Swift's Unmatched Impact on the Music Scene in 2023.

0:03 Calaugashawk Media, Hi, and welcome to Taylor Swift Today. A short round up of all the headlines around Taylor's music, tours, movies in life. Let's make one thing clear right at the start, Taylor Swift's impact on the music scene this year was unparalleled. Her classic tracks, some four years old, climbed back to the top of the charts. She sold albums at an astonishing rate, and her Heiras tour not only injected a financial boost into each city at Graced, but also sparked widespread debate about the problematic ticketing industry as fans clamored to get their hands on tickets. Her relationship with Kansas City chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caused a media stir every time she showed up at an NFL game, and let's not forget she released some truly fantastic music this year.

0:53 By any standard, twenty twenty three was an extraordinary year for a pop star, and that might even be an understatement when it comes to Swift. But Swift's monumental year was just one of the many trends that shaped the music industry over the past year. Let's dive into the year in music through a numbers Lens, Swift's Eras tour shattered records, becoming the highest grossing concert tour in just eight months. It even surpassed the combined gross of the next two biggest tours, Beyonce's and Bruce Springsteen's. It was the first tour ever to exceed one billion dollars in ticket sales, according to Pollstar. Swift also raked in two hundred million in merchandise sales during the tour, which was double what she earned globally on Spotify for her entire catalog streaming. With a staggering twenty six point one billion global streams on Spotify, the platform paid out over one hundred million dollars for her music this year. Swift had four of the top ten most consumed albums in the US this year, based on data from Luminate.

1:57 Her album Midnights was second only to Morgan Wallin's One Thing at a Time, with nineteen eighty nine Taylor's version Lover and Speak Now, Taylor's version also ranking high. In fact, Swift's albums comprised eight of the top twenty five best performing albums in the US this year. What sets Swift apart from her contemporaries is her ability to keep fans purchasing her albums even as traditional sales decline. She has turned physical albums into collectible items, with Billboard reporting last year that she offered over twenty different physical versions of Midnights. Earlier this year, she released over a dozen physical versions of nineteen eighty nine Taylor's Version, which notably outsold the original version In its debut week. In twenty twenty three, Swift's albums accounted for nearly thirty percent of all album sales, with eleven different albums in the top two hundred, totaling around four point eight million physical and digital sales. Her albums also dominated the top one hundred vinyl chart, taking up five of the top ten slots and making up about twenty eight percent of all vinyl sales on the chart. The buzz around Swift's Taylor's Version albums, along with her massive Eras tour, boosted sales of her other albums. Two Reputation, for example, leaped from one hundred eighteen on last year's year end chart to twenty one this year. A key storyline heading into twenty twenty four is how reputations Taylor's Version will fare compared to the original. Cruel Summer meanwhile,

3:31 finally hit number one on the Hot one hundred more than four years after its release, getting a boost from the widespread success of the Eras tour. Joe Kerey recently addressed the swirling rumors about a potential musical collaboration with Taylor Swift during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The speculation started when Kiri was spotted at the Electric Lady Recording studio in New York City on the same day as Swift. The Stranger Things actor described the experience as quite bewildering. Kerry recounted to Jimmy Fallon that day was really baffling for me. I was just hanging out with John Rooney, a sound engineer, inside the studio, doing my own thing. When I stepped outside, I was greeted by this massive crowd of people. They were all expecting to see Taylor, and then there's me, leaving them wondering who's this guy. While Kirie, who releases music under the stage name Djo and was formerly a member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal, debunked the rumor of any current collaboration with Swift, he didn't dismiss the idea entirely. He playfully suggested to Fallen, maybe those rumors might spark something into existence. Who knows, maybe that day did stir something up in the universe, but as of now, there's nothing happening.

4:50 Carrie's response left the door open for potential future collaborations, even if nothing was in the works at that moment. In a re an episode of their New Heights podcast, brothers Travis and Jason Kelcey delved into the tradition of NFL quarterbacks giving grand gifts during the holiday season. Despite a challenging Christmas Day game for the Kansas City Chiefs, the festive mood wasn't dampened, especially with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey embracing the spirit of giving. Travis, the thirty four year old tight end for the Chiefs, opened up about the impressive and thoughtful gifts exchanged among teammates this year. Quarterbacks usually go all out with big, big, big presence, he remarked during the podcast, co hosted with his brother Jason, who plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles. Travis went on to reveal the generous gift from Mahomes to the Chief's offensive line. Pat gifted the entire offensive line with golf carts, which was pretty awesome, he shared, I remember last Thursday trying to leave the parking lot and everyone was zipping around in them. They're street legals, so you could see people cruising at about thirty five miles per hour. He also highlighted the personalized touch Mahomes added to each gift. Every single one of those golf carts was custom made, complete with the player's names, Travis added, showcasing the quarterback's attention to detail and thoughtfulness in his holiday gifting. More Taylor in just a moment. Fans of Taylor,

6:30 Swift, and Travis Kelcey recently stirred up some playful speculation after noticing what appeared to be a hickey on the Chief star's neck during a game. On social media, one fan excitedly commented, Taylor left a hickey on Travis queen in, while another echoed the sentiment, asking, wait, Taylor gave Travis a hickey. Sports TV host Pat McAfee couldn't help but bring up the topic on his show, humorously noting it did look like he had a Hickey right there on his neck. That made me think him and Taylor are just having fun sucking Next, the conversation took a comical turn when McAfee and his colleagues misheard a comment joking about Kelsey getting his pulse sucked on if you will.

7:11 Swift and Kelsey are enjoying the holiday season together, with Swift spotted at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day supporting Kelsey and the Chiefs despite their loss against the Raiders. There's also buzz that she'll be cheering him on from the stands on New Year's Eve during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Christmas Day game wasn't just eventful for the alleged Hickie sighting, Kelsey showed his fiery side too. Frustrated, he hurled his helmet to the ground, which then bounced into the stands and had a tense exchange with coach Andy Reid. On the latest episode of the New Heights podcast alongside his brother Jason, Kelsey reflected on the incident, Coach Reid was looking out for me, and I love him for it, he admitted, I didn't go back out there and play well. He wanted to see the fire in me, but I reacted in a bad way.

8:01 He wanted the best out of me, and right now I'm just not playing my best football. Kelsey's candid acknowledgment of the moment showed a reflective side to the star athlete. And there you have it. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your app of choice, and if you like the show, hit those five stars on Apple. It really helps us out. I'm Annaie Sidel. Thanks to Mark Francis and John McDermott. This is Taylor Swift Today.