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So how did you find out?

I found out when it was online, like when it hit the news.

Nobody in your inner circle knew.

Nobody knew.

And you didn't smell it?

No.

I knew he would sell my music. I knew he would do that.

I couldn't believe who he sold it to.

Because we've had endless conversations about Scooter Braun,

and he has 300 million reasons

to conveniently forget those conversations.

Now, could you rerecord?

Oh, yeah.

Might you do that?

Oh, yeah.

- That's a plan. - Yeah, absolutely.

Under US copyright law,

a music release is subject to two separate copyrights,

the copyright to the song or musical composition itself

and the copyright to the specific recording of that song,

which is usually contained on a master.

The master from which copies are made for use in sales

and distribution is the original recording of the song.

Therefore, the owner of the master also holds the copyright

to all means of distribution for the recording,

including physical media, like CDs and final LPs,

as well as digital distribution for download or streaming.

On the other hand, owning the musical work is referred to

as the publishing rights,

which covers the lyrics before it became a sound recording.

Its melodies sheet, music, composition,

and instrumental arrangements.

Songwriters generally own the publishing rights

and are referred to as the publishers of the music.

Over your shoulder, Taylor,

and the back of the dress.

Over your shoulder, love.

No one told us it was country night.

Y'all wanna hear some country music?

Yeah.

Later on you wanna hear some Jack Ingram?

Yeah.

Right now you wanna hear some Taylor Swift?

You're in the right place.

♪ I was riding shotgun with my hair undone ♪

♪ In the front seat of his car

♪ He's got a one-hand feel on the steering wheel ♪

♪ The other on my heart

♪ I look around, turn the radio down ♪

♪ He says, Baby, is something wrong ♪

♪ I say, Nothing, I was just thinking ♪

♪ How we don't have a song

♪ And he says

♪ Our song is the slamming screen door ♪

♪ Sneaking out late, tapping on your window ♪

♪ When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow ♪

In 2003 at the age of 13,

Taylor went to Nashville to try and sign

with some major labels, but was rejected.

♪ And when I got home

She tried her luck again the following year

and received an artist development deal with RCA records

before becoming the youngest artist, aged 15,

signed by the Sony Publishing house,

but left shortly afterwards due to concerns

that development deals may shelf artists.

♪ Had gone all wrong and been trampled on ♪

Swift took part in an industry showcase

later that year at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe,

where she was recognized by Scott Borchetta,

a Dreamworks Records executive, who was considering

starting his own independent record company.

♪ Our song is the slamming screen door ♪

Swift ultimately agreed

to a 13-year recording contract with Big Machine Records,

the new Nashville-based record label founded by Borchetta.

In exchange for a cash advance, Big Machine

received ownership of the masters for Swift's

first six albums under the terms of the agreement.

Through his media company, SB Projects, Scooter Braun,

an American media proprietor, talent manager,

and businessman, is credited with managing the careers

of musicians Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande,

Demi Lovato, and Kanye West.

When Braun acquired Big Machine Label Group,

they encompassed all aspects of Big Machine's business,

including its client roster, distribution deals,

publishing rights, and music masters.

On June 30th, 2019, Swift made a post and stated

that she had tried to buy the masters for years,

but was not given a chance

unless she signed another contract that would require her

to create six more albums under the label

in exchange for the masters of the first six,

which she felt was unacceptable.

She emphasized Braun's contribution

to making Kanye West's 2016 famous music video,

where West used a stunt double to play Taylor,

which she called a revenge porn video

which strips her body naked.

Swift also alleged that Braun colluded with two clients

to bully Swift online, and persuaded Kim Kardashian,

who was then married to West,

to arrange an illegally-recorded snippet

of Swift's phone call with West.

She was alluding to a FaceTime screenshot of Bieber, West,

and Braun that was posted to Bieber's Instagram

after Kardashian released the snippet.

Despite being aware of Braun's involvement

in harassing Swift, Borchetta was accused by Taylor

of betraying her loyalty by selling the masters to Braun.

On November 14th, 2019, Swift claimed that Braun

and Borchetta had stopped her from singing

some of her older songs at the 2019 American Music Awards

and using some of them in her upcoming documentary,

"Miss Americana."

She said they were exercising tyrannical control

over her music, and claimed Borchetta told her team

that she would be allowed to use the music

only if she agreed to not rerecord copycat versions

of her songs.

