Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour Tour’ Strategy
Why the biggest artist of the year is playing small venues.
On December 10th, Olivia Rodrigo quickly sold out all of the venues for her first tour. The Spring 2022 tour is for her record-breaking debut album ‘Sour’. The tickets were released and completely sold out within the same year her debut single ‘Driver’s License’ was released.
The ticket sale sparked frustration among her fans because of the decision to book only amphitheaters - with most holding less than 5,000 people. For one show, Twitter users said there were 40,000 fans in a queue for a 3,500 capacity venue. The demand is so high for an Olivia Rodrigo concert because of how quickly she gained A-list musician status.
Many argue that she could be easily selling out arenas, like Taylor Swift and other pop stars, but I think this is a good career move from a marketing standpoint. With social media and music recording being so all-encompassing these days and with the lack of live performances over the past nearly 2 years, people forget that being a popular recording artist does not equate to being a successful and experienced performer. Olivia grew in popularity quickly from streaming services and through social media, not from live performances. Not to mention that she considers herself a songwriter and not as much a performer. Olivia has had nearly no live performance experience and was quickly expected to do shows like SNL and the Brit Awards where some criticized her performances. She has shown immense improvement in live performance, but she still has a lot of room for improvement.
Olivia will have the opportunity to grow over the small shows, as people often forget that amphitheater and arena tours are completely different productions. Large arena shows probably could have sold out, but she may not be able to put on the best show possible. This way she will be able to put on a good show for small groups of people, building up her reputation as a performer and encouraging more fans to want to see her the next time around. She can first build the intimate fan experience that most artists start their performing career with.
She said in an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe that she didn’t want to skip any steps, even though she likely could, considering her 7 Grammy nominations. Many argue that since Olivia’s rise to fame did not follow a typical trajectory, she can bypass the typical tour trajectory and move to arenas. I believe that doing this would be risky and could lead to quick burnout of her career and popularity, which we see among many artists who rise to fame quickly. Her career could decline just as quickly as it started if large arena shows do not meet people’s expectations.
The small ‘Sour Tour’ builds the hype for Olivia’s next tour and the potential to exceed the level of selling out large venues or stadiums. Hopefully the demand for her concerts will remain as high as it has been.