Are celebrity endorsements losing influence? Big-name musicians fail to sway 2024 US election

Ten days after Donald Trump clinched the 2024 US presidential election, his public detractors such as Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Bruce Springsteen have been sharing their disappointment.

But while political power shifts — and Trump fills his administration with controversial figures including Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr — there’s a growing question on the sidelines: Are big-name musicians losing their sway over public opinion and culture?

It could be said that arguably the most influential artists in the world publicly endorsed Kamala Harris in her 2024 presidential campaign.

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Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez, Cher, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, and Ariana Grande — just to name a few — all came forward to galvanise their fans against Trump.

Taylor Swift’s support alone resulted in a surge in voter registration. In fact, in the 24 hours following her endorsement post on 10 September 2024, almost 406,000 users visited vote.gov through Swift’s link, a huge spike in traffic compared to the average daily visits of around 30,000 in the week before the post.

Elsewhere, Jon Bon Jovi released a new video via Instagram for his song The People’s House on October 11 with the caption, “The truth matters. And the truth is on election day I’ll be voting for @KamalaHarris and @TimWalz because I believe in the power of we, not of me.” The clip was released as a collaborative post with Kamala Harris.

Bruce Springsteen also posted a video endorsing Harris with the caption: “(...) perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, spiritually and emotionally divided as it does than at this moment. It doesn’t have to be this way”.

Ariana Grande took to Instagram Stories in late October to tell her 376 million Instagram followers how she voted; tagging in Kamala Harris and overlaying the post with Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar’s single Freedom, Harris’ official presidential campaign song.

However, despite the public displays of support — from rally attendances, onstage speeches during concerts, and a swathe of social media posts to over a billion followers — the Democrats had their worst loss in decades.

When Kamala Harris lost the election to Donald Trump on 6 November, she also lost Taylor Swift’s home state of Pennsylvania.

So, are big-name musicians losing their power and influence? Are celebrity endorsements in general losing their weight?

According to researcher, author, speaker, songwriter and music producer Dr Jeff Crabtree, the music community is currently wondering about the real impact of “star power” when it comes to political endorsements.

“It has been accepted wisdom that a slew of high-profile celebrity endorsements is a potent driver for electoral success,” Crabtree told 7News.

“Kamala Harris attracted endorsements from arguably the most powerful names in music, and yet she lost.”

Crabtree said love for an artist does not inevitably translate into uniformly shared values in a fan base.

“Superfans will be true believers and completely share values and beliefs in a kind of magnetic attraction, but not all are superfans,” he said. “Some will simply love the music and the experience of being swept away at a concert but will be able to separate their political choices from those of their favourite artists.”

Crabtree believes another factor could be tied to the financial windfall that comes with stardom and how different that is to their fans’ lives.

“Beyonce and Taylor Swift, like many other high-powered artists, live a life that is unimaginable to most of us. Occasionally we catch a paparazzi glimpse of holidays in Lake Como or on yachts in the Mediterranean.

“There have been recent stories of legacy artists like Bruce Springsteen selling their publishing catalogue for massive sums. It’s possible many fans can disregard a political endorsement because their own lives are so different.”

Another possibility of waning influence on the election, according to Crabtree, is misogyny.

“Let’s not forget misogyny,” he said. “Powerful influential women in music endorsed a female candidate. We have come a long way in battling this monster, but I wonder if we have not come far enough.”