Last week, Spotify released its annual Spotify Wrapped, which shows streamers their stats on what and who they listened to most that year.
Along with showing each streamer’s stats, it announces artists’ stats and who was the most streamed artist of the year, and if you haven’t already heard who it was this year, I’m sure you could guess pretty easily. Miss Americana herself, Taylor Swift, was the number one most streamed artist of the year, with 26.1 billion streams since January 2023 and 108,938,523 monthly listeners, myself included.
Swift rose to fame very quickly early in her career with her debut album, “Taylor Swift,” in 2006 with “Tim McGraw” becoming her first Top 40 hit. Since then, she has released 10 albums, eight which have been re-released in her own name, calling them (Taylor’s Version) after the title.
I myself wasn’t always a Swiftie (a term for someone who is a huge Taylor Swift fan). I first became a fan when she released “1989” in 2014. Yes, I was similar to the rest of the world and fell in love with “Shake It Off,” but after hearing that song over and over and almost memorizing the choreography to the music video, something changed inside of me. Then, about two weeks later, I had the entire album memorized.
This year, Swift has broken several records, including highest-grossing concert film, most streamed artist on Spotify, becoming a billionaire solely based off of music and touring, having one of the biggest tours of all time and recently becoming TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year. Not only that, she has gained many titles by her fans such as “icon,” “hero,” “Mother,” “The Music Industry” and “Person of the Year” and one cute one from her boyfriend Travis Kelce, “good luck charm.”
Since Swift and Kelce were caught on video holding hands on Sept. 24 NFL game viewership, especially towards Kansas City Chief games, went up by 173 percent Kelce jersey sales went up 400 percent and the NFL has gained $122 million of brand value since Swift appeared at the game. If that is not enough to show you her impact, then I do not know what will.
Everything she has accomplished has made her more famous than ever before and even the most famous person on the planet. No matter if you are a die-hard Swiftie or someone who claims “you don’t even know who she is,” you know who she is. She has taken over the radio, grocery store stereos, TikTok, Instagram, no matter where you look or where you listen, she has somehow managed to be there.
This does not mean everyone has to like her. She does write pop and more lyrical music, and that is not for everyone. Even if you hate her, you have to admit that she has changed not only the music industry, but so many other forms of media as well.
Jo Pancake can be contact at
jpancake@kscequinox.com
