Taylor Swift’s Revenge on the Music Industry Was Pure Genius

I want to over-deliver on production, over-deliver on the length of it, the exertion. Most people see Taylor Swift as a musician, but behind the success is a woman who has outplayed every label, every streaming service, and every executive who underestimated her. I don't want to be in a partnership, I don't want to own 30 percent of it, I want to own all of it. From fighting to own her masters, to making Spotify's CEO fly to Nashville, to turning five albums worth of demand into a two billion dollar tour, this is Taylor Swift the businesswoman. And this is how she did it. 1. The smartest move in music history It's a thing that happened where I had wanted to own my work of my first six albums when I changed record labels. In 2019, Taylor's entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun, someone she publicly accused of bullying her for years. But she won't just leave that away. So I decided, I just figured if I made them the first time, I can make them again. I love it. Yes, that's brilliant. But the story goes even further than that. I signed a record deal when I was 15. I never owned my music at all. None of it was hers at all. Every album, every song owned by the label. Traditionally, a lot of record deals are set up in a way that artists don't own what's called their master recordings. And owning your masters means owning everything. Every license, every decision, every use, and every dollar. That's what Taylor had been chasing her whole career. My music has been sold a few times. The first time that it was sold, it really ripped my heart out of my chest. And I told everybody exactly how that felt for me. Of course, she felt every bit of it. I started basically defiantly re-recording my music because I wanted to own it. And this was the only way I thought it was ever going to happen. But that is Taylor Swift. She never stops. Not even close. I don't want to be in a partnership. I don't want to own 30% of it. I want to own all of it. You can't play her. That much is clear. Crew. I sent my mom and my brother, who I work with. No lawyers, no management. Just her family walking into that room. They told them the whole story of all the times we've tried to buy it. All the times it's fallen through. All the times we had gotten plans together and figured out. They all led with their heart. And a couple months later, something happened. You got your music. I just, like, very dramatically hit the floor. For real. Finally, after everything. And the first person she told is no one but Travis. And I'm trying to say it in a normal way, and I'm just like, Travis! I'm like, oh no. What just happened? That's completely normal, totally fine. Every time I think about it, it's like, I have to tell the short version to everyone. Because it is still like, this will affect the rest of my life. Proud of her, every bit of it is worth it. 2. The $2 billion dollar heiress tour strategy. I think what I thought in the beginning was, we were seeing all this insane demand for the tour. For years, Taylor released album after album. But in 2020, the pandemic canceled everything. And the demand just kept building. Like five albums, I haven't gotten to tour any of them. There's just built up demand. She could have rushed back out on the road. But she didn't. She waited for the right moment. It was gonna be this, until you started hearing about people's experiences at the show. That's right. $2 billion dollars in revenue, the highest grossing tour of all time. And she still wasn't done. Because we have this, we have this concert film and docu-series coming out on the 12th. About the heiress tour. Yes, she turned the entire tour into a film. And monetized it all over again. Because my whole life I've been trying to study, not just entertain people, but really transport them. And that wasn't by accident. She had been studying this her whole life. Out of their problems, their life, their stresses, how do you really create a sense of escape? She knew what fans needed before they even knew themselves. And then she built it. And when I was reading articles where it's like, medical professionals are diagnosing several fans who came to the heiress tour. That's right. This is Taylor Swift reading the medical reports on her own fans. They were getting like, joy blackouts. And I was like, oh. Oh man, I think this one's different. I think this tour is different. And that's when she knew. She actually pulled it off. 3. Taylor Swift vs. Spotify. Taylor Swift abruptly pulling all of her albums from the streaming service Spotify, just days after the release of her hot new album, 1989. So in 2014, Taylor Swift made one of the biggest decisions of her career. She pulled every single album off Spotify. And nobody saw it coming. File sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically. And every artist has handled this blow differently. She had never been a fan of streaming. But that wasn't even the biggest problem yet. Swift makes $175,000 versus the $10 million she makes selling it on iTunes. 