Swift commented, "The message being sent to me

is very clear.

Basically, 'Be a good little girl and shut up,

or you'll be punished.'"

For an estimated $405 million Braun sold the masters,

related videos, and artwork to Shamrock Holdings

in October, 2020.

Swift claimed that she tried to bargain with Braun,

but that he only gave her the opportunity

to get the masters back if she signed an ironclad NDA

that only let her talk favorably of Braun.

She refused to sign the NDA.

She also claimed that Braun mandated Shamrock

not to notify her about the sale until it was complete.

After the news came out,

#WeLoveYouTaylor started trending worldwide on Twitter,

with Swifties making their feelings known.

Fans wondered if Taylor was connected

to the investment fund,

but she released a statement clarifying she wasn't part

of this deal at all, and still does not own the masters.

Swift wrote her album "Reputation" as a defense mechanism

that allowed her to to cope with the fallout

in public scrutiny.

She secluded herself from press attention

because she needed to protect her mental health

and stop feeling obliged to explain herself.

On the Reputation Stadium Tour,

Swift was inspired by the love she received from fans

to embrace positivity and vulnerability.

Despite her tarnished reputation in the press,

she realized her fans see her

as a flesh-and-blood human being.

To this end, she conceived her seventh studio album

as a personal vulnerable record

that would connect her with her audience

and showcase her strengths as a singer-songwriter.

Swift wrote "Lover" as a reflection of her personal life,

describing it as very confessional and autobiographical,

yet also playful and whimsical.

She also said the album was a love letter to love

in all of its maddening, passionate, exciting, enchanting,

horrific, tragic, wonderful glory.

♪ Or 20 years

♪ Can I go where you go

♪ Can we always be this close

The track list consists of 18 songs,

more than any of her other albums,

depicting many sentiments stemming from love.

The imagery of "Reputation" was dark and cold.

"Lover"'s bright colors and themes contrasted this.

However, a common misconception is that "Reputation"

lyrically is all about revenge.

Although some songs do touch on this,

the majority of the album details falling in love with Joe

amidst all the personal tumult.

"Lover" acts almost as a sister album,

further detailing the relationship and the highs and lows

of what she had been going through.

In the closing track, "Daylight," Swift contemplates

that love to her now is golden, rather than burning red,

as she once believed, a reference to the title track

of her 2012 Studio album, "Red."

The song represents Swift's mature understanding of love,

her personal life, and her public image.

Although mainly positive,

some critics felt as though "Lover" was a bit too much

like an unnecessary course correction from "Reputation,"

rather than a collection of themes

Swift was really interested in pursuing.

The album features some career highlights,

"Cruel Summer," "Lover," "Cornelia Street," and "Daylight."

However, fans often feel as though the album is too long

and includes some of Swift's worst work today,

including the lead single, "ME!"

Because of "Reputation"'s poor critical success,

many believe Swift wanted to distance herself completely

and start new with the pop sounds and bright colors.

Both albums have now become fan favorites

and have received their flowers,

but at the time it seemed as though Taylor

was at a crossroads with her career.

Although she was still doing well commercially,

she wasn't at the height she was at a couple years prior,

during her "1989" era.

The ongoing Kanye feud and relentless tabloid scrutiny

had taken a toll on Taylor.

In April, 2020, Taylor Swift was set to embark

on Lover Fest, her sixth concert tour

in support of the album.

However, the tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 23rd, 202O, nine captionless black and white images

of Taylor standing alone in the woods were uploaded

to Swift's Instagram account.

She posted another message

on all of her social media platforms

saying that her eighth studio album

would be released at midnight.

Swift stated, "Most of the things I had planned this summer

didn't end up happening,

but there is something I hadn't planned on that did happen,

and that thing is my eighth studio album, 'Folklore.'"

The creation of the album was totally unexpected.

Whilst Taylor was in quarantine,

she watched numerous films, from "LA Confidential,"

"Jane Eyre," "Rear Window," and "Marriage Story."

She also read more books than she ever had before.

Books that dealt with times past,

a world that doesn't exist anymore,

such as "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier.

The fiction encouraged Swift to write songs

that weren't strictly autobiographical,

and instead experimented with alternative points of view.

