Working in music in the entertainment industry for nearly 2 decades, Taylor Swift is now one of the top names with countless records and titles. By 2023, the female singer’s popularity will not only not decrease but will also reach the peak of her career.
This year, Taylor Swift has “rocked” music stages and movie theaters, and created huge economic growth spurts for the cities she visited. With her achievements, it is not wrong to say that Taylor Swift will completely dominate the entertainment industry in 2023.
Honored as outstanding person of the year
Recently, Taylor Swift is constantly mentioned with impressive names. Forbes has announced a list of the 100 most powerful women on the planet in 2023. Taylor Swift appears at number 5 and is the youngest person to appear on this annual list. The female singer is the only one in the top 5 who works in the entertainment industry.
Forbes identifies the current “power era” for Taylor Swift: ” Most notable is Taylor Swift’s spectacular rise from 79th place (2022) to 5th place this year. This is a sign of a new paradigm of influence. It signals change that goes beyond traditional political and corporate power, as well as beyond previous entertainment boundaries.
Taylor’s impact on the economy this year is staggering: the Eras Tour alone brought in a record $850 million and is estimated to have boosted the US economy by more than $5 billion. However, the female singer’s most profound influence lies in her ability to influence the cultural and social currents of our time, especially among young, largely female audiences. She symbolizes a new era of power, capable of influencing people and independent culture in any country .
Taylor is the most powerful female artist of 2023 (Photo: Forbes)
Taylor Swift was also honored by Time magazine as “Person of The Year” (Person of the Year 2023). She surpassed a series of other candidates such as Hollywood Strikers, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Sam Altman, Donald Trump’s prosecutors, Barbie, Russian President Vladimir Putin. , King Charles III and Jerome Powell.
Taylor on the cover of Person of the Year (Photo: Time)
This is not the first time Taylor has appeared on this special cover. Previously, in 2017, she appeared as a “Silence Breakers” – honoring women who speak out against sexual misconduct. Unlike last time, this year, the female singer appeared individually and did not share the cover with anyone. Taylor is the only entertainer to do so in the 96-year history of the Person of the Year title.
“Taylor Swift’s cultural, professional, and commercial achievements as an artist are so numerous that a review of them seems impossible,” Time writer Sam Lansky wrote. As a pop star, she was ranked alongside the likes of Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Madonna. As a musician, she has been compared to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell. As a businesswoman, it is estimated that she has built an empire worth more than $1 billion.
And as a celebrity, along with being a woman, she’s always under scrutiny for everything – from who she dates to what she wears. For a long time now, Taylor has been the center of attention and she absolutely knows how to use it. But this year, something has changed. The discussions around her were like those about politics or the weather. She has become the main character of the world.”
Time magazine called her the main character of the world in 2023 (Photo: TIME)
In addition, she topped the list of “Most Attractive People” in 2023 voted by People magazine, one of the “Most Stylish People of the Year” by the New York Times, “Artist of the Year” according to Apple Music, one of “Hollywood Winners” of 2023 according to The Hollywood Reporter,…
Taylor’s 2023 by the numbers
Every generation, a great artist will enter what is known as the peak period of their career. Everything goes perfectly and it seems like the whole world revolves around that artist. Currently this person is Taylor Swift.
Her success over the past few years has been compared to the peak of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2 and Backstreet Boys. Legendary Billy Joel once commented that “Honestly, Taylor Swift has shown the ability to work persistently, hard and with dedication. Her music products easily touch the hearts of fans with their profound lyrics, just like how The Beatles conquered the world. In my opinion, only the phenomenon of Beatlemania (The Beatles fan craze in the 1960s) can be compared to her current success.”
Taylor’s success has been compared to legends
2023 is a great year for Taylor Swift. This is shown through numbers that do not lie.
Taylor released two re-recorded albums this year. Both Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) achieved impressive sales. In particular, the album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) opened with 1.653 million copies sold, becoming the biggest debut of her career in the United States.
By the end of November, vocalist Cruel Summer had sold 15 million albums in the US alone – this is the largest number an artist has ever achieved in a year. Her global sales are expected to be about 40 million copies, breaking the record for largest sales in the 21st century set by the female singer herself in 2022.
Taylor reached a new peak in sales despite only releasing a re-recorded album
On streaming platforms – where male artists are often more prominent, Taylor is gradually regaining her position among women. She was the first female artist to surpass 100 million monthly listeners (currently 109 million) and averages 100 million streams per day on Spotify. With nearly 30 billion streams in 2023, this is the largest number of streams in a year that an artist has ever achieved in history.
She is also the most listened to artist on Apple Music and Amazon Music. The singer born in 1989 easily pocketed 100 million USD (2,423 billion VND) with Spotify alone and about 200 million USD (4,846 billion VND) if other platforms are included.
Taylor ranked first on music listening platforms this year (Photo: Spotify)
The Eras Tour global tour started in March this year, lasts until the end of 2024 and has a total of 151 shows. For 3 and a half hours, the audience is taken on a journey spanning 17 years of music with more than 45 songs from 10 different eras of Taylor Swift.
According to Pollstar, Eras Tour is estimated to earn a record amount of 1.04 billion USD (25 trillion VND) with 4.35 million tickets sold after 60 shows in 2023. This is the first tour to reach the milestone of 1 billion USD in historical revenue. Taylor is expected to receive $370 million from ticket and related merchandise sales.
5.7 billion USD (138 trillion VND) is the estimated number that The Eras Tour brings to the US economy, created from the spending power of fans. Eras Tour’s revenue could reach 4.1 billion USD (99 trillion VND), higher than the annual economic output of 42 countries combined. Thanks to this success, employees working for the female singer were awarded a total of 55 million USD. The tour has created tens of thousands of additional jobs for workers. In just 6 concerts in California, 3,300 new jobs were added.