1989 sold 1.2 million copies in its first week. But the difference in revenue between streaming and buying? That was the real question. Spotify says they hope Swift will change her mind and join us on building a new music economy that works for everyone. Spotify was scared. They came begging. And Taylor was not joking around. I went to Nashville many, many times to talk to her team, spend more time directly explaining the model, why streaming mattered. Yes, that's right. The CEO of Spotify had to get on a plane just for Taylor Swift. When the new album came out, she came to Stockholm and spent some time with our team there figuring out a way that made sense for her. And after years of being absent from the platform, she finally came back, on her own terms. 4. How Taylor made the music industry bow down Taylor Swift is probably one of the smartest people I've ever met, putting age not a factor. This is the CEO of iHeartMedia. Not her fan, not her friend. And that's his take. She only got half a million dollars for all the stuff on Spotify for the whole year. Every song she ever had. And she's a major artist. For every song she's ever made in an entire year. No wonder she walked. The thing you have to watch for. Because, by the way, after Taylor did it, Jason Aldean, a huge country artist, did the same thing. Jason Aldean, one of the biggest names in country music. And he did the exact same thing. And I think everyone's watching it saying, is this the moment? That's right. One move, and suddenly everyone had to reconsider. Even a company that claims they're not in the selling business couldn't resist going all out for Taylor Swift. But Taylor wasn't just fighting the industry. She was also reshaping how music gets made, released, and experienced. 5. The 1989 Strategy Really important to constantly challenge yourself. And also, I think you have to keep people's attention by surprising them. Taylor has never made the same album twice, and that was always the plan. When the song I Knew You Were Trouble came out and spent seven weeks at number one on the pop charts, that was kind of like a warning flare. She was already telling everyone where she was going, but nobody took notes. Because I remember reading that your record label said, can we at least have one, two, three country songs on this album? So the label asked her nicely. But Taylor had other plans. It would be exploiting an entire genre just because I didn't want to ruffle feathers. Exploiting a genre just to play it safe? Not a chance. But that was just the beginning of her strategy. And in this case, it's that I handpicked hundreds of fans for these listening sessions. That's right. Hundreds of fans in her house. I invited them over because I'm so wildly excited about this album, I needed them to hear it first. The world heard it after. Her fans heard it first. 6. Taylor Swift turns mistakes into gold. I had made the mistake of saying in an interview the truth, which is that it had started out as a 10-minute song. So Taylor wrote all too well as a 10-minute song, cut it down to just over four minutes. And what she said about that in an interview turned out to be a big mistake. My fans would not let it go. They were like, I'd be doing an interview for something else, albums later, and they'd be like, where's the 10-minute version? That's right. The same question. Every single interview. I am going to put out the 10-minute version. I'm just going to show them what it was. So she gave it to them, but it became something bigger than a music video ever could be. I really want to make, I want to tell a story that goes along with it visually, that's more than a music video. And that ambition changed everything. I'd been directing my music videos for a while at this point, and writing and directing them was really fun for me. Not just an artist, a director, a writer, a creative director of her own career. That would be such an honor. I would do anything to get to keep learning and keep growing in that world. And she meant it. But this mindset didn't come from nowhere. It started way earlier than anyone realized. 