Pop megastar Taylor Swift kicks off the final U.S. leg of her gigantic Eras Tour on Friday, Oct. 18, in Miami. When all is said and done, Swift will have spent nearly two years globe trotting in front of millions of fans, selling out arenas worldwide and generating more than $2 billion.
For Swifties who missed out on the record-breaking tour, Swift is releasing a 256-page retrospective on the globetrotting event. The official “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Book” hits Target shelves at the end of November 2024 for $39.99.
It’s just another bullet point in the long list of revenue streams that made Swift the first musician to make the Forbes billionaire ranking predominantly from music and touring. She became a billionaire in 2023 on the back of $600 million from touring and royalties. She also has real estate valued at roughly $125 million.
But it is her songs that have helped her amass throngs of fans across the globe. Forbes values her catalog alone at $600 million. And with two more “Taylor’s Version” albums still to be released, that figure will only go up.
We know her songs are valuable, but what makes Swift’s career particularly prone to breaking records? Straight Arrow News interviewed music journalist Annie Zaleski, who recently wrote the USA Today bestselling book “Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs.”
The following transcript has been edited for clarity. Watch the full interview in the video above.
Simone Del Rosario: You’ve written a number of books like this, digging into iconic artists and their catalogs. How did venturing into the world of Taylor Swift differ?
Annie Zaleski: First off, just the sheer volume of songs. She released her first album in the mid-2000s and in less than 20 years, she has more than 200 songs, original songs, which is pretty incredible. She’s a very prolific artist in addition to being a very high-quality artist.
I think what separates her from a lot of other musicians is that when she puts out an album, the songs are high quality. She is not putting out songs that are, “Maybe this is just okay.” Every song on an album, you can tell, is very carefully arranged, carefully produced and carefully written to fit in, not just in the narrative of the record, but also just stand on their own as amazing songs.
Simone Del Rosario: There are Taylor Swift haters out there saying that she writes too many songs. That is a criticism out there. You talk about how many songs she has written, but it speaks to how long her career has been. Two decades in, why is she still resonating?
Annie Zaleski: I think what’s interesting and why she’s continuing to resonate is, first and foremost, she’s continuing to evolve. She’s been very savvy about keeping up with pop trends. She’s never wanted to make the same record twice, and she’s never wanted her own music to stay in one place.
I think that’s why we saw her evolve from country music to pop music about a decade ago. But that also just speaks to her always wanting to move her career forward. And what that’s done is it’s brought in younger fans as well.
It’s been very interesting to watch in the last couple of years about how, with her re-records, and then also, I think, starting around “Lover,” she’s really brought in a lot of younger generations of fans, like the children of the original Swifties. And so she just has a real knack for writing songs that resonate with multiple people and people of all ages.
Simone Del Rosario: I assume with your book, you’re getting a sense of how vast that fan base is. Who are you hearing from who’s really resonating with your book?
Annie Zaleski: It’s interesting because I’m hearing everything from friends who are saying that their tweens are devouring the book, and take it to bed at night because they’re so excited by it. I have friends with elementary school children who are really liking the book and really learning about some of the Taylor songs for the first time. But I’ve also had people reach out to me and say, “I brought this for my kids or a younger relative, but I’m enjoying it too.” So it is another book that’s just resonating with Swifties of all ages.
Simone Del Rosario: When you were researching for this book, what would you say is one of the most interesting things that you learned?
Annie Zaleski: I think what really stood out to me in terms of when you look at her catalog from the start to the present day, she has a real knack for creating connections between the eras, whether the fact that she uses similar imagery, for example, like an eye color, or references to rain. It’s almost like little easter eggs between albums, between songs, that fans can really dig into it. They’re English majors, basically, and do literary analysis of her songs.
So on some level, I knew that. But just really looking at it, looking at her catalog from the beginning to the present, that really, really stood out. And her albums are almost like conversations with each other sometimes. The different Taylor eras and where she was in her life, there’s a lot of continuity there. And so I think that also just helps her evolve, and it also helps people grow up with her because she’s growing up at the same time through her albums, alongside her fans.
Simone Del Rosario: Taylor Swift, from the moment she came on the scene, she’s been a star, right? She stood out. But the Eras tour has made her an incredible superstar. It’s about to wrap up. What’s next?
Annie Zaleski: I think the big question is what is she going to going to do next? Because there’s no way she can top The Eras Tour. Having a show that runs over three hours a night that’s just sort of a celebration of everything she’s put out so far does feel like a little bit of a chapter closing.
I think she’s talked about wanting to direct, so I could see her going that route and maybe taking a break from the road for a little bit and exploring other creative endeavors. I think she’s going to continue writing songs. I think, personally, I’d love to see her do a rock album. I think she has that element in her that she’s always really liked indie rock, especially in recent years, she’s dabbled in that, or even kind of harder rock. And so I think, secretly, I would love to manifest that because I think that she would really excel at doing that.
Simone Del Rosario: Oh, that’s so interesting. I wonder how much you pick up from the outfits she’s wearing lately or anything like that that might indicate a different tone in the future.
Annie Zaleski: It’s a good question. I think she’s been dressing a little bit more sophisticated in recent times. Some of the outfits look like they might be hinting at “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” which is, I think people are convinced they’ll be coming soon, at some point. There are all sorts of easter eggs and fans tracking little clues that she’s left to see when this might come out.
But I think she’s also really enjoying where she is now, too. You see her when she’s not on tour, she’s out with Travis Kelce, she’s going out and about and really relaxing and living life. And that’s also really nice to see, too, because I think she’s been going for so long in her career. Like, if anyone deserves to take a break, it’s definitely her.
Simone Del Rosario: You mentioned not being able to top The Eras Tour. Does that mean that from here on, it is starting to decline?
Annie Zaleski: I don’t think it’s starting to decline. I feel like she’s going to be using that as the foundation going forward, to see where she’s going to go next, as a foundation. I think it’d be wonderful if she said, “Okay, I’m going to strip it back, and maybe I’m going to do some small acoustic shows,” potentially. I think getting tickets for that would be a nightmare, but I think it’s more that she proved to herself she can do this.
I think before the pandemic, she was going to do a festival, like a two-day “Lover” festival. And so maybe that’s her next step is saying, “I’m gonna have a three-day Taylor Swift festival where I’m going to play a set each night, and maybe I’m going to have openers and curate something like that.” I feel like that’s about the only way that she could go next to sort of top The Eras Tour, is to do something on a really large scale like that.
Simone Del Rosario: It’s hard to even put this into words because in the media and elsewhere, we’ve been so Taylor-saturated, especially as she’s been on tour. But you are an expert in music and its history. Do you think there’s an appropriate amount of appreciation for what she is doing right now? I mentioned all of the financial accolades at the start of this, but do you think that in the moment we’re realizing the impact that she’s having?
Annie Zaleski: It’s a really good question. I think fans are absolutely aware of that, because fans are living that on a day-to-day basis. As this tour has been progressing, different cities have mentioned how much the economic impact is and how many fans it has brought in, but I think once all is said and done and the final numbers come in, we’re really going to get a sense of just what a staggering achievement this is.
There is a little bit of a backlash. I think there always is for someone who’s a big success. People get suspicious. And she’s always gotten a lot of backlash as well because of her subject matter. I think there’s a natural tendency, a lot of people just don’t like to see people succeed, especially young women. So she’s always kind of had that element.
But really the numbers speak for themselves. They’re really unimpeachable, and you can’t really argue with what a cultural impact she’s had.
