Taylor Swift and her die-hard fans: where does the infatuation come from?
Taylor Swift has been a household name for over a decade, but her popularity has exploded in recent years, with her Eras tour making headlines with its record-breaking statistics. The tour has sold tickets at an unprecedented level with 2.4 million bought in a single day and predicted to gross $1 billion in sales overall. Demand for tickets was so high that 14 additional dates were added to the international leg of the tour and another 15 dates to the US. Despite this, Swift would have to perform a stadium-sized gig every night for two and a half years to satisfy the number of people trying to buy tickets on Ticketmaster in 24 hours alone.
These figures are still only surface-level indicators of the singer’s popularity. Tyler Morse explains how Taylor Swift’s concerts have had a significant impact on the local economies of the cities she has toured. 4.6 billion dollars in total consumer spending in the US is directly related to Swift. An example of this ‘Swift lift’ is hotel revenues significantly rising when she is in town and proving to be twice as impactful as the National Football League. Overall, Taylor Swift is responsible for 6 billion dollars being pumped into the US economy.
With the staggering statistics, one can ask themselves how and why they are possible. What is it that makes this artist so popular across the globe? Furthermore, the majority of her fans are not the ordinary run-of-the-mill appreciators of her music but die-hard fans who live and breathe Taylor Swift. “Swifties”, a name they chose for themselves, in South East Asia took turns sleeping outside ticket offices all night to get their hands on a ticket. Her concert in the US city of Seattle also generated seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake and many fans reported cases of amnesia following concerts due to being overwhelmed. The exact reason for an artist’s popularity can never be fully gaged but there are aspects that lend credit to her success.
Like many artists, clever marketing is the umbrella contributor to success with multiple subsections. The first of which is authenticity (or the appearance of authenticity) which is crucial to the popularity of an artist in today’s taste. A singer loses much of their credibility when it becomes broadly advertised that they don’t write their own songs. If this is not the case, at the very least it becomes infinitely harder to forge a personal connection with a fanbase. This is an area in which Swift has mastered her craft by writing countless songs that are often drawn from personal experiences. She leaves “easter eggs” throughout her music and communicates with fans directly through her social media platforms. It is this care and personal touch which lends credibility and sincerity to her music, and to herself.
Her advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, feminism, and anti-racism policies also plays a large role in her popularity, particularly among the youth of today. Her hit songs ‘You Need To Calm Down’ and ‘The Man’ among others demonstrate her stance on these topics along with speaking out against Republican Marsha Blackburn in the 2018 mid-term elections.
Aesthetic and world-building refer to the universe that lies outside of her music but is still connected to her persona. For instance, trends on Instagram have started to associate Swift with the “#cottagecore” aesthetic (romanticizing a slow way of living usually associated with cottages and forests) and autumnal reels of auburn forests and red scarves. #TaylorSwift appears under countless TikTok reels which are a celebration of wide-ranging aesthetics and all seasons. Cat videos or fan videos of her being ‘relatable’ also contribute to her viral internet presence. These aspects of her brand create marketing avenues not only regarding her music but also her whole persona and allow businesses to capitalize on things that are seemingly unmarketable.
However, to succeed on a wide scale in the brutality of the music industry, PR and branding need to be on point and the strength of this should not be underestimated. This is not to say she is not talented in her own right as her music from a songwriting perspective is crafted exceptionally well. Despite this, it is important to keep in mind where the raving popularity comes from. It is perhaps a cynical perspective to take, but the answer is it has been manufactured by professionals and Swift herself. It cannot be ignored that while her political standpoints are admirable, they are also currently ‘fashionable’ and were absent at the start of her career. Of course, this could be down to personally maturing and we do not know her ourselves. However, it is interesting that social advocacy conveniently aids her popularity and financial success. Yet, taking action on climate change, while aligning with her ‘moral’ persona, does not seem to be the priority of Taylor Swift at the moment, as she is one of the biggest celebrity polluters in the world, due to her touring, her choices of travel and the overconsumption that her brand almost encourages.
“Taylor Swift The Eras Tour The Folklore Set Era (53108930417)” by Paolo V is licensed under CC BY 2.0.