Understanding Swift, the Movement, through her numbers

The name Taylor Swift draws almost everyone’s attention. A modern-day music icon, her concerts are marketing dreams, selling out everywhere they are performed. Though her music is listened by people across multiple demographics, her relationship with Travis Kelce, the two-time Super Bowl winning tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has created a wider swath of interest in both her (and football), crossing age and gender boundaries that have never before been observed.

Swift has already had an enormous impact on society. Wherever she holds a concert, the economic impact is significant, giving cities the incentive to attract her to their area, part of the broader “Taylor Swift Effect.”

This is akin to how cities once worked to woo Southwest Airlines to their airport, effectively increasing flight options and reducing airfares across all airlines, as well as providing an economic incentive for companies to relocate.

Yet is Swift destined to be the greatest music personality of all time? It depends on what data and measures one uses. She has already won 14 Grammy Awards across a wide swath of categories, with a long runway before her to win many more (she just turned 35). The Grammy Award list leader is Beyonce, with 32 Grammys.

Time will determine where Swift finally settles amongst this distinguished group of musical artists. Then there are Diamond awards for songs and albums, those that sell 10 million units. Given that in today’s digital world, music is no longer purchased physically, but downloaded electronically, the Recording Industry Association of America defines one unit as 10 permanent track downloads or 1,500 on demand audio or video streams. As of September 2023, Swift had sold 200 million units worldwide with two Diamond certified albums.

By comparison, the Beatles sold 600 million (physical) albums with six Diamond certified. Her trajectory suggests the Beatles numbers are likely a stretch, but doubling her current units is certainly well within her grasp. Of course, the 1960s and today are very different. Music artists now have many advantages that prior music artists did not enjoy.

The most significant among these is social media embedded in the digital economy. Social media can amplify a person’s image and persona. Everything gets rapidly shared around the world, literally at the speed of light. Think what Beatlemania would have been like if the internet and social media had existed back then. The same can be said with Michael Jackson when he released his Thriller album, or even the career of Bruce Springsteen, who won 20 Grammy awards across his 21 albums. This makes it difficult to compare artists in different generations because of how the internet and social media have influenced communication.

Yet such numbers give a very narrow picture of the value that Swift’s songs have accrued, and the breadth of her work that have reached the highest levels of acclaim. Indeed, her most important contributions may be the intangibles that she has brought to society. These make Swift’s career to date somewhat unique, as Elton John recently noted.

When she was named the Time Person of the Year in 2023, given to the person they deemed to be the most influential person of the year, she was the fourth youngest ever so named (following only Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, Mark Zuckerberg in 2010, and Greta Thunberg in 2019). She was also the first musical artist ever to receive this designation. Swift may be a pop music artist, yet her trajectory suggests that she is more akin to a movement.

Her influence across society is immeasurable and appears boundless. When an ad portraying Swift supporting Donald Trump for President was released in August, it was quickly debunked as an AI-generated fake. This ad symbolizes the influence that Swift clearly has in the eyes of political parties, hoping to leverage her status to sway her fans.