Four years ago the hashtag #TaylorSwiftisOverParty was trending number one on Twitter for multiple days over a manufactured rumor and Taylor Swift became one of the most hated people on the internet. Today she’s all people can talk about in the media and online and has completely transformed her reputation.
Swift’s The Eras tour which stopped in Denver on July 14th and 15th brought lots of publicity around the pop artist in Colorado. In the past year Taylor Swift, the singer-songwriter who started putting out music when she was just 16, has released three albums, completed the first leg of her 146 show Eras tour, produced five new music videos, and even announced her Eras tour film set to be theaters October 13. With the release of Swift’s 11th album Midnights on October 21st, 2022 breaking an unprecedented amount of records Swift’s name has been seen in almost every corner of the internet, catapulting her stardom up to a level incomparable to many modern artists. Today it is hard to go out in public and not see a piece of Taylor Swift merch or hear her music playing. Swift even claimed the 8th spot on the Billboard Top 125 Greatest of All Time artists right behind Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna. During the summer of 2023, Swift announced the rerecording of her hit album ‘1989’ which had almost 400,000 preorders in the first 12 hours.
Barton Tofany the resident Taylor Swift fan of AHS, had the opportunity to attend the coveted Eras tour in Denver and reflected on his experience at the Eras tour compared to his previous Taylor Swift concerts.
“The average age was definitely like teens or lower. And this one definitely had a bunch of adults probably because all those teens are now adults just like I am. So like demographically, it was a big difference,” Tofany says.
Swift has been making music for 17 years, so her fan base naturally grows and evolves each year. The Eras tour has made this evident. Madison Nelson 11th-grade student at AHS and a new ‘Swftie’ found her love for Taylor Swift this summer.
“Taylor Swift was in my walls this summer, I couldn’t stop listening to her,” Nelson remarked.
With new fans every year, the culture in the fandom changes. Swift’s massive fan growth over the past year has constituted and sparked lots of change within the fandom.
“I also think that it is getting to the point [that] people are being fans to be fans and to be part of it. So they’re going to these concerts and spending this huge amount of money to be part of the Taylor Swift phenomena, even though they aren’t necessarily appreciative of the music as much,” Tofany says.
Even with all of the changes and eras Taylor Swift has gone through over the past 17 years, Swifties will always support Taylor Swift, merch, tours, movies, and all.
“I mean, it seems pretty silly that I spent $250 to be there in person for me. To them, it’s been another $15 to sit in a theater for three hours, so I’m definitely going to be going to the movie even though I was there but just like it would be fun,” Tofany says.
