Taylor Swift tops Spotify year-end charts

Taylor Swift must be very happy that she returned to Spotify. Remember how in 2014 she dubbed Spotify “that Grand Experiment” because it provides free music. So, in a much talked about move, she pulled out all of her recordings from the streaming platform.

Then three years later, on June, 2017, she famously returned her catalogue to Spotify as “a thank you gesture to her fans.” It was to celebrate the 100 million songs sold certification she received from the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) and for her album 1989 having sold 10 million copies worldwide.

If Swiftie hadn’t returned to Spotify, then she would have ended up $100M poorer in royalties. That is how much Swift made this year as Spotify’s Most Streamed Artist of the Year. Her music was streamed over 26.1 billion times starting Jan. 1, 2023 with hits coming from her latest album Midnights and rerecordings of Speak Now and 1989. These set a new record for Spotify artists.

And that is not all. Swift’s income from royalties from her songs and recordings can actually reach up to $200M this year including those from other platforms, plus publishing royalties for the performance of her songs.

Music royalties work like old taxi meters. The artist and songwriter get royalties every time a song is played. That can be during a concert, TV show, on the radio, a user generated cover on YouTube, in a movie soundtrack, even a spa or elevator and other sources.

You want more dough for Swiftie? Her ERAS concert tour is on target towards a billion dollars in revenue and she has not even visited Europe yet, while the film version has so far already grossed $250M at the global box office.

Now see how shrewd she is in celebrating these milestones and her 34th birthday on Dec. 13. She is uploading You’re Losing Me (From the Vault), a much-requested song that she has kept hidden for some years. Listen to Losing Me or stream it and she gets more royalties coming in.

Then the ERAS tour film will be available for the first time for rent on demand in the US, Canada and other countries. Fans love the gesture and will surely watch the film. Not once but definitely again and again. This means more royalties and other residuals coming in for Swiftie.

Taylor Swift is a talented singer, songwriter and producer with drop dead gorgeous looks. She is also an astute business woman and a marketing genius. Judging from her output, she is most probably the hardest working artist today. No wonder she has turned herself into an unstoppable moneymaking machine. Her success does merit deeper study as a business or an art course in college.

By the way, Swift was also named Top Artist at the recent Billboard Music Awards where she picked up 10 trophies.

Here now is how the Spotify Wrapped year-end most streamed chart shaped up:

•Artists: Taylor Swift; Bad Bunny; The Weeknd; Drake; Peso Pluma; Feid; Travis Scott; SZA; Karol G; and Lana del Rey.

•Song: Flowers by Miley Cyrus; Kill Bill by SZA; As It Was by Harry Styles; Seven by Jung Kook and Latto; Ella Baila Sola by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma; Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift; Creepin’ by Metro Boomin’ with The Weeknd and 21 Savage; Calm Down by Selena and Rema; Shakira Bzrp Music Sessions Volume 53 by Bizarrap and Shakira; and Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift.

•Albums: Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny; Midnights by Taylor Swift; SOS by SZA; Starboy by The Weeknd; Manana Sera Bonito by Karol G; One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen; Lover by Taylor Swift; Heroes and Villains by Metro Boomin’; Genesis by Peso Pluma; Harry’s House by Harry Styles.