Forbes announce Taylor Swift as most powerful woman in media and entertainment

Taylor Swift has been announced as the most powerful woman in media and entertainment by Forbes.

• READ MORE: ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film review: this is cinema (Taylor’s version)

The ‘Evermore’ singer landed the Number Five spot on this year’s Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women list, soaring up the ranks from her 79th position back in 2022. Her ‘Eras’ tour is reported to have made roughly $850million (£675 million) and is estimated to have boosted the US economy by over $5billion. The pop singer’s net worth reached $1.1billion in October 2023.

Women featured in the 2023 ranking represent six categories: business, technology, finance, media & entertainment, politics & policy, and philanthropy. Beyoncé has ranked as the third most influential woman in media and entertainment and Oprah Winfrey landed the second place.

With a record-breaking world tour, the ability to move economies and a $1.1 billion net worth, 33-year-old @taylorswift13 ranks among the most influential women on the planet. https://t.co/3AVZJqhhO2 #PowerWomen pic.twitter.com/0tVc1fDv3y

— Forbes (@Forbes) December 6, 2023

On the overall list, Swift ranked behind political leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen landed the top spot, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde came in second and United States Vice President Kamala Harris in third. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni came in fourth place behind Swift herself.

2023 saw the ‘Style’ singer make history and break records. Back in October, it was announced that Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour was set to become the most lucrative tour in music history.

The stadium-filling shows, which kicked off in March and are set to run until late 2024, are projected to raise a total of $5.7billion, which would be enough to send everybody in the US $20.

The estimate, cited by the Washington Post, came from Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College in Massachusetts. The numbers suggest that Swift’s income from the tour would be larger than the annual GDP of 42 countries in the world.

The record-breaking tour had a significant impact on the US economy too, with ticket sales, merchandising and travel all contributing to the overall total. The software company QuestionPro has calculated that each show raised around $93million for the local economy.

“Swift and her ‘Eras’ tour have redefined entertainment economics,” said Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at the ticket retailer SeatGeek, in an interview with Washington Post.

Her documentary, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, scored the biggest opening weekend for a concert film in history.

The New York Times reported that the film earned an estimated $126million (£103million GBP) in movie theatres globally, with $95million (£78million GBP) coming from North American screenings alone.

The remaining $31million (£25million GBP) came from The Eras Tour’s international screenings, which took place in over 90 countries and territories.

As reported by Forbes, “Two nights of her tour in Denver added $140million to Colorado’s gross domestic product, thanks to fans spending an average $1,300 apiece on hotels, restaurants and retailers.

“The Philadelphia Federal Reserve even cited Swift in its June Beige Book, noting that May — the month the Pennsylvania native performed at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly for three nights — marked the strongest month for city hotel revenue since before the pandemic. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that, collectively, the U.S. leg of the Eras tour added more than $5 billion to state economies.”

Swift also spiked an increase in American football viewership when she began dating Kansas City Chief tight end and two-time Super Bowl champion, Travis Kelce. Sales of his jersey increased by 400 per cent during the speculation of the pair’s romance.

The popstar was recently crowned Spotify’s Top Global Artist of 2023, with Swift racking up over 26 billion streams on the platform and is set to reportedly earn earn over $100million (£78million) from Spotify streams alone in 2023.

In other news, Swift recently revealed the intense training she went through in preparation for her massive ‘Eras’ tour.

In a new interview with Time magazine, who named the pop star 2023’s Person of the Year, Swift opened up about what it took to be able to take on her intense, over three-hour-long shows every night.

Speaking to the outlet, Swift broke down her gruelling training regime saying: “Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud…Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs…Then I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones… I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”