Taylor Swift Generated $230 Million In Revenue For Universal Music Group Last Year

By on February 2, 2023 in ArticlesCelebrity News

Taylor Swift isn't quite keeping the recording industry afloat all on her lonesome these days, but sometimes it starts to look that way. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase credit Taylor's 2022 album "Midnights" with generating some $230 million in revenue for Universal Music Group, a figure which accounts for almost 3% of the company's overall revenues from recorded music throughout the year.

The album is yet another smash hit for Swift and broke numerous records. Most impressively, Billboard reported in October that Swift had become the first artist in history to run the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 herself, an almost unbelievable feat that put her above Drake, who himself had nine slots on the top 10 to himself back in 2021. Per Billboard:

"Swift also surges past Drake and The Beatles for the most titles from the top of the Hot 100 in a single week, as her monopoly of the top 10 bests those acts, each of whom infused the top five for a week each in 2021 and 1964, respectively."

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

It's no surprise, then, that Swift's latest album has managed to be a commercial cash cow. As a note from the financial experts at JP Morgan Chase put it: "Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' smashed numerous records and should provide a fourth quarter (and a first quarter) boost to UMG's growth."

Of course, $230 million is just a fraction of almost $600 million Billboard reports was generated by ticket sales for Swift's upcoming Eras tour, making her the highest-grossing female performing artist of all time. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are currently facing lawsuits from fans who weren't able to get tickets due to the system being overwhelmed as soon as they went on sale. As Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said to The Hollywood Reporter:

"We invited a million and a half on that day to come and buy those tickets, but it's kind of like having a party. Everybody crashed that door at the same time with 3.5 billion requests."

It doesn't require any sophisticated financial analysis to know that it's a very good time to be in the Taylor Swift business!

Did we make a mistake?
Submit a correction suggestion and help us fix it!
Submit a Correction