Gen Z and millennials powered a massive live-events comeback that will carry into more concerts and travel next year

• 2023 was a huge year for live events, with the Eras Tour and Renaissance Tour reshaping the economy.
• StubHub released a report that shows female artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce outearned last year's top artists.

It's Taylor Swift's and Beyonce's world, and we're all just living in it.

A new report from StubHub shows what probably anyone who has left their house this year — or scrolled through their phones — knows: There was a voracious appetite to see artists, especially female ones, in 2023, and it's a trend that's just getting started. You can chalk some of that up to just how much Gen Zers and millennials are throwing themselves into live events.

The StubHub report finds that 60% of Gen Zers surveyed in partnership with YouGov, who polled 2,468 American adults in June, would skip major life events if they could be front row for their favorite artist's live performance. That includes things like a new family member being born, the wedding of a friend, or a pre-planned vacation.

And those younger concertgoers are willing to put in time and effort for those concerts beyond just duking it out for tickets: Gen Zers and millennials are 2.5 times more likely than Gen Xers to buy themed outfits for live events, per StubHub, and also twice as likely to share live experiences over video calls to friends and family.

One only has to look at the myriad TikTok live streams of the Eras Tour to see just how much these generations want to share the events they're at. As StubHub puts it, Gen Z and millennials are "leaving nothing at the door" when it comes to live events.

Gen Z and millennials are driving the experience economy, which is expected to grow over the next decade. According to a June report from Experian, 63% of Gen Z and 59% of millennials said they would prefer spending money on "life experiences," which ranges from concerts to travel, rather than invest in their retirement. Another survey from Eventbrite determined that more than 78% of millennials prefer experiences over products. And in a third survey by Deloitte, higher prices for travel didn't deter spending — around 47% of Gen Z and 69% of Gen X took at least one trip last summer, even amid record-high credit card debt.

It's not just concerts seeing huge boosts. International travel spiked in 2023, while Disney pulled in record revenue last year for its theme parks. The demand for experiences is so large that between 2022 and 2032, the US economy is projected to add around 351,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector, ranging from chefs to amusement park attendants.

To be sure, many Americans, including HENRYs — or high earners, not rich yet — are being cautious about their spending. Inflation is still well above the Federal Reserve's target at 3.2%, and it's impacting the price of "fun" purchases such as concert tickets.

Per the October Consumer Price Index, prices for admissions increased 10.9% year-over-year — and 25.1% for sporting events over the same period. The average cost of admission to movies, theaters, and concerts rose 4.5% year-over-year.

Still, Americans are reaching into those wallets even at those higher price points. The Bureau of Economic Analysis further found that admissions to spectator events, including live entertainment and sports games, totaled $99.3 billion at an annualized rate in third quarter 2023, up from $77.1 billion in the third quarter last year.

Diehard fans are certainly willing to spend: Swifties previously told Business Insider about how much they were putting down to see the Eras Tour. Some were spending thousands of dollars — up to $20,000 — to take "Swiftcations," and see the singer multiple times (and, of course, buy merch).

"I hadn't taken a good vacation since pre-COVID. I hadn't taken a trip at all since 2019 that was more than going to visit family for a weekend," Bridget Doyle, a 28-year-old Swiftie who road tripped to Nashville from New York for the Eras Tour, previously told BI. Her total costs, excluding food in Nashville, came to around $1,500.

According to StubHub, collectively, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Adele, and Pink didn't just outsell the top ten artists of last year — they outsold them threefold. Meanwhile, women's sports were also massively on the rise; the 2023 WNBA season saw ticket sales nearly double from the previous year, with a record number of tickets sales for the finals. The NWSL saw a similar boost in popularity, according to StubHub.

Don't expect any of that to fade in 2024, as Swift kicks off the European leg of her Eras Tour and artists like Bad Bunny and Olivia Rodrigo head out on tour. And artists are noticing the lengths that their fans are willing to go to to be at those events, perhaps creating a self-sustaining cycle.

"They had to work really hard to get the tickets," Swift said in her Time person-of-the-year interview. "I wanted to play a show that was longer than they ever thought it would be, because that makes me feel good leaving the stadium."

Are you a Gen Zer or millennial prioritizing live events in your spending? Contact these reporters at jkaplan@insider.com and nsheidlower@insider.com.