7. Biggest mindset at 14 years old I think about my future every day. I think about what's going to happen, and I plan ahead. When Taylor Swift was 14, most kids were thinking about the weekend. She was thinking about what comes after the career. I'm just going to live one day at a time, because it's so much fun, and I want to just enjoy it for everything that it is. She's a planner, but she also knew when to just enjoy the ride. If I'm not a star, then I definitely want to be a writer. Even the backup plan was strategic. I know that what I want to do is music, because everyone's like, yeah, you should do what you love. And this is what I love. And she wasn't wrong. I go into a writer's meeting, and, you know, they're really nice, and then I leave, and they tell my publisher and my mom. They were nice to her face, but... You know, we thought she was going to come in here and be like, you know, we'd have to write a song for her, and I'm like, you thought that? She broke every stereotype a young musician could have. I really think that if you prove yourself, then people will see past your age. What a mindset to have at 14. That's not something most adults figure out. And that mindset never went away, because as Taylor grew, so did the scale of everything she touched. 8. The First Interactive Music Video in History Thankfully so have my fans, and they proved that they're ready and willing to invest in music and pay their hard-earned money. At a time when the industry said music was dying, Taylor had a different read. Instead of fighting the story, she owned it, and turned it into a billion-stream music video. She didn't stop at the video. She built an entire interactive world around it, full of hidden messages, secret rooms, and Easter eggs. And that took courage, because it was the first time anyone had ever done this for a music video. You know, it's really fun to have fans that actually do care about videos and storylines and lyrics. She knew exactly who she was making it for. Try. But you did stop short of murder, right? Just try. And that says everything. Even the host couldn't put it down. To over-deliver. You know, I really wanted people to get more than they expected. Taylor Swift didn't just want to put on a show. She wanted to over-deliver. Every single time. Packing stadiums like this, I want to over-deliver on production, over-deliver on the length of it, the exertion. And then something happened that nobody planned. Not even her. Friends. And the whole friendship bracelet thing was pretty beautiful, too, where people would That's right. No marketing. No strategy. People just felt that way. And yes, she noticed the business opportunity immediately. But have you ever wondered where she studied all of this from? 10. It started when she was 8. Ever since I was a little kid, ever since I was like 8 years old, my dad has been telling me to save my money or invest in utilities. So this is where it began. Turns out the business mindset runs in the family. And because my dad is a stockbroker, and he lives and breathes it. This guy lives for being a stockbroker. Just like Taylor with music, her dad loved his work that much. I didn't know what a stockbroker was when I was 8, but I would just tell everybody that's what I was going to be. And now she manages a billion-dollar empire, negotiates her own deals, and owns her master's. Turns out she was right all along. And they're like, so what do you guys want to be when you grow up? I'm going to be a financial advisor. Every other kid picks something fun. But Taylor picked the stock market. I love my dad so much because he's so gung-ho for his job. And I just saw how happy it made him. She saw someone who loved what they did with everything they had. And she went and did exactly that. 11. Taylor's secret tradition. Taylor Swift. Okay. As a businesswoman, Taylor never just thinks about the bottom line. She makes sure everyone around her feels it too. Bonus day is so important because setting a precedent with the heiress tour is really important to me. She calls it bonus day. And it happens every tour. If the tour grosses more, they get more of a bonus. And these people just work so hard, and they are the best at what they do. Every single person who helped make the show happen, she makes sure they know it. Every single person on the crew, I've handwritten them a note. That's right. It's not just the money. There's a personal letter from Taylor. For each of them. Dearest Cam, we've traveled the world like we set out to do. We've dazzled the crowds, but we've missed family too. Of course, that letter says everything she never gets to say in person. $$$ just to say things. Love, Taylor. And the whole room feels it at once. To think about everybody's lives that they're going to go back to, and the time off they're going to have, and the kids they haven't seen because they've been away for months. For her, it's never just about the show. It's about the people who make it happen. I love you guys so much. It's fun to write them notes. And that's not just generosity. That's how you build something that lasts. Is there anything bad happening that you don't know about? Nothing. Nothing's going to happen, alright? You gotta go. This is the system. The crew is part of her growth. Keep them invested, and they'll make sure you win. She even brought the whole team to the Ears Tour premiere on the red carpet. Not as guests, as equals. That's the Taylor Swift difference. And nobody's going anywhere. Twelve. From lyrics