The Eras Tour is the most successful tour in history
Another interesting thing about this tour: The Eras Tour music night in Seattle once created a seismic force equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake when Taylor was performing the song Shake It Off .
The film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, set during the above tour, was also released in theaters worldwide and garnered many impressive achievements. With a production budget of 10-20 million USD, the film has earned 179 million USD domestically and a total of more than 250 million USD globally. The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing concert film in history. This number will increase when the film returns to theaters in the near future and debuts in the billion-dollar Chinese market in January 2024.
In addition, she also received many nominations and awards at prestigious awards ceremonies. Specifically, the female singer received 6 Grammy nominations, 10 BBMAs, 9 VMAs and 4 EMAs. As of November 2023, Taylor has broken a total of 111 Guinness World Records.
With the above successes, Taylor’s net worth has nearly doubled to 1.1 billion USD (26 trillion VND). According to Forbes, she is the only artist to do this with revenue mainly from her own music activities. Taylor’s discography is estimated to be worth $500 million and is one of the most expensive discography in history.
Her assets nearly doubled in just 1 year
Behind the success
It’s difficult to give exact reasons that helped Taylor Swift reach the peak in the entertainment industry this year. However, it can be said that she has met “favorable times and favorable people” in 2023.
Taylor Swift has been famous for more than 17 years. It’s undeniable that she is one of the most powerful and successful stars. Taylor’s current dominance, or what we can call Swiftmania, may be partly due to the lack of “real competitors” in the entertainment industry. From there, an event or news about Taylor Swift will create a gravitational force like a supermassive black hole, attracting the audience’s attention.
When everyone around seemed to be talking about Taylor, many people’s fear of being left behind surfaced. Even casual fans or even non-fans were caught up in the confusing excitement, “What is going on? Did I miss something? Everyone is participating in the discussion, should I follow it? No one wants to be left out, thus leading to increased interest and coverage of Taylor.
2023 is a favorable time for Taylor to achieve new successes in her career
This is not her fault. “Whoever holds the flag will wave it” – when the opportunity comes at the right time, you must seize it.
With the unexpected success of the Midnights album and re-recorded albums, Taylor announced the launch of a global tour. The Eras Tour is a very special tour – something we likely won’t see for many years to come. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that The Eras Tour was the catalyst for Taylor’s success this year. The tour brought her name and influence to a new level.
During The Eras Tour, Taylor performed songs from all 10 albums of her career. She also uses color strategies to promote each “era”. Each of her albums seems to have a new look, a new sound and unique “aesthetics”. This not only refreshes her personal brand but also creates a strong connection between the past and present, thereby attracting interest and interaction from both old and new fans. If you are a person who likes “The old Taylor”, The Eras Tour is still the place for you, where you can review sweet memories of your youth.
The Eras Tour has a great contribution to the female singer’s success this year
Taylor Swift once said , “If you keep focused on your work and don’t let other people distract you, one day you will reach your destination. Then, looking around, you will realize that it was you and the people who love you who helped you get to this position. And it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.”
Taylor really did. Unlike other stars, the Blank Space singer does not go in the direction of expanding his business activities into areas such as fashion or cosmetics. She mainly focuses on performing and producing music. She is a talented musician and performer. She takes control of her career, carefully builds her personal image and oversees marketing activities herself. Even though she is on tour, Taylor is still diligently composing and releasing new music – more than 50 songs have been released in 2023 alone.
Taylor’s enthusiasm and respect for his career are expressed through the values that Eras Tour brings to the audience: 3 hours of performances, 45 songs and impressive, carefully invested stages. She always shows her best on stage, from the time her hair is straight and smooth until her hair is frizzy from sweat.
Sharing about The Eras Tour, Taylor said that she spent 6 months practicing continuously until everything was imprinted in her mind with the hope that she could make the audience happy: “The fans had to work I worked very hard to buy tickets, I wanted to do a longer concert than they could think of because this would make me feel happy and satisfied when I left the stadium.” She added: “After every show, I don’t leave my bed. Except when I get food, I take it and bring it back to bed to eat… Every time I walk, my feet make a cracking sound because I have to perform in high-heeled boots.”
Taylor always puts her heart and soul into her career
Behind Taylor Swift is a close team that has been operating effectively for many years, called 13 Management. The top employees in the company are her family, including father Scott Swift, mother Andrea Swift and younger brother Austin Swift. The singer’s family has always silently supported her career.
Taylor Swift also owns a large and loyal fan community – Swifties. The singer born in 1989 is known as an artist who has a close relationship with her fans. She actively interacts with Swifties from online to real life. It can be said that fan support is the greatest achievement or success that Taylor has achieved.
Swifties are always by the singer’s side and ready to defend her against criticism. Many people joke that when you confront Taylor, you are confronting millions of “passionate and vindictive” fans. No one wants to bear the wrath of Swifties, which means no one dares to touch their “queen”.
Family is always a strong fulcrum for the female singer
Fans have always supported Taylor’s career
According to Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs, Taylor is like a source of positive light in a year where the world has many dark spaces of war and division. If nothing changes, “Taylor mania” will be with us for at least another year. Everyone will want to “enjoy the fame” from her success, unintentionally contributing to increasing the female artist’s reach to the public.
Taylor Swift shares about her current level of success: “I am extremely grateful for every moment of being cautiously in my current position, because it was once taken away from me. It feels like my breakthrough moment in my career happened at the age of 33. And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to face what was coming my way… This was my time. The point where I feel most proud and happiest is also the time when I am most creatively satisfied. I feel freer than ever.”
To be as strong as she is today, Taylor has gone through many ups and downs in life