The American singer, whose fortune is estimated at more than a billion dollars, was elected “personality of the year” on Wednesday by “Time” magazine.
In around fifteen years, Taylor Swift has gone from country star in the United States to one of the world’s most influential popstars. The American singer was designated, Wednesday December 6, personality of the year 2023 by the American magazine Time. At 33, she is “first personality in the world of the arts” to receive this prestigious title “for his success as an artist”revealed Sam Jacobs, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, whose honors are usually reserved more for political and economic leaders. “Much of what [Taylor] Swift has accomplished in 2023 is immeasurable,” he admits.
Early December, Taylor Swift has become the first living artist to simultaneously place five of her albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the benchmark sales ranking in the United States. On Spotify, she is the most listened to artist in the world in 2023 and the second most streamed female artist in France. LThe singer continues to achieve successes and records. So much so that his fortune is now estimated at more than a billion dollars, according to the American agency Bloomberg News. Because the interpreter of Shake It Off And Cruel Summer is also a formidable businesswoman, who knew how to make the most of her music.
A copyright “activist”
From the country of her beginnings to her more folk or electro-pop pieces, including her pop turn in the 2010s, Taylor Swift has won over a large audience. The magazine Billboard plebiscite “a discography that seems to be able to appeal to almost any type of listener.” A catalog including the singer has rightly undertaken to regain total control. Following the purchase of her former record company by a music industry mogul, Taylor Swift announced in 2019 the re-recording of her first six albums, of which she did not hold the rights to the original recordings.
“I think artists should own their work.”
Taylor Swiftin a television interview in 2019
“She’s an artists’ rights activist”considers Ralph Jaccodine, professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, to AFP. “She built her own brand and each time she became more successful, she took more and more control,” observed the specialist. So far, four first re-recordings have been released. October 27, the last reissue, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) which contains several of his hits like Blank Space And Style, allowed her to win the title of most listened to artist in 24 hours on Spotify. And to beat the previous record that she herself had established in 2022 with the release of her album Midnights, notes the magazine Variety.
However, the bet was far from won. “There was no guarantee that his fans would embrace the re-recorded versions and forgo the originals they already knew and loved,” insists the economic media Forbes. To ensure commercial success, each reissue is accompanied by new titles and extensive promotional campaigns, reports HuffPost. “She has a brilliant economic strategy, and she goes where other artists have never ventured”advances Carolyn Sloane, professor of economics at the University of Chicago to AFP.
In line with his battle for copyright, the star has long shunned streaming services. In 2014, believing that Spotify was not paying artists enough, it chose to remove its entire catalog from the platform. His songs were only reinstated in 2017, after a review of the streaming service’s pricing policy. In 2015, she also battled with Apple Music, which refused to pay royalties to artists during the three-month free trial of the service. Pressure from the star had pushed the Apple brand to reverse this rule.
A “Taylor Swift effect” on the economy
To increase her fortune, the singer can also count on her faithful “Swifties”, the nickname given to her fans, who travel by tens of thousands at each of his concerts. His current tour, which currently has 151 dates around the world, including six coming to France in May and June 2024, is on track to become the most lucrative in history. According to estimates, “The Eras Tour” should generate more than two billion dollars (approximately 1.8 billion euros) in revenue by its end in November 2024, details Variety. Never has an artist or group crossed this threshold. For comparison, the record is currently held by Elton John whose farewell tour “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” (2018-2023) brought in more than 910 million dollars (approximately 845 million euros).
The financial windfall that “TayTay” represents also benefits the cities where it occurs. The chairman of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve recently estimated that a “Taylor Swift effect” had stimulated the American economy in recent months. In a survey published this summer, the American central bank affirmed, for example, that hotel revenues in the city of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) had been boosted in May on the occasion of the singer’s visit. His six concerts in Los Angeles in August led to an increase of $320 million in the county’s gross domestic product, according to economist Maria Psyllou, cited by AFP.
As many economic benefits as envy some leaders. In a video published in June on YouTube, the Chile’s president called on Taylor Swift to add the country to her tour. Similar requests were also made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a message onor by the mayor of the Hungarian capital, relates Forbes.
Conquering the cinemas
Faced with the enthusiasm for her 2023-2024 tour, Taylor Swift has adapted her concerts to the screen. This is not the star’s first attempt, as she had already released a concert film in 2015 on the Apple Music platform. But with The Eras Tour, the singer saw even bigger. Lhe new feature film, which lasts almost three hours, was released on October 13 in more than 8,500 cinemas across 100 countries. Although its reception was rather mixed in France, it nevertheless exploded at the North American box office. Lth movie “gives access to his concert to people who were unable to buy a ticket”deciphers Ralph Jaccodine.
The operation once again promises to be very profitable. The film, which cost 10 to 20 million dollars according to the American media, had already exceeded 100 million dollars (near 93 million euros) in pre-sales of cinema tickets around the world a week before its release. Taylor Swift will share 57% of the proceeds from ticket sales with the AMC cinema chain, a proportion equivalent to that usually received by the studios, explains Billboard.
“No artist is as powerful today.”
Ralph Jaccodine, professor at Berklee College of Music in Bostonto AFP
The feature film will also be available on video on demand from Wednesday in around ten countries. And to encourage his fans to rent his concert film, it will be enhanced with three songs absent from the version shown in theaters. A new example of the musician’s ultra-mastered marketing strategy. In her career, Taylor Swift seems to leave nothing to chance, even going so far as to make her lyrics trademarks.
“More “lucrative” feminine ideas
His image is just as controlled. His positions in public debate are rare. His silence was also criticized during the 2016 American presidential election which pitted Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump. In 2018, she finally threw her support behind the Democrats. In September, his call on social networks to register to vote caused a spike in traffic on the Vote.org site in the hour that followed, according to American public radio. California’s Democratic governor recently ruled that his influence on the 2024 presidential campaign could be “deeply powerful”.
Her fans also see their idol as a feminist icon. Un status that she willingly maintains in her interview with Timewhere she does not hesitate to make her success a victory for the place of women in society. “What has existed since the dawn of time? A patriarchal society. What fuels a patriarchal society? Money, income streams, the economy”says the artist. “So if we look at it in the most cynical way possible, the fact that women’s ideas are becoming more lucrative means that there will be more women’s artwork being produced.”she concludes like a fine business woman.