She allowed her imagination to run wild

when she was alone during the period of lockdown,

creating a series of thoughts and visuals

that later became "Folklore."

"Folklore" was supposed to be released in early 2021,

but it ended up being done earlier

and released without a second thought in July, 2020.

She approached the album's creation

without subjecting herself to any rules,

and explained that she used to put all these parameters

on herself like, how will this song sound in a stadium?

How will this song sound on the radio?

If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?

And I guess the answer is "Folklore."

Swift told Billboard, "It started with imagery,

visuals that popped into my mind and peaked my curiosity.

Stars drawn around scars.

A cardigan that still bears

the scent of loss 20 years later.

Battleships sinking into the ocean, down, down, down.

The tree swing in the woods of my childhood.

Hushed tones of, 'Let's run away' and never doing it.

The sun-drenched month of August,

sipped away like a bottle of wine.

A mirrored disco ball hovering above a dance floor.

A whiskey bottle beckoning, hands held through plastic.

A single thread, that for better or worse,

ties you to your fate.

Pretty soon these images in my head grew faces

or names and became characters.

I found myself not only writing my own stories,

but also writing about or from the perspective

of people I've never met, people I've known,

or those I wish I hadn't."

For "Folklore, Swift's lyrics veered towards escapism

and romanticism.

She enlisted two producers to achieve her desired sound,

her longtime collaborator, Jack Antonoff,

with whom she'd previously collaborated

on the albums "1989," "Reputation," and "Lover,"

and Aaron Dessner,

guitarist for the American indie rock band, The National.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner

quarantined remotely separate from each other,

creating "Folklore" by continually exchanging digital files

of instrumentals and vocals.

The album ensued from a DIY process,

mixed and engineered by personnel scattered across the US.

"Folklore" was written and recorded in secrecy.

Swift, her boyfriend, family, management team,

Antonoff, and Dessner were aware of the album's creation.

She did not disclose the news or play the album

to her friends, like she did with her previous works.

Near the end of "Folklore"'s recording process,

Dessner reached out to his regular collaborators,

including The National band mates,

to provide instrumentation remotely.

"Folklore" asserts something that has been true

from the very start of Swift's career.

Her biggest strength is her storytelling,

but this time her sound departed from pop maximalism

and synth-driven to an alternative indie folk sound.

The stories told in "Folklore" include a ghost

that discovers its murderer at its funeral,

a young girl with a traumatized friend,

an elderly widow shunned by her community,

recovering alcoholics, and a love triangle

between the fictional characters, Betty, James,

and an unnamed woman, as depicted in the tracks

"Cardigan," "Betty," and "August,"

with each of the three songs written

from each of the character's perspective

at different points in their lives.

DIY techniques were used to produce the album art,

packaging, and lyric videos for "Folklore."

Due to COVID-19 issues, Swift worked

without a technical crew on the visuals

with photographer Beth Garrabrant.

The photo shoot marked a change from Swift's older shoots,

where she would have 100 people on set

commanding alongside other people

in a very committee fashion.

She styled herself, including hair, makeup, and wardrobe,

and prescribed Garrabrant a specific moodboard.

The black and white, gray-scale filter on the photos

gives them their distinguishing look.

Swift departs from the technicolor carnival

of its predecessor, "Lover,"

and adopts a rustic, nature-focused, cottage-core aesthetic

for "Folklore" that reflects its lyrical ideas of escapism.

She opens the music video for "Cardigan" by settling down

at an old piano an a quaint cabin in the woods.

♪ But I knew you

♪ Dancing in your Levi's

♪ Drunk under a streetlight, I

♪ I knew you

♪ Hand under my sweatshirt

♪ Baby, kiss it better, I

♪ And when I felt like I was an old cardigan ♪

♪ Under someone's bed

♪ You put me on and said I was your favorite ♪

The album was instantly hailed

as Swift's magnum opus, met with widespread critical acclaim

from critics and fans alike.

"Folklore" shows Swift at her most vulnerable,

the emotional weight and introspective songwriting

made it her most sophisticated and subdued body of work.

She uses the eccentric debutante, Rebekah Harkness,

who married into the standard oil dynasty

and once lived in Swift's Rhode Island house,

in her story in "The Last Great American Dynasty"

to celebrate women who have a marvelous time

ruining everything.

