Never before has a musician attained billionaire status based solely on earnings from their music catalogue and tours—until October 2023, when Taylor Swift’s net worth hit US$1.1 billion. (The 34-year-old childless cat lady has since added a couple hundred million to the pile, according to Forbes.)
Swift is now an economic force—it’s called Swiftonomics—with the impact of her epic 152-city Eras Tour expected to exceed US$10 billion. The tour, which kicked off in early 2023, comes to Toronto for six shows in November and ends in Vancouver in December. By the way, Swift’s six-show run in L.A. benefited the local economy to the tune of US$320 million, with 3,300 jobs created.
If Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries.
— Dan Fleetwood, head of research org ProQuestionPro
If Taylor Swift comes—the HST alone is huge. We don’t get a penny of it. It’s great for the economy, but in terms of revenue, we actually end up paying out instead of getting any of that benefit. If I could get one cent of what Taylor Swift is generating in Toronto, oh my god, I would have done it yesterday!
— Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow