Sensational is not even close to an adequate word to describe Taylor Swift. She has conquered multiple genres of music essentially placing her in her own world, and successfully churned out a record breaking tour that continues to rumble through city after city. With the drop of her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, she has once again taken center stage throughout the media circuit. Swift’s accolades are apparent through her 14 Grammy wins among other various awards and yet, the true astonishment rests in her financial dominance. Through and through, Taylor is a capitalist. She has gold spilling about her feet that she has garnered from her albums, tours, movies, merchandise, and mere existence. Deservedly at that. However, who knew someone could be too successful?Â
News outlets have continually ridiculed Swift for everything from her music to her body and she has been under constant scrutiny for her romantic life. Now, after grossing approximately $1.82 billion in 2023 alone, people are targeting her for her economics. Gossip rages about her becoming a billionaire, exploiting fans, and being downright greedy. Out of the top 10 billionaires in the world, only one is a woman. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk never receive the media attention saying that they are exploiting their customers. The question remains would the same questions and criticisms be raised if Taylor Swift was a man? *cue “The Man” from Taylor herself*
Taylor Swift is a capitalist, but rightly so. She has earned her money. During the first 60 shows of The Eras Tours, Swift’s latest tour celebrating her discography, 4.35 million tickets were sold. Although the word “capitalist” can have a negative connotation, accumulating money through honest ways is befitting of the title. Swift has garnered her fortune through no nefarious routes and relied on her stardom and fandom to keep the cash flowing. One such example is rerecording her entire discography and topping the charts with each new release. Men earn money all the time and no eyes are batted. The second a successful female artist begins to gain traction, people turn to strip her of her deserved titles. If men can be capitalists, then Swift has just as much right to be on the cover of Forbes as well. She should be praised for her savvy financial skills.Â
Some claim that her stardom would not be possible without her nepo baby adjacent roots. Her father Scott was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch and boosted Taylor up by purchasing part of her previous record label, Big Machine Records. Despite a leg up in her start, Swift has continued to transform the music industry on her own merits. The Eras Tour became the most lucrative tour in history and lifted economies each time it passed through a new city.Â
She is also not without a heart. She reportedly gave $100,000 bonuses to the 50 production truckers on the Eras Tour as well as $500,000 to various employees bringing a grand total of $5.5 million in bonus money to her staff. Taylor made food bank donations throughout the tour cities like Glendale and Las Vegas. Tampa was able to produce 125,000 meals through her donation. That is just the tip of the iceberg for her giving spirit. She has fulfilled GoFundMe pages, shipped fans merchandise, given to foundations, and more. She has the funds to be generous and has not wasted a minute doing so, something she has proven through practice.
Certain fans were disgruntled and called her out for trying to exploit their love. With each new album release, she is known to have exclusive vinyl records sold. Each varies in color, has an unreleased song specific to only that record, and is available for a limited time. This is a tactic to draw people into making impulsive, fast purchases to boost merchandising sales and Taylor calls it what it is: she likes money and she is going to use clever techniques to get as flush as possible. She is not outright exploiting people since all these purchases come to fans’ own free will, but Taylor definitely knows how to play the game to maximize her profits. Again, men do it all the time, so why can’t she?
At the end of the day, it is important for the media to keep a check on capitalism, celebrities, and billionaires alike in order to act as a sort of “police force.” However, this regulation only works if it is without bias. Taylor Swift should be regarded as one of the best business masterminds of our time. Her techniques should be congratulated and studied. All in favor of Business 101 with Taylor Swift say aye. Aye!