After regional coups for Gaga and Swift, Singapore should aim to be the natural, not just negotiated, concert choice

ON TUESDAY (Mar 18) morning, millions of Lady Gaga fans – or at least, millions of digital devices wielded by such fans – were in the ticket queue for her upcoming concerts in Singapore, the only Asia stop in the megastar’s Mayhem tour.

Many of these were likely fans from around the region, not least the Philippines, where the singer is known to have an enthusiastic fan base.

The fact that the Republic had secured such exclusivity, just a year after landing a South-east Asian exclusive for pop phenomenon Taylor Swift, prompted speculation about the price paid – including in Parliament.

On Mar 10, both in Parliament and in a video on Facebook, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that the exclusivity was secured through negotiations by Sports Hub manager Kallang Alive Sport Management.

In Parliament, he added that no government grants were given to secure Gaga’s upcoming four concerts in May.

This is in contrast to Swift’s six concerts in 2024, for which his ministry and the Singapore Tourism Board provided a grant – the details of which were never revealed – to ensure that Singapore would be her only stop in South-east Asia.

Commercial sense

Tong stressed that the Gaga deal was “a purely commercial arrangement”. Still, it is worth noting that Kallang Alive Sport Management is a corporate entity established by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and statutory board Sport Singapore.

Thus, even as it is reassuring to know that Singapore makes commercial sense as a megastar’s only stop in Asia, the recent coup can still be seen as part of a government strategy to develop the Republic as a regional entertainment hub.

As Tong himself put it, since the government took back control of the Sports Hub, the team has been “proactive and hustling hard” to bring events here.

Beyond drawing tourists for the concerts alone, the ultimate aim of these exclusive deals should arguably be to showcase Singapore both as a general tourism destination and an ideal concert venue – such that future exclusivity does not require extensive negotiations.

Singapore, of course, lacks the sheer market size of more populous potential stops such as the Philippines or Indonesia. Yet its connectivity allows it to draw audiences from around the region; concert organisers can be assured of sold-out shows.

And despite an old reputation for being strait-laced, the city-state still has an edge over some neighbours. For instance, in 2012, Gaga cancelled a concert in Jakarta after the local police refused to issue a permit, due to protests from religious conservatives. Her Manila stop in that same concert tour also faced religious protests.

Granted, Singapore saw its own concert cancellation – on a much smaller scale – in 2019, when Swedish black metal band Watain had its permit to perform revoked at the last minute after protests from Christian groups.

For Singapore to be seen as a world-class concert destination, it cannot afford a reputation for censorship – even while visiting artistes are required to observe local laws. Playing host to Gaga, a global queer icon, may help burnish the Republic’s image here.

Local commercial interests have been eager to embrace concert tourism. Tuesday’s ticket rush was only the first of three separate presales – for Mastercard holders, Klook users and members of Singapore Airlines’ rewards programme KrisFlyer, respectively – before general sales begin on Mar 21.

What remains is for international artistes to be just as enthusiastic about heading here.