You're able to visualize the song's events in your head

like a tale because it is rich with historical information

and Americana imagery,

but it also makes a powerful statement

about how society views outspoken women.

At the conclusion, Swift skillfully creates a distinction

between Harkness and herself.

The album has been contextualized

as the quintessential lockdown album,

and felt like the perfect accompaniment

for the weird loneliness of 2020.

It is hailed as the first great pandemic art.

"Folklore" and its songs received

five Grammy-Award nominations at the 63rd ceremony,

winning the Album of the Year.

Swift became the first woman in history

to win Album of the Year thrice,

and the fourth artist overall,

tied with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon.

On December 10th, 2020, Swift once again surprised her fans

with the announcement of her ninth studio album

and "Folklore"'s sister record, "Evermore."

She described "Evermore" as an offshoot

of the Folklorian woods.

Swift and Dessner continued to collaborate virtually.

After the release of "Folklore," he would give her

instrumental recordings, to which she would add vocals.

She stated the rave reception of "Folklore"

encouraged her to experiment further with its musical style.

"Evermore" was dubbed "a weird avalanche,"

effecting from "Folklore" by Dessner.

"Evermore"'s creation was a more experimental process

than its predecessor was,

during which the duo did not subject themselves

to any limitations.

Much like "Folklore," on December 10th, 2020,

three days prior to her 31st birthday,

Swift posted nine photos on Instagram,

which together formed an image depicting the singer's back,

with her hair in a braid, and facing a forest.

Swift wrote, "You've all been so caring, supportive,

and thoughtful on my birthdays,

and so this time I thought I would give you something.

I also know this holiday season

will be a lonely one for most of us,

and if there are any of you out there who turn to music

to cope with missing loved ones the way I do,

this is for you."

Prior to the "Willow" music video premiere,

Swift said she likens "Evermore" to fall and winter,

in contrast to its predecessor's, spring and summer.

♪ The more that you say, the less I know ♪

♪ Wherever you stray, I follow

♪ I'm begging for you to take my hand ♪

♪ Wreck my plans, that's my man ♪

♪ You know that my train could take you home ♪

♪ Anywhere else is hollow

♪ I'm begging for you to take my hand ♪

♪ Wreck my plans, that's my man ♪

♪ The more that you say, the less I know ♪

♪ Wherever you stray, I follow

♪ Begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans ♪

"Evermore" is a personal album

that has a strong foundation in character studies,

narrative mythmaking, and complex first-person storytelling

from third-person views.

It further explores the fantastical universe that Swift

created with "Folklore," by using fact and imagination.

The escapist themes of both albums are similar,

but "Evermore" is bolder, unrestrained, frivolous,

and impressionistic, digging deeply into Swift's concepts

of adult love and grief, in contrast to "Folklore"'s

more introspective and sentimental nature.

It was at this point in Swift's career that she was regarded

as the songwriter of her generation.

These two albums were career-redefining,

and threw emphasis on Swift's work ethic,

helping critics recognize her musicianship,

now viewing her as a dedicated singer

moving away from her pop star image in the mid 2010s.

Being a Taylor Swift fan is hard work,

and she doesn't make it easy.

Ever since the beginning of her music career,

the singer has constantly left Easter eggs

within her work to leave fans guessing.

Whether it be hidden messages in lyric booklets

or teasing albums months in advance,

Swift has been the queen of teasing fans since day one.

"It's sort of a tradition that we started

a very long time ago," Swift said to Jimmy Fallon

about the origins of her Easter eggs.

"I think the first time that I started dropping

sort of cryptic clues in my music was when I was 14 or 15,

putting together my first album."

While Swift stopped this tradition

during the "Reputation" era,

she had a habit of hiding messages in her old work.

Specifically, she would hide liner notes

in the lyrics of each of her songs in her CD booklets.

From "Fearless" to "Red," all of her lyrics were lowercase

and the message could be deciphered

through the capitalized letters.

For "1989," she did the opposite.

During these eras, Swift's dating life

was often much more publicized than it is now.

The singer even used her music to address her romances,

from hidden messages to pointed lyrics.

Some of her references were more obvious,

as the liner message for "Should've Said No,"

just said the name Sam repeatedly,

addressing a former boyfriend who allegedly cheated on her.

Others were more subtle, like the liner note

for "Last Kiss," being, "Forever and always,"

a reference to a song title from her former album

that is said to be about Joe Jonas.

