The cash machine
Taylor Swift has a license to print money
By Michael Gnahme
December 30, 2023, 9:14 a.m
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Taylor Swift generates tons of money. The singer not only earns millions with her current tour – she also drives the sale of football jerseys.
When Taylor Swift’s concert tickets go on sale or her new album is released, even large server farms cannot withstand the onslaught of her fans. After the pop icon released her album “Midnights” in October 2022, the Spotify app repeatedly crashed for some users. The sale of their tour tickets in France had to be stopped prematurely because Ticketmaster could not withstand the onslaught of fans.
Swift has been celebrating gigantic international musical successes with her music for years. And now, starting in spring 2024, Harvard students can take the course “Taylor Swift and Her World.” prove. But what’s the deal with “Swiftonomics”? How much money does the pop singer generate with her brand?
Taylor Swift is making huge sums of money with her current Eras tour. Swift generates just over a billion dollars in revenue from ticket sales alone. At least 400 million of them go into their own pockets.
The tickets cost between $49 and $499 in conventional sales. In resale, prices shot up to unbelievable heights: fans are said to have paid between $500 and $7,000 for a card on official resell platforms.
And for Swifties who themselves came away empty-handed with the resell, their team has come up with another coup: the “Eras Tour” film, whose sales can of course only be described in superlatives. The film is said to have brought over $26 million into the box office on the first day alone. The entire first weekend was said to have grossed $97 million in the USA. After three weeks, sales reached $150 million. This makes the film the highest-grossing concert film ever.
Huge sales
But how much of this sticks with Swift personally? Her total net worth is currently estimated at over a billion dollars. She is said to have personally earned $20 million from the film alone.
They also sell a lot of merchandise at their tour stops. Total sales including all tours are estimated at $1.3 billion. That’s another $600 million for Swift alone.
The Swift cash machine doesn’t even stop at completely new industries. After the singer dated Kansas City Chiefs football star Travis Kelce, ticket sales for NFL games also skyrocketed.
After their first official visit to a Chiefs game, ticket sales for the next home games are said to have tripled per day. And sales of Kelce’s jersey are said to have increased significantly shortly after her visit – by a whopping 400 percent.