(TAMPA) The name Taylor Swift will always garner some sort of reaction. Love or hate, awe or dismissal, disgust or pure indifference, everyone has their feelings on the 34-year-old country/folk/jazz/pop star. Two years, 54 cities, 152 shows. Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” made history, beyond just the awards and outrageous profit. The “Taylor Effect” is what people have been calling the impact on local economies, the sports industry, the concert industry and obviously the music industry.
14 Grammy awards, 40 American Music Awards, an Emmy award, 4o Billboard Music Awards. The list of accolades and accomplishes for Taylor Swift is exceedingly long. But she is more than just the backbone of the music industry. She is bringing new fans to sports, speaking out on politics, creating moving and insightful documentaries, and most important impacting everyday lives. The “Taylor Effect” reaches outside of music, off the concert stage and into everyone’s lives, whether they know it or not.
A new bookstore recently opened in Orlando, Fl. It’s a romance specific bookstore called “New Romantics”. While they just opened this year, they have around 19 thousand followers on Instagram. This is one of the many cleverly named businesses inspired by Taylor Swift song titles or lyrics. The owner Jane commented on why she chose the name “I wanted to create a space to create new romance readers as well as honor all the things we love, which in my case is Taylor Swift and romance books, so what a beautiful combination of the two!”
The coffee shop “Long Story Short” you went to for your coffee this morning, that too is run by Swifities. While these entrepreneurs might have always had the dream of a coffee shop or a bookstore, there was something so special about Taylor Swift that made them name their business after her, in some sort of way. This is the impact she has. The lyrics she writes, the stories she tells, the truth she shines the light on unites each person that wants to be a part of something bigger. She builds communities.
The Eras Tour and the economic impact it made on the tour cities is simply the easiest way to see the impact. In Vancouver alone, where she played six shows, the economic impact was estimated to be around $157 million. Economists for New Orleans are reporting that there was an estimated $200 million boost to the city. That is local business, hotels, restaurants and other activities in cities. That money goes into the pocket of the workers at the restaurants and leading the tours through the city. Taylor Swift is paving a way through every city she stops at, and economic flourish follows her.
The National Football League (NFL) can also attest to the “Taylor Effect” after a new influx of viewers tuned into the games hoping for a glimpse of Swift in the stands. Days following her first appearance at an NFL game, 170 million social media impressions were made, there was a 400% increase in Kelce’s jersey and the Super Bowl LVIII made a new record with 123.7 million viewers. Taylor Swift was in the crowd for that Super Bowl and many analysts credit her for the 24% jump in viewership rates in the 18 to 24-year-old woman category. The male dominated world of sports is no longer a glass castle women can be held out of. If Taylor Swift can watch the game and care, so can anyone who wants to.
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In her 2019 documentary Miss Americana, Swift speaks out on so many little things that have happened. She talks about the impossible standards of beauty in our societies. She speaks on her recovery from an eating disorder due to those impossible standards and the harmful critics behind a keyboard. She mentions politics and how she wants to use her stage for good. Taylor Swift is not just a blonde standing behind a microphone singing about an ex-boyfriend. She is setting the example for what those with influence should be doing, using their voice to be heard.
Love her or hate her, everyone can have their own opinion on her music. However, the impact she has made beyond the music industry is undeniable. The “Taylor Effect” is something so few stars are ever able to make: a lasting impact on the world.