By Lake DiStefano
Staff Writer
Amid the end of the U.S. leg of her Eras tour, the impending release of its concert film to theaters and the announcement of the re-recording of arguably her most famous album, what circumstances have led to the cultural hegemony of the obsession surrounding all things Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has dominated the public entertainment sphere, racking in a projected sum of $2.2 billion dollars in only its first leg. Now the tour’s concert film, which is contracted to be released in theaters in North America starting on Oct. 13, is on the way. Along with that, her upcoming album, “1989 (Taylor's Version),” is expected to extend her reign even further.
With the Eras Tour 2024 international dates being announced, it seems that the Eras Tour is only the start of a new wave of success for the singer. Between the economic impact of the tour and the social sensation seen all over social media, it can be difficult to grasp the impact of this tour.
Often, an artist peaks and valleys with one of their early studio albums — at least in terms of relevancy and currency to popular culture. Some particularly strong acts, like Metallica, are able to coast along with the strength of their back catalog, as well as the prowess of their live shows. This forages a level of investment with their core fanbase that essentially guarantees them an audience no matter how late into their career.
However, this is almost at direct odds with what it means to be a pop act. Being a pop star is about either championing what is currently trendy in the culture or creating a new trend to define culture with. Yet, after ten studio albums and almost 17 years of music, Swift’s career is still on an upward trajectory.
This phenomenon has reached a new height lately. Between mayors temporarily renaming their cities after her to her newest album “Midnights” occupying the entire top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 when released, it leaves one wondering how and where this level of Swiftie Mania has derived from.
With her album “1989,” this was seen on a smaller scale when she had five top ten Billboard Hot 100 hits: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams.” Now with its re-release impending, one can only imagine the success this album’s second go-around will have. With five “From the Vault” tracks that Swift herself said were “insane” in her announcement post, it is almost full circle that “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” comes back around at a time where she is once again at the height of her powers as an artist.
While it is futile to try and identify what makes something trendy, there is still a pattern to observe. The first component is Swift’s lyrical topic of choice: love. No matter how different her life as a celebrity is to her audience, the one universal thing between all of it is love. It is a universal level of relatability, which is something few artists have managed to create and maintain — let alone for this long.
On top of this, it seems that due to the longevity of her career, her music has met multiple generations now. She is now at a point where the people who have grown up with her music are of age and are able to contribute to her career in both the general and financial sense. It is a form of built-in nostalgia which only serves to further their devotion to the support of Swift.
Of course, one cannot bring up Swift without mentioning the loss of the rights to her first six albums. However, what once was viewed as a horrible situation seems to have only given new life to her career.
By reintroducing her older works with as much vigor and attention to detail as she has been, she is not only catering to the attention of her older audience, but courting the interest of her younger fans who may not have been around for those records’ original release.
The implication is not that this is a shady business move. Rather, she has managed to overhaul and repackage what once could have been a death-blow to her career, and now uses it as the fuel in which her Eras Tour is running on. Swiftie Mania can simply be described as what happens when skill meets opportunity.
