Taylor Swift is poised to rake in a staggering $100 million from Spotify in 2023, fueled by her record-breaking streams on the platform. The streaming giant’s year-end Wrapped count estimates Swift’s streams at a whopping 26.1 billion, translating to recorded music royalties of nearly $97 million, as reported by Billboard.
This year, Taylor Swift outshoned her peers by claiming the coveted title of Spotify’s top-streamed artist of 2023. Her total streams are projected to reach 27.2 billion by December’s end. When factoring in publishing revenue, her recorded music royalties from Spotify alone are anticipated to hit $101 million, bringing the overall earnings from the platform to an impressive $131 million.
Swift, with a remarkable 15-year legacy on Spotify, has dominated the platform like never before. The site’s user base continues to expand annually, highlighting Swift’s unparalleled success. To put it in perspective, other top artists like Bad Bunny recorded 18.5 billion streams in 2022, 9.1 billion in 2021, and 8.3 billion in 2020 when crowned the top Wrapped artist for three consecutive years.
Billboard’s calculations extend beyond Spotify, encompassing all major streaming platforms like Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. Swift’s catalog garnered a staggering 38.3 billion streams, translating to approximately $160 million in recorded royalties. When accounting for on-demand streaming revenue across platforms and publishing, her total on-demand streaming revenue reaches close to $200 million.
What sets Swift apart is her ownership of the majority of her masters, making her the primary beneficiary of these earnings. This news coincides with Spotify’s announcement of changes to its royalties structure, aimed at curbing unauthorized streaming inflation. Swift’s financial prowess, coupled with her strategic re-recordings of original albums, positions her as a dominant force in the evolving landscape of the music industry.