How an artist is redefining the music industry

What you need to know:
The “Taylor Swift effect” is transforming the music industry: from its re -regions and ‘The Eras Tour’, to creative changes.
Taylor Swift is not only one of the most successful artists on the planet. It is, at this time, a cultural, economic and even political phenomenon with sequelae so deep that, although some do not want to see or give me the merit, Thanks to it we are witnessing a historical transformation in the modern music industry.
What began as a country singer wanting to be heard, has evolved in a figure that, outside world tours and successful discs, It has enough power to alter law, shake business models and even become a source of income for local economies. This important is Taylor today.

The so -called “Taylor Swift effect” is no longer a simple label to describe its influence on pop culture, fashion or social networks: It is a quite interesting phenomenon that, without exaggeration, is completely redefining how the music industry works from the inside. And here we tell you about this curious case.
The Taylor’s version: When music returns to its creator
One of the most controversial and media steps in Taylor Swift’s career occurred in 2019, when he revealed that Your musical catalog (specifically its first six albums) He had been sold without his consent to Scooter Braun through an agreement between Big Machine Records and Ithaca Holdings.
That moment marked a before and after, since not only in the personal and professional life of the singer, it was also an unusual fact in the industry. However, instead of resigning to lose control of your music, Taylor made an unprecedented decision: to re -record his old albums to recover the intellectual property of his work and be able to market those versions such as the “original.”

Thus the records were born with the seal Taylor’s versionwhich were new recordings of their classic albums, but with sound improvements, new rolas (called “from the vault”, and above all, absolute control of their masters. This is how Taylor Swift managed to resume control of those songs with which he became famous. A controversial but necessary measure in the situation in which it was.
Until now, Taylor has only launched the re -registered versions of Fearless, Grid, Speak Now and 1989all reaching number one sales. In fact, 1989 (Taylor’s version) He sold 1.6 million copies in his first week only in the United States. This data is important, because it exceeded the figures for the launch of the original album in 2014.
But beyond making a fortune with their Taylor’s versionthe legal and cultural impact of these re -regions was brutal. To the point that Artists like Jojo and Ashanti followed Swift’s example, re -recording their catalog to own their masters And so, obtain the profits they deserve for their work.
According to a report of the New York TimesTaylor Swift’s movement caused Some record labels reformulate the contracts they have with their talents to prohibit their music for longer periods – 5 to even 15 years – this due to the fear that more and more artists join and adopt this business model.

In addition, as mentioned by the lawyer specialized in copyright, Karl Fowlkes in Billboard, Swift is “Redefining the value of the master as an asset negotiable”, forcing the new generations of artists to think about intellectual property as a strategic tool since the beginning of their career.
Not to mention that Taylor Swift is also one of the artists who has most promoted physical sales in the streaming era. Between vinyl, CDs and limited editions, It is estimated that it sold more than 5.5 million vinyl only in 2023, representing 15% of the total vinyl sold in the United States that year.
‘The Eras Tour’: A before and after in live concerts
After all this came The Eras Tourthe tour with which Taylor Swift decided to celebrate his entire discography after the pandemic. What initially seemed like a nostalgic tour became a revolution, because we talked about an impressive production of more than three hours, with 44 rolas on average per showmultiple costume changes, mobile scenographies, film visuals and a very well choreographed script.
By December 2023, The Tour had already become the most successful music tour in history, exceeding one billion dollars in global collectionaccording to figures Forbes. That without counting lto the show of the show, which brought together more than 260 million dollars in cinemasbecoming The highest grossing concert tape of all time.
But beyond economic records, The impact of TI have tour It is being seen in the business model of the live entertainment industry. Artists such as Beyoncé, Madonna, Fall Out Boy and more are adopting formulas similar to that of Taylor Swift, with concerts that summarize their complete careers, with narrative, thematic acts and a lot of production.
The writer of BillboardDan Rys, sums it up like this: “‘The Eras Tour’ is forcing the tours to be memorable and cinematographic events, not only musical sets.” In a nutshell, The shows are over without a concept or value proposition: now, it is about building a show For the public that disburse a good wool to see these artists on stage.
The Taylor Swift effect outside the music industry
The most surprising of the Taylor Swift effect It is not even limited to music. A study of Common Sense Institute revealed that the dates of The Eras Tour In Colorado they generated an economic impact of 140 million dollars in the state… just as they read it, a real madness what these concerts caused.
Another curious case occurred during the passage of the American singer in Argentina, because The Central Bank had to implement extraordinary measures due to currency escape in the face of the demand for tickets, flights and lodgings related to Taylor’s shows at the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires.

And not to say when The Eras Tour He arrived in Mexico in August 2023, because the old Forum Sol not only filled four nights in a row, they also collapsed servers, Flights to CDMX increased, there were resellers who asked for up to $ 80 thousand pesos for a ticket … and the national conversation revolved around Taylor Swift and its tour for days.
Returning to the United States, Bloomberg estimated that Taylor’s tour contributed 4.3 billion dollars to the country’s gross domestic product in 2023. And local governments, such as Glendale, Arizona, changed the temporal name of their cities to “Swift City” to celebrate the event and promote tourism.

Even The US Federal Reserve He mentioned Taylor Swift as a key factor in the impulse of consumption during the summer of 2023. And of course, if only in the neighboring country, the economic impact of the shows was more than $ 5,000 million … as well as read it, even this figure is higher than the GDP of some countries.
In addition to the spill and collateral effects that caused The Eras Tour, Taylor’s tour also opened the conversation about ticket business models. So much so that this issue resulted in an audience in the United States Senate, where legislators – among them Amy Klobuchar – took the singer to discuss transparency and equity in ticket sales.

The new standard: the fandoms closer to their idols
Part of Taylor Swift’s success also comes from his relationship with his fandom. His ‘swifties’ are not just fansthey are actually an organized community that analyzes clues, gives flight to the releases of their favorite artist, defends it social causes and generates digital content at scales that many marketing departments would envy.
Taylor not only speaks to them directly; It gives them agency. With each launch, Leave Easter Eggs, visual codes and elements for fans to feel that they are part of the creative process. She is the most followed artist on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, but also has an important presence in Tiktok and even in niche forums such as Reddit.

And that has caused the rest of the industry to change its promotion model. More and more artists are creating narrative bridges between albums, visual aesthetics and content multive.. Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and even K-Pop artists are following similar roads.
Taylor Swift is a key figure for change in the music industry
In 2024, Time He appointed her person of the yeara recognition that had only given political leaders, activists and figures with global impact. This is no accident, because Taylor Swift is not just a pop artist, it is A figure who is doing exactly what he promised when he began to re -record his albums: to recover control of his history and, in the process, change that of many more.
This artist is not only dedicated to singing, composing successful rolas and being a key icon of fashion and culture today. It is a figure that, with each album, tour or protest, reminds us that pop can also be an act of power. And the most impressive of all is that, perhaps, This is just starting.

Taylor Swift is the living proof that the model of “the stamps have all the power” is no longer sustainable or total in the times in which we live. And what is coming could be even more radical, because as Caitlin Clark, a cultural analyst of Rolling Stoneshe “The foundations for a fairer, more transparent and centered music industry are laying on creators. And if that bothers business dinosaurs, it is because it works.”