As the "Reputation" album kicked into full gear,

the music video for her lead single,

"Look What You Made Me Do," was full of Easter eggs.

Since she wasn't doing interviews during this era,

Swift said it was her way of communicating

and staying connected to her fans.

"Literally the whole video is just an Easter egg,"

she said to Entertainment Weekly.

"There are thousands of Easter eggs.

There are some that people still haven't found.

It will be decades before people find them all."

One of Swift's biggest Easter eggs came in the form

of an Instagram post in April of 2020,

when she shared a photo of herself with a caption,

"Not a lot going on at the moment."

Given that this was during the height of the pandemic,

fans did not consider this an Easter egg at the time.

Of course, once the singer revealed she was releasing

her eighth studio album, "Folklore," all became clear.

As "Folklore"'s release had fans scrambling

to figure out all her Easter eggs,

one major one was William Bowery,

who was credited on two "Folklore" tracks

and is later credited on three for "Evermore."

Swifties were quick to figure out that William Bowery

was a pen name for Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn,

as his great-grandfather's name was William Alwyn,

and the Bowery Hotel was where Swift and Alwyn

first hung out in 2016.

Swift confirms William Bowery's identity

in her Disney Plus film, teasing that,

"William Bowery is Joe, as we know."

On February 11th, 2021, she announced

on "Good Morning America" that the rerecording

of "Fearless," to which she added the subtitle,

"Taylor's Version," was the first in the series

of her rerecorded albums.

She released an anagram-filled video from the vault,

which referred to all of her unreleased songs

from the album.

"The vault door is about to be as unhinged

as you think I am after you watch this video,"

she said on social media.

"Level: Expert. Happy, decoding."

Fans managed to decode the titles of the six new

vault tracks and the name of one of her collaborators,

Keith Urban, who is featured on a song.

The vault tracks Swift wrote when she was

in her teenage years and intended to include in,

but ultimately left out of the original "Fearless" release.

Swift said by including these unreleased tracks,

which she absolutely adored

but were held back for different reasons,

the rerecorded album proved that the artist

is the only one who really knows that body of work.

The same arrangements and lyrics

are used as they were on the original recordings,

which prompted numerous critics to note

that a casual listener might not know any differences,

but underlined that the production

includes more defined instruments,

a crisper mix, and greater quality.

Journalists described "Fearless"

as a key event in raising awareness

for artists' rights in the music industry.

They considered that Taylor's Version branding

an effective strategy in mobilizing Swift fans

to consume the rerecorded album over the original.

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart,

a return to the number one spot,

13 years after the original release in 2008.

On June 18th, 2021,

Swift revealed that "Red"

would be released on November 19th, 2021

and would contain all 30 songs

that were meant to be on the 2012 version.

She also teased the original 10-minute-long version

of the fan favorite track, "All Too Well,"

which had been highly requested by fans,

as part of the track listing.

On August 5th, Swift posted a cryptic video

across her social media teasing a word puzzle

for the fans to solve.

It's spelled out, "Chris Stapleton," "Phoebe Bridgers,"

"Babe," "Better Man," and "All Too Well 10 Minute Version."

Swift revealed a teaser for "All Too Well: The Short Film."

The Teaser showed a vintage car driving past a road

bounded by autumnal woods, and it was written and directed

by Swift, starring herself, Sadie Sink, and Dylan O'Brien.

This song has always been hailed as Swift's magnum opus

by critics and fans.

The song details the story of her breakup

with actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

Before "All Too Well" was cut down to a 10-minute version

and then more to a final five minute and 28 second version,

American songwriter, Liz Rose,

with whom Swift wrote the song,

believed it was probably a 20-minute song.

Memories are the building blocks of "All Too Well."

The song relies on specifics of the rise and fall

of a romantic relationship drawn from memory.

Apart from mentioning more expository details,

"All Too Well"

provides greater context than the five-minute version.

Swift mentions the age difference between her

and the subject several times,

and states how the subject used it as an excuse

to terminate their relationship,

but continued to date women of her age.

She recollects the buildup and intensity

of falling in love and acknowledges her naivety.

The track was met with universal critical acclaim,

often hailed as the standout track on "Red"

and a career highlight for Swift.

