How does it feel to brag about earning millions of dollars and getting everything you want without being labeled a snake? Taylor Swift can answer that question, self-formulated in her song The Man, with just a glance at her checking account. Her earnings in 2023 could well be the envy of any Silicon Valley CEO. Billboard estimates that the singer, named TIME magazine's Person of the Year, has grossed nearly $1.82 billion between music sales and royalties, concert tickets for her world tour, official merchandise and movie tickets for her concert-film The Eras Tour through December 7.
In other words, Taylor Swift doubles the global revenues of the Latin music industry in 2022 and triples those of the US Latin music industry, which at the end of September 2023 broke a record by surpassing $630 million, according to a preliminary report by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).
While this milestone might seem impressive at first glance, this figure represents the amount generated from just a few parts of Swift's business portfolio, not the total amount of money she has pocketed this year. Since this financial information isn't publicly available, music royalties have been calculated based on data analyzed by Luminate, concert ticket sales using information provided by ticket vendors, and merchandise revenue based on various public reports.
Many elements have therefore been left out of the calculations, due to the inaccessibility of the data. These include so-called 'synchronisation royalties' for the use of his music in commercials, films and TV series, sponsorships, merchandising sales from his website, as well as other licensing agreements.
Expenditure on tickets and products accounted for the majority of Swift's business this year. The Eras Tour generated approximately $900 million in ticket sales in America alone, with revenue figures from her European dates yet to be confirmed in 2024. But Swift's true economic impact goes beyond all of that, and can even be read in geopolitical terms.
Many experts speak of Swift's business as the centre of an economic hub that expands in concentric circles (sort of like a detonation) around the insatiable demand of Swifties and their willingness to travel to any destination to experience concerts to the fullest, paying for VIP experiences if necessary.
The tour's boost to Argentina's battered economy, which saw an injection of foreign money into the country, was a prime example. It is also estimated that the total economic impact of The Eras Tour will exceed $10 billion in the US: fans spent an average of $1,300 on travel, hotel stays, and food across the 20-city line-up.
Swift also released re-recordings of her hit albums Speak Now and 1989 (Taylor's version) this year, earning an estimated $536 million in royalties, purchases (tracks, digital albums, CDs, LPs and cassettes) and radio play as of last week. In addition, the Pennsylvania singer-songwriter has established herself as the most played artist of the year on Spotify, once again placing songs like Cruel Summer (originally released in 2019 as a single from her album Lover) at the top of charts like the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks.
In summary, Swift's compositions generated approximately $75 million in 2023 through streaming and radio airplay. On top of that, the movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour grossed $250 million internationally, debuting at number 1 in the US, making it the highest grossing music film in history.
Moreover, from Wednesday 13 December, the movie has been available for streaming rentals and exclusive content, which will allow Swift to earn even more money due to the licensing rights.