Recently, Forbes announced that Taylor Swift was officially listed as a billionaire with a net worth of $1.6 billion. This event marked a new record for Taylor: she was the first female musician to become a billionaire. More specifically, this title comes entirely from her musical activities.

When she started her singing career, Taylor’s parents were her strong support in administrative and business aspects. Taylor has since honed her business skills to operate sustainably in the industry. Reporter Barbara Walters once called Taylor “the music industry”. So how did Taylor become a billionaire at the age of 34?

Sell Albums (of course!)

As a music artist, Taylor Swift’s main revenue comes from albums, including CDs, vinyl, and streaming.

Throughout her career, Taylor has sold a total of nearly 59 million physical albums. On album-equivalent units (EAS), 1989 is the top album, with over 39 million units. The records are then held by Fearless (nearly 27.4 million units), and Red (nearly 26.9 million units).

The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) , Taylor’s latest “era”, alone sold 2.6 million copies in its first week of release.

In addition to the original album versions, Taylor has released multiple versions of her albums, each with a different cover or cover art. As with Folklore and Evermore , Taylor used different covers and album art for each version. For TTPD, she released a “double album” version with 15 additional songs, along with other versions featuring live tracks from The Eras Tour.

Releasing different versions, or “variants,” of albums is a marketing strategy that evolved from the traditional way of releasing albums with an original version and a deluxe version (with exclusive tracks or early demos). This strategy has been popular since 2020, and has been adopted by both the major markets of the US and South Korea. According to Luminate, the average album released in 2023 will have around 20 variants, including vinyl, CD, and cassette. This strategy has turned albums into collectibles for fans.

Writing music for other artists

As a musician, Taylor’s talent lies not only in singing, but also in her ability to write. Some songs, although not recorded and released by Taylor, were later sold to other artists, with Taylor Swift’s name listed as the writer. Here are some songs that you may have heard but (maybe) didn’t know were written by Taylor:

• Mary Sarah – Permanent Marker
• Britni Hoover – This Is Really Happening
• Miley Cyrus – You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home
• Shea Fisher – Bein’ With My Baby
• Little Big Town – Better Man
• Calvin Harris – This is What You Came For (ft. Rihanna)

Branded products (merchandise)

Like many artists or bands, Taylor Swift also expands her revenue from merchandise every time she releases an album. Taylor’s merchandise is sold directly on her official website, not only T-shirts and hoodies, the merchandise line also includes jewelry, ceramic cups, or items produced specifically for some albums.

Long-time fans certainly won’t forget the Wonderstruck perfume bottle, or more recently the famous cardigan from the album folklore .

Music Tour

When it comes to music tours, many people immediately think of The Eras Tour , the “legendary” music tour that put Taylor on Forbes’ official billionaire list.

But touring has always been a huge source of revenue for Taylor Swift, not just financially but also in terms of album publicity. Each new album release is followed by a year-long world tour, often named after the album.

Taylor’s shows tend to be musical-heavy: each performance often resembles a skit, highlighting the storytelling in her songs. Taylor also knows how to engage a crowd with her friendly on-stage chatter, creating an intimate atmosphere in a stadium of tens of thousands.

To date, The Eras Tour is not only the highest grossing tour of Taylor’s career, but also the highest grossing tour of all time, with nearly $2 billion. After 2023 alone, Eras’s gross will be $730 million, far surpassing the previous two tours, the Reputation Stadium Tour ($345.7 million) and the 1989 World Tour ($250.7 million).

Concert film

Like Prince, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé, Taylor Swift has also released concert films from her tours. Of her concert films, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is the only one to be released while the tour was still in progress.

When it first premiered in the US, AMC Theatres Distribution was the name chosen by Taylor’s team to release The Eras Tour . During the screening period, AMC priced tickets at $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children – a move that was considered to “devalue” the US cinema market. AMC and Taylor Swift’s big bet paid off with an impressive box office revenue of $261.6 million, becoming the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

Earlier this year, Disney+ beat Netflix and Universal Pictures in the auction for exclusive rights to The Eras Tour for $75 million.

Cinema

Throughout her career, Taylor has also branched out into film with supporting roles and voiceovers. Some of Taylor’s most memorable roles include Felicia Miller in Valentine’s Day (2010), Audrey in The Lorax (2012), and most recently Liz Meekins in Amsterdam (2022).

In addition to acting, Taylor has also written music for several films, most notably Crazier for Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), Safe and Sound for The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond (2012), and most recently the theme song for Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) titled Carolina .

In addition, Taylor also makes money from selling the rights to use songs in movies, except for the first 6 studio albums (currently owned by Shamrock Holdings). For example, The Summer I Turned Pretty is the series that uses the most Taylor Swift music, from Back to December (Taylor’s Version) to exile.

In 2022, Taylor also expressed her desire to enter the film industry as a director. That same year, Searchlight Pictures officially announced that they were collaborating with Taylor to produce her first feature film, which she wrote.

Celebrity endorsement

With a huge global fan base, Taylor’s name and face have become a valuable sales tool. In the advertising industry, Taylor has appeared on posters, TV commercials, and social media many times. However, Taylor and her team focus on long-term partnerships with certain brands to maintain a good public image. Some of the names to mention are Covergirl, Coca-Cola, Sony, and most recently, Capital One.

Conclude

Taylor Swift knows how to use music to build her personal brand, skillfully incorporating stories about her life into her music to make friends with her listeners. At the same time, she also knows how to interweave her products: suggesting new songs in music videos, announcing new albums while on tour, using words and images from an old album in new songs… This not only excites listeners when they can explore the “Taylor Swift music world” for themselves, but also builds a close relationship with the audience, turning them into loyal “Swifties” who grow up with her music every day.