Publications have said the release

of "Red,"

"All Too Well,"

the accompanying short film,

and Swift's rerecording venture,

collectively is one of the biggest newsmakers

in pop culture moments of all time.

♪ Keep my old scarf from that very first week ♪

♪ 'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me ♪

♪ You can't get rid of it

♪ 'Cause you remember it all too well, yeah ♪

♪ 'Cause there we are again when I loved you so ♪

♪ Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known ♪

♪ It was rare, I was there

♪ I remember it all too well

At the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards,

Swift received five nominations for the short film,

winning three of them.

In her acceptance speech for the Video of the Year award,

she announced a brand new studio album

scheduled for release on October 21st, 2022.

Soon after, the phrase, "Meet me at midnight"

and a clock that was ticking down to midnight

were added to Swift's official website.

Some of Swift's tracks on Spotify had their song canvases

changed to a picture of a clock.

At midnight, Swift posted across her social media accounts

that her 10th studio album would be titled "Midnights."

She described the album as the stories

of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life.

Swift's official website crashed due to heavy traffic

following the posts.

According to Swift, the subject matter of "Midnights"

was inspired by five major topics, self-hatred,

revenge fantasies, wondering what might have been,

falling in love, and falling apart.

When Swift's and Antonoff's partners, Joe Alwyn,

and American actress Margaret Qualley, respectively,

were filming in Panama for the 2022 romantic thriller movie,

"Stars at Noon,"

they decided to team up to co-produce "Midnights."

Since "1989," Jack Antonoff

has worked with Swift repeatedly.

Swift and Antonoff collaborated in New York City.

While their co-stars shot,

the duo wrote 11 of the album's 13 songs together.

Of the remaining two,

Swift wrote the track "Vigilante Shit" alone

and "Sweet Nothing" with Alwyn,

who is credited with his pseudonym, William Bowery.

In contrast to "Folklore" and "Evermore"'s

indie and alternative folk sound,

Swift set out to make an experimental pop album,

extending her alternative approach to synth pop sounds.

"Midnight"'s, distinctive sound has been described

as maximalist minimalism, which incorporates soft melodies,

emphasized beats, and vintage synthesizers.

After experimenting with fictional plot lines and characters

in "Folklore" and "Evermore,"

Swift makes a return to lyricism

that is primarily autobiographical with this album.

The New Yorker said "'Midnights' is a collage

of various emotions during the spontaneous,

restless headspace of nighttime thought,

with a distinctive confessional, but cryptic tone.

The key topics include feminism, insecurity, anxiety,

and self-criticism."

The lead single "Anti-Hero" examines her mental insecurities

in depth, detailing the things she hates about herself

and her struggle with not feeling like a person.

Themes addressed include ghosting acquaintances,

camouflaging narcissism as altruism,

fears of relationships being transactional,

and Swift's inability to co-mingle with people,

normally due to her celebrity status.

Upon the release of "Midnights,"

"Anti-Hero" earned over 17.4 million plays

in its first 24 hours on Spotify globally,

becoming the biggest opening day for a song

in the platform's history.

♪ 'Cause you got tired of my scheming ♪

♪ For the last time

♪ It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me ♪

♪ At tea time, everybody agrees ♪

♪ I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror ♪

♪ It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero ♪

"Midnights" is Swift's most commercially successful

album to date.

It broke a string of sales, streaming, digital, vinyl,

and official chart records globally.

Billboard declared it a blockbuster.

According to Universal Music Group,

"Midnights" moved 3 million global album equivalent units

in its first week, and over 6 million in two months.

It broke all-time records on Spotify,

such as those for the most streamed album in a single day,

with 186 million streams in its opening day,

surpassing the previous record of 155 million streams

by Drake's "Certified Lover Boy."

She scored the most historic week in the 64-year history

of the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart,

as she was the first artist to claim the survey's

entire top 10 in a single frame.

Various publications dubbed Swift as the Paramount pop star

of the 21st century, wielding a commercial

and cultural dominance

surpassing those of her contemporaries.

Swift had now become unstoppable.

Her career has lasted longer than that of The Beatles,

and even broke the band's once deemed unbeatable records.

Critics lauded her ability to remain culturally-relevant

and successful 18 years into her music career,

writing that the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, David Bowie,

and Bruce Springsteen were past their prime at that age.

