The Taylor Effect

When Taylor Swift tells a story, you listen. This one is about a time when she got her heart broken.

She was 17. She had booked the biggest opportunity of her life so far, opening for country star Kenny Chesney on tour. But a couple of weeks later, Taylor’s mom gave her bad news. Plans for the tour had shifted. Taylor was too young to join. “I was devastated × devastate emotionally wrecked (adjective) He was devastated to find out he hadn't made the team. ,” she says.

For her 18th birthday, Chesney wrote her a card. It read: “I’m sorry that you couldn’t come on the tour, so I wanted to make it up to you.” With the note was a check. “It was for more money than I’d ever seen in my life,” Swift says. “I was able to fuel my dreams.”

A lot has changed since then. At 34, Swift is a pop superstar. She’s also a businesswoman. And on December 7, she was named the 2023 TIME Person of the Year. “This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt,” she says.

CAPTIVATED Taylor Swift performs for crowds of thousands, such as this one in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 9.

An Epic Tour

Swift’s epic Eras Tour played 66 dates across the Americas in 2023. It’s the first concert tour to make more than a billion dollars. Politicians implored × implore to beg someone for something (verb) "I implore you all to study," the teacher said to her students. Swift to play their countries. Streets and even cities were renamed for her.

When Swift arrives in a city, a mini economic boom takes place. Hotels get more visitors. So do restaurants. The Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Arizona. Businesses in the city made more money than they did during the 2023 Super Bowl, which was also held there.

Her impact was noted at the highest levels of government. “When the Federal Reserve mentions you as the reason economic growth is up, that’s a big deal,” Ed Tiryakian says. He teaches finance at Duke University, in North Carolina.

This can be a lot of pressure for one person. After she plays a run of shows, Swift takes a day to rest. “I can barely speak because I’ve been singing for three shows straight,” she says.

Movie Mayhem

The movie version of Swift’s Eras Tour took an uncommon route. It was released directly to theaters. No Hollywood studio was involved. “I did what I tend to do more and more often these days,” she says. “[I] bet on myself.”

Swift made a deal with AMC. This gave the theater chain its highest single-day ticket sales in history (see “Box-Office Smash”). The premiere took place in Los Angeles, California. Swift packed 13 theaters with fans. She went into each one, thanking people. During the movie, she sat with her fans. She sang along and danced in her seat.

Excitement rippled through the crowds. Swift is “so good at making her personal experience relate to millions of people,” says McCall, 20, a fan. “When I listen to her songs, I think about what I’ve been through—not what she’s been through.”

Box-Office Smash

The Eras Tour is breaking records. So is the movie version. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has made more than $250 million at the box office. It had the biggest opening weekend for any concert film:

$92.8 million in North America. And it made going to the movies an event. Fans dressed up. They swapped friendship bracelets. With no studio involvement, Swift and AMC take home about 57% of ticket sales. You can rent the movie now. —By Annabel Gutterman