to perfume. And it's called Wonderstruck. Wonderstruck. And why is it called Wonderstruck? So besides music, Taylor Swift has a perfume, and it's called Wonderstruck. And the song's called Enchanted, and it has this line in it that says, I'm Wonderstruck blushing all the way home. That's right. She named it after a lyric from her own song. Because why not? It's got vanilla and amber and freesia, also notes of peach. That's not a perfume ingredient list. That's a Taylor Swift song in a bottle. What happened to your voice just now? And does your boyfriend like the way it smells? I don't have one. And Wonderstruck was just the beginning. Because Taylor Swift doesn't stop at one revenue stream. Ever. Thirteen. How Taylor Swift sold the same album four times. Taylor takes whatever chance she gets, like when she won a VMA in 2022. She used that moment to announce her next album on the spot. Hi. I know that I have a habit of dropping cryptic clues and Easter eggs when giving you information about new music, and I'm not. And to promote it? Not the usual way. Taylor loves an Easter egg, and she went all in. Welcome to a new series I'm calling Midnight's Mayhem with me. She made a TikTok series to reveal track names one by one. Because of course she does. The first track I'm going to tell you about, Mastermind. One track at a time, until every single name was out. But it didn't stop there. Of Midnight's as a complete concept album. Three hours after the album dropped, she surprised everyone with an extended version. At 3 a.m. chaos immediately. And the internet went into full meltdown mode. Everyone wanted in. And if you turn them over, there is obviously a back cover to each one of them. They're each different. And then another Easter egg dropped, and fans immediately caught it. She's a clock. It's a clock. That's right. Put all four versions of the vinyl together, and the back covers form a clock. Oh my god, it looks so amazing. Which means, buying one was never going to be enough. Fans needed all four just to complete the picture. That's a master class. 14. The snake that made Taylor Swift unstoppable. Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'm gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. In 2009, Kanye West interrupted Taylor's VMA speech live on stage, and the internet never let her forget it. One of the best videos of all time. Then in 2016, Kanye released a song claiming he made Taylor famous, and claimed she approved it. But Taylor said that was not true. Then Kim Kardashian leaked a phone call implying Taylor approved it. And the internet called her a snake. But she kept completely silent for over a year. And then she dropped reputation, with a snake everywhere, on stage, in the MV, in the merch. She didn't fight the narrative, she became it. Four years later, the full phone call leaked. Taylor was right the whole time. And then she turned it back on him. At the awards, in front of everyone. I first met Kanye West six years ago, at this show actually. I have to say to all the other winners tonight, I'm really happy for you. And then this is the best part. Has had one of the greatest careers of all time. That's right. That's how you respond to a PR crisis. 15. Taylor Swift found a way to stay relevant forever. Wherever you fall, you can now take a course all about one of the world's biggest pop stars. Belgium's Ghent University. Taylor Swift isn't just an artist anymore, she's a subject. The university says there is high interest in taking that class, of course. This isn't the first type of course of its kind, though it is believed to be the first in Europe. Universities across the world are now teaching entire courses about her. Harvard, Stanford, University of Texas Austin, all offering Taylor Swift courses. My parents were thrilled. They both wanted to learn more about her ever since I started showing an interest in her. And these aren't diehard Swifties. Some of them had never really listened to her before the class. And now they're fans. My mom actually is the one who sent me a link. She was just like, well, if, you know, it's been approved by the university, I'm sure it'll be worthwhile. That's the cycle. Old Swifties grow up. New ones come in. Well, songwriting, of course, is one of the art forms that uses words along with other things. Taylor Swift didn't just build a fan base, she built a legacy that keeps recruiting. And that's strategy. It essentially, like, revitalized so much of the economy and boosted the local economy Taylor Swift didn't become a genius businesswoman overnight. Every decision, every fight, every calculated move, it was all part of a plan she had been building since she was a teenager. And where she is now is still not the finish line. And honestly? We can't wait to see what she does next. If you loved this, hit like, subscribe, and share it with someone who still underestimated Taylor Swift.