During her promotion of "Midnights" on talk shows

such as "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"

and the "Graham Norton Show" in October, 2022.

Swift hinted at an upcoming tour.

On November 1st, she announced on "Good Morning America"

and through her social media accounts

her sixth concert tour, The Eras Tour, describing it

as a journey through the musical eras of her career.

The initial US states were so popular

that several politicians and government officials

demanded the tour be brought to their country or city.

Everyone knew getting tickets for Taylor Swift's

The Eras Tour was going to be a challenge,

but no one, especially not Ticketmaster,

the platform responsible for distributing said tickets,

seemed remotely aware of just how messy the process

would turn out to be.

The Verified Fan program from Ticketmaster enables users

to sign up in advance and have access to presale tickets.

The highest registration in the site's history,

over 3.5 million individuals registered for the program

in advance of Swift's tour,

and roughly 1.5 million were allowed access to the presale.

However, according to Ticketmaster,

when the presale began on November 15th, 2022,

bots and fans without invite codes crowded the site,

causing it to crash repeatedly

and aggravating fans to the point of rage.

Fans complained of hours-long wait times

that resulted in technical glitches

as well as presale phases that were rescheduled or canceled.

On November 17th, 2022, Ticketmaster announced

that the general sale wouldn't open at all.

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems

and insufficient remaining ticket inventory

to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on sale

for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has been canceled,"

the company tweeted.

Soon after tickets became available on Ticketmaster,

they went on sale all over resale sites,

selling from $200 to over $22,000.

Even some of the few who did initially get

to purchase tickets may have paid more than they expected

because of a dynamic pricing model.

On November 18th, 2022, Swift took to Instagram stories

to address the controversy,

writing a long statement that read, in part,

"There are a multitude of reasons why people had

such a hard time trying to get tickets,

and I'm trying to figure out how this situation

can be improved moving forward."

On December 12th, 2022, Ticketmaster began notifying

select fans, identified as fans who received a boost

during the Verified Fan presale

but did not purchase tickets,

of a second ticket-buying opportunity

to purchase a maximum of two tickets per user

through Ticketstoday.

Ticketmaster sold the first US leg's

remaining 170,000 tickets over four weeks.

However, amid all the drama, the tour received rave reviews

from music and entertainment critics

who praised both the high-end spectacle

and polished artistry of the tour.

♪ Are you ready for it

♪ I'm drunk in the back of the car ♪

♪ And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar ♪

♪ Said, I'm fine, but it wasn't true ♪

♪ I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard ♪

People would come up to me and they'd be like,

"You're gonna just do a show with all the albums in it?"

And I was like, "Yeah, it's gonna be called The Eras Tour."

The versatility of the show's, music, visuals,

and performance art was often a point of praise

in its reviews.

Going through every era of her musical career

creates a spectacle.

As Swift had released four new studio albums

since her Reputation Tour in 2018,

she thought this would be a good way for fans

to be able to hear all the different songs.

The Eras Tour broke ticket sales records worldwide.

On the first day of the US presale alone,

the tour sold over 2.4 million tickets,

the most sold by an artist in a single day.

And on August 31st, 2023,

Swift announced the concert film,

"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," directed by Sam Wrench.

The Eras Tour had a tremendous effect

on the entertainment world, the music business, and more.

It was said to be one of the most significant

21st century cultural phenomena,

attracting attention comparable to Beatlemania in the 1960s.

The tour improved the local economies of its stops

by boosting small businesses and tourism,

drew sizable crowds of fans outside stadiums,

dominated news cycles and social media,

prompted government and organization tributes,

and accelerated the public's consumption of her discography.

Critics often described The Eras Tour

as a monocultural event demonstrating Swift's impact

on popular culture.

Swift is regarded as a trailblazer of the 21st century

for her diverse music ability, songwriting skill,

and business acumen,

all of which have served as an inspiration to musicians,

entrepreneurs, and businessmen all over the world.

She started out with country music, migrated into pop,

and experimented with alternative rock,

indie rock, and electronic sounds,

erasing the lines between musical genres.

Her unique mix of chart success, critical praise,

and fervent fan devotion has been characterized by critics

as a cultural quintessence, allowing her to have

an enormous effect on the music industry and beyond.

There really is no stopping Taylor Swift.

Her career has had its highs and lows,

but she's now untouchable and unstoppable.