A NEW ERA: (TAYLOR’S VERSION)
There’s something about Taylor Swift that makes oversaturation impossible. She’s been everywhere since commencing her worldwide Eras tour in 2023, yet fans are still raptly captivated by her signature crimson smile and honest-to-the-bone lyrics which read like diary entries.
The public has — quite literally — watched Swift grow up since she began her illustrious career as a shy and skinny teen, signing to her first record label at the age of 15. Her meteoric success of late feels like a triumph shared with her loyal fans, who applaud her triumphs as they would the nerdy kid in high school who blossoms into the prom queen.
And blossom she has. Swift has earned her success and quickly become the queen of superlatives. At the age of 34, she is one of the most influential musicians of the century with more than 200 million albums sold.
“You should celebrate who you are now, where you’re going, and where you’ve been.” — Taylor Swift
She’s also won a slew of awards, including 14 Grammys — with a record-breaking four for Album of the Year — and Billboard has named her one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Swift’s popularity is decidedly earth-shaking; at an Eras concert in Seattle in July 2023, dancing fans created the equivalent of a 2.3-magnitude earthquake. And Swift was just getting started.
“Taylor Swift Is Time’s Person of the Year. The magazine chose the pop star over finalists that included the Hollywood strikers, Barbie and King Charles” —The New York Times
As her Eras tour, the highest-grossing tour in music history, continues into 2024, her popularity is so huge that she has created her own economy, an impact noted by Time magazine which named her 2023’s Person of the Year for the second time — the only person ever to earn that honor twice — basing their decision on her global cultural domination.
“Swift is the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story.” — Time Magazine
Taylornomics: that’s how some have deemed Swift’s astronomical effect on the world’s economy. The phenomenon has generated over $1 billion and counting in revenues and was even noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia who estimated that by the end of her Eras tour she may well have added $5 billion to the global economy, making her GDP that of a small country.
Cities where she performs break records for the highest hotel occupancy, with the number of tourists seeking lodging, filling restaurants and flocking to local landmarks equalling or surpassing the impact of a Super Bowl for each date she plays.
“This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.” — Taylor Swift
And speaking of Super Bowls, Swift’s newfound interest in football and the Kansas City Chiefs in particular, drew 123.4 million television viewers in 2024, 8.3 million more than the previous year. It’s the “Swift Factor,” as Sports Illustrated puts it, prompting a markedly increased number of women and girls to take an interest in the sport.
Since the early days of her career, Swift has had a strong focus on philanthropy as well. In 2011 she donated $70,000 worth of books to her hometown library in Reading, Pennsylvania. Lately, she’s donated substantial sums to food banks in the cities where she performs, demonstrating her commitment to her fans, and their communities.
She’s also donated more than $5.5 million in bonuses to every member of her Eras tour team, from dancers to truckers to sound technicians.
Despite the star’s celebrated blonde tresses, blue eyes and glitzy image, her heart, always on display, may be what really attracts fans to her music Penning often gritty lyrics that delve the depths of familiar and intimate themes such as heartbreak, frustration, self-reflection and mental health, she captivates audiences with her mezzo-soprano voice and unabashed authenticity.
Her concerts are marathons, driving fans to a near -Beatles-frenzy. In Melbourne Australia, where 15 years earlier Swift had played to an audience of 900. In February 2024, Swift sang for three-and-a-half hours, offering up a tribute to her “Swifties” to the staggering 96,000 fans amassed in the stadium.
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” — Taylor Swift
Her generosity, attention to fans and, and effervescently glamorous yet down-to-earth persona is what wins hearts, and has made her a billion-dollar package ushering in a new era for women in music.
“She controls narrative not only in her work, but in her life. It used to feel like people were taking shots at her. Now it feels like she’s providing the narrative — so there aren’t any shots to be taken.” — Shonda Rhimes
