as jackets and hats, from different international artists.
  4. an adaptation
    • ex. There are plans to make a movie adaptation of the popular novel.
  5. of all time
    • ex. His performance is said to be one of the best of all time.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has become the first tour to reach the billion-dollar mark. This is based on Pollstar’s year-end charts. This tour was also the No. 1 tour both worldwide and in North America. It earned a whopping $1.04 billion (about ¥148 billion) with 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 tour dates.

In addition to ticket sales, Pollstar found out that Swift also earned approximately $200 million (about ¥28 billion) in merch sales. The film adaptation of her tour, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” is now considered the highest-earning concert film of all time. It was reported that it earned approximately $250 million (about ¥35 billion). Pollstar predicts that 2024 will also be significant to Swift. It is expected that Eras Tour will reach $1 billion again.

Following Swift’s tour in second place is Beyoncé. Third place is Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Fourth place is Coldplay and fifth is Harry Styles. 2023 was a good year for concert ticket sales. The top 100 tours of the year increased concert ticket sales by 46% from last year.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Singers and Concerts

  • Who do you think is the greatest singer/band of all time? Why? Discuss.
  • Do you usually attend concerts of your favorite performers? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Which do you prefer, going to a concert or watching a film adaptation of a concert? Why? Discuss.

Earning Over $1 Billion

  • Who is the most popular local singer/artist in your country today? Imagine he/she becomes popular internationally. Do you think he/she can possibly earn over $1 billion? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • According to the article, 2023 was a good year for concert ticket sales with a 46% increase from last year. Why do you think this is so? Discuss.
  • Aside from Taylor Swift, who else do you think can earn over $1 billion (ex. a popular actor, a bestselling book author)? Why? Discuss.