Taylor Swift is above brands: How she built a multi-billion dollar empire without endorsement deals

Taylor Swift performed the last of her eight concerts at Wembley Stadium in London on August 20, and will do another 18 shows of her acclaimed The Eras Tour in the United States and Canada between October 18 and December 8. By the end of her tour, there is no doubt that the singer will have recorded stratospheric revenue for 2024, with figures never before seen in the music industry.

Last December, Pollstar calculated that the tour grossed $1.039 billion from March 17 to November 12, 2023. However, this number only takes into account the first 60 shows. Since then, Swift has sold out tickets in 89 more stadiums, not counting the three canceled dates in Vienna. The Eras Tour is sure to surpass the $2.5 billion mark once it wraps up in a few months, making it by far the most lucrative tour in history.

Elton John previously held the record with his Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which grossed $939 million. But he set this record over five years, performing 330 times between Sept. 8, 2018, and July 8, 2023. Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour is also likely to gross more than $1 billion when it comes to an end, but the band can’t compete with Swift’s numbers. She’s clearly in a league of her own.

The proof is in her net worth. Forbes included her on its billionaires list in October 2023, estimating her net worth at $1.1 billion at the time, but it updated the figure to $1.3 billion in April 2024. According to the magazine, her fortune includes nearly $600 million from royalties and tours, a catalog valued at approximately $600 million, and about $125 million in real estate.

Weeks later, Forbes included her on its list of America’s richest self-made women, alongside other celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey ($3 billion), Kim Kardashian ($1.7 billion) and Rihanna ($1.4 billion). But there is one factor that should not be overlooked: unlike them, Swift has made her fortune solely and exclusively through her music.

As a recent example, the theatrical release of The Eras Tour made $267 million at the box office worldwide. As for her discography, in 2023, she topped the charts thanks to hits such as Midnights, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989, and all signs indicate that she will repeat the feat this year. Her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, released in April, has sold 2.47 million copies in the United States, not counting streaming. Specifically, 1.07 million on CD, 988,000 on vinyl and 395,000 digital downloads.

Even though Swift doesn’t currently have any partnerships with brands, that does not mean the singer hasn’t had them in the past. From 2008 to 2010, she starred in several campaigns for the brand L.E.I. Jeans; in 2010, she was the face of CoverGirl’s NatureLuxe collection; between 2011 and 2014, she launched five fragrances with the company Elizabeth Arden; and from 2013 to 2018, she was an ambassador for Diet Coke. Even a year after publicly criticizing Apple Music for not paying royalties to artists during the three-month free trial period offered to new users, she had no problem appearing in an advertisement for the company in Cupertino in 2016.

What’s changed since then? There are several answers to this question, but, fundamentally, they come down to two key points. Firstly, she is now a billionaire. And secondly, she is still reeling from the shock of when music mogul Scooter Braun, through Ithaca Holdings, acquired her former record label, Big Machine Records, and the masters of her first six albums for $300 million in June 2019.

That setback, which soon led to the re-recordings of those albums (Taylor’s Version), marked a turning point in her career and the beginning of an intense fight to regain full control of her work and her image. The sacrifice has paid off. As she stated in December, when Time named her Person of the Year 2023: “This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.”

“If she doesn’t agree to appear in ads, it’s because she doesn’t need to. She doesn’t need to expand her business with other initiatives because, right now, there is no brand that’s bigger and more recognized than the Taylor Swift brand,” says Yeray S. Iborra, author of the book The Taylor Swift Phenomenon. “For years, she has made a great effort to control each and every one of the things she says or does. Partnering with a company implies associating with a third party, which always entails risks. A collaboration of this type could involve her in some controversy indirectly, either due to an erroneous statement or by supporting initiatives that do not agree with her fans. Therefore, it is understandable that she prefers to avoid any type of collateral damage.”

Just because Swift hasn’t signed an endorsement deal in over five years doesn’t mean that companies aren’t benefiting from her colossal media clout. Quite the contrary. Since she went public with her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce and attended a dozen games to watch him in action, sales of the tight end’s jerseys have increased by nearly 400%, audience ratings have grown by 7%, and interest in football has risen by 20% among millennials and 24% among Gen Z, particularly among women. She’s also helped generate $331.5 million in brand value for both the Chiefs and the NFL.

Her wardrobe deserves a special mention, as it’s another element that reinforces her narrative. On The Eras Tour, she wears designs by Atelier Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Alberta Ferretti, Vivienne Westwood and Christian Louboutin, all selected by her trusted stylist, Joseph Cassell Falconer. However, off the stage, at awards ceremonies and in the few photocalls she appears on, she maintains a more discreet profile. She consciously avoids luxury fashion houses to show her legion of fans that, despite her superstar status, she is still accessible, and that if they want to really get to know her, all they have to do is listen to her songs. She may have a private jet, but at this point she doesn’t need to win Anna Wintour’s approval. Despite the numerous invitations, she hasn’t attended the Met Gala since 2016. That time, she wore a metallic Louis Vuitton dress.

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