In their investment era: Swifties celebrate helping their idol reclaim her music
Tori Cummins cried when she heard that Taylor Swift had bought back the rights to her original albums.
The 32-year-old estimated she's spent around $700 on Taylor's Version vinyls and merch, and it was worth every penny.
"All I could think of was like, 'oh, I will keep spending money on this woman," Cummins said, adding that she'd had to explain to a non-Swiftie why she felt the pop star's victory was hers, too. "It's so easy to be a fan of hers because at no point do you really feel like you aren't getting just as much as you put in."
Last week, Swift announced that she had bought back her original master recordings for a reported $360 million. In a letter announcing the news, Swift cited the support of her fans through the Taylor's Version rerecordings and the Eras Tour as the reason she was able to make the acquisition.
"Not to be parasocial or anything, but it is so cool to think about the fact that we did support her all throughout this Taylor's Version journey," Allie Buckman, a 19-year-old Swiftie in Kentucky, said.
For Swifties, it's a gratifying end to a yearslong battle. They've been loyally listening to re-recorded "Taylor's Version" songs and abstaining from listening to the "stolen" versions since 2019 to avoid enriching mega-manager Scooter Braun and then Shamrock Holdings, from whom Swift made the purchase last week.
It's also another prescient marketing move from the megastar: Fans are joking that their spending on the Eras Tour, which for many was in the hundreds or thousands, functioned as a form of GoFundMe for Swift to make the purchase.
Crystal Haryanto, who started a course on Swift at UC Berkeley and is the author of the upcoming book, "The Glory of Giving Everything," on the star's business model, said the letter Swift wrote did more than express gratitude. It "reminds fans that they have equity in the music," though not legally, of course.
"From a marketing perspective, presenting this milestone as a joint effort is conducive to sales of future albums," Haryanto said. "Fans are motivated to keep listening to her music because such actions appear to have a measurable impact on Swift's well-being—the dream of any fan toward their favorite person."
For Kerry Weber, a 46-year-old Swiftie in marketing who attended the Reputation tour and multiple dates of the Eras Tour, said that Swift made several "genius" marketing moves in the lead-up to the masters acquisition, such as the re-recordings and adding new sets to the tour after the wildly successful concert film was released. Weber said that the sentiment among the "haters" was that Swift milked money from her fans — something she disputes.
"I got something in return is how I look at it. I got to go to London with my daughter for the first time, and that was amazing. I don't care, she can have my money just for that alone," Weber, who estimated that she spent a few thousand dollars on a London trip for the Eras Tour, said. "And if that money bought back her masters, I think it's fantastic."
Haryanto said that bridging the gap with fans has always been "foundational" to Swift's branding strategy. She described it as akin to attracting repeat customers in retail — it curates customers who not only come back, but get even more satisfaction from supporting the brand as a whole.
"To know that the money I spent at a concert was going to something like this and was going to this project that I think will hopefully also change things for other artists and younger artists in the future — it's a really gratifying moment," Larissa Miles, a 26-year-old Swiftie in Minnesota, said.
Bridget Doyle, a 30-year-old Swiftie in Boston who previously told BI she spent $1,500 on attending the Eras Tour, said that the masters move feels like a return on investment of 20 years of being a fan.
"If anything, I think it's going to make fans want to spend more because I think fans get more of a direct, like I'm investing in you making this art in order to encourage you to continue making more art that we all enjoy and love," Doyle said.
The move from Swift coincides with a larger conversation over intentional spending. Americans are participating in "Tesla Takedowns" over Elon Musk's political involvement and boycotting Target over the department store's DEI retreat. While Swift's music might not seem as pressing an issue, Swifties said that they like seeing their investments serve what they see as a great purpose.
"It goes to show you that boycotting and supporting causes that matter to you make a difference," Brittany Michalski, a 36-year-old Swiftie, said. "What we do matters. And even if it's so a pop star can own her music, it's going to make a difference in the music industry for people who aren't as powerful as her."
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