Taylor Swift is continuing her lucrative legacy with the release of her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” out Friday at midnight.
Swift commands a fiercely dedicated fan base — one that helps her break streaming records, crashes websites, and sells out major stadiums across the world. Her latest album is expected to draw that same burning enthusiasm from fans, yet again.
It’ll be an extension of her legacy not just as a pop superstar, but also as a businessperson.
Swift proved just how much economic power she wields in 2023. Tickets for her career-defining “Eras” tour sold out almost immediately, fans splurged on merchandise while attending her concerts, the film of her tour broke box office records in its opening weekend, and Swift herself became a billionaire along the way.
Swift achieved remarkable feats that would be impressive for any typical business leader running a Fortune 500 company. She provided an excellent case study of understanding your customers and giving them what they want.
“She’s a powerhouse, business-wise,” Armen Shaomian, an associate professor of sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina, told CNN.
Here’s a look at Swift’s booming track record as a businessperson.
The commercially successful ‘Eras’ tour
The Eras tour was massively successful in 2023 and it’ll stretch through the end of this year. StubHub said Swift’s tour “was the biggest” in the ticket company’s two-decade history, outpacing other successful acts in terms of ticket sales.
“Taylor Swift wasn’t just performing; she was rewriting the playbook, leaving a trail of glitter, economic stimuli and friendship bracelets wherever she went,” the company’s year-end report said.
Swift herself hasn’t released official sales figures, but some estimates show the tour is already raking in 10 figures. Pollstar estimated that the tour’s first 60 shows grossed more than $1 billion.
An analysis shared exclusively with CNN last year projected that Swift’s shows in North America alone could bring in more than $2 billion in revenue, making it the highest-grossing tour ever.
Swift’s gravitational pull was so strong that fans were aggressively bidding up ticket prices on the re-sale market. SeatGeek previously told CNN the average resale price of an “Eras” ticket was $1,607, up 741% from her “Reputation” tour in 2018, for which the average resale ticket price was $191.