Pop superstar Taylor Swift rocked concert stages, cinemas, local economies - and even the Earth - in 2023. Swift's Eras Tour sold out stadiums and pumped millions of dollars into each city it visited. A movie version of the show lit up theaters, racking up $250 million in ticket sales.
With 26 billion streams, Swift ranked as Spotify's most popular artist of the year. In July, the 33-year-old became the first female artist to have four albums on Billboard’s top 10 list at the same time.
"She keeps leveling up," said Colin Stutz, news director at Billboard. He ranked Swift's achievements alongside musical elites such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.
Reuters reports if Swift were a record label, Stutz said, the "Anti-Hero" singer would stand as the fourth largest in the U.S. by revenue from her touring, merchandise, streams and other sources.\
A Swift concert in Seattle caused a small earthquake. Thousands of dancing fans set off a nearby seismometer, registering the equivalent of a magnitude 2.3 quake.
For 2024, the Swift Effect will spread around the world as her tour hits Asia, Australia, Europe and Canada.
Swift did not just rule the music business. She lifted local economies, encouraged voter registrations and brought more viewers to professional football. The Eras Tour grossed more than $900 million in ticket sales, Billboard estimates. The media outlet projects that will nearly double by the end of 2024 and surpass Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour as the highest-grossing tour in history.
Each stop by Swift brought an influx of Swifties who spent money on hotels, meals and more. Celebrities and moms and dads also joined their superfan children for one of the hottest tickets of the year.
While it is hard to reliably estimate Swift's economic impact, it was notable enough for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to cite a three-night Eras run as a driver of tourist traffic.
Two shows in Denver injected $140 million into Colorado, local authorities estimate. Six nights near Los Angeles added $320 million and 3,300 jobs to the area, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy.
In sports, Swift's high-profile romance with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce brought new viewers to football games. Sales of Kelce jerseys jumped 400% in one day, online seller Fanatics said.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR 2O24
While Swift was seemingly everywhere in 2023, her Eras Tour only spanned the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. In February, it heads to Tokyo before swinging through Australia, Singapore and Europe. It wraps in Vancouver in December 2024.
Swift may be seen at February's Grammys, where her record "Midnights" will contend for album of the year.
The superstar also may release another re-recording, or two in the coming year, Stutz said. A prolific songwriter, Swift could debut new material.
"To have this level of popularity sustained, and continue to grow, is pretty remarkable," Stutz said. "It will be interesting to see how long she's able to keep that success and what it looks like as she grows and matures."
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