Like it or not, Taylor Swift is the world’s most popular pop star. Her new album 1989 is now on track to sell 1.2 million albums this week, and that’s without the aid of Samsung (Jay Z), cheap Amazon deals (Lady Gaga), or sneak releases (Beyoncé). This is just ridiculous:
If 1989 sells as forecasted, it will become the biggest-selling album released in 2014 after only one week on sale, have the largest sales week by any album since Red, and make Swift the only act to earn three million-selling weeks. (Via)
We’ve already covered her pandering genius, but how did Swift get here? Let’s try to figure out, not focusing so much on the MAJOR EVENTS, but the small stuff. Think of it like Boyhood, except ew, boys.
1. Swift went to Bible school.
2. Swift lived on a Christmas tree farm.
3. Swift attended a preschool run by nuns.
4. Swift and her family owned ponies.
5. Swift tried out for Broadway musicals.
6. Swift wanted to move to Nashville after watching a Behind the Music on Faith Hill.
7. Swift wrote a poem, “Monster in My Closet,” that won a nationwide contest.
8. Swift was an Abercrombie & Fitch model.
(All of those things are real. She’s the most Taylor Swift that’s ever Taylor Swift’d.)
Also, she’s an ingenue who’s been writing and performing since she was a kid, and she was smart enough to notice the lack of teenage country singers (the market was there), and her music has grown more adult as her fanbase has aged, but I think it’s mostly the pony-owning, poetry-writing, Bible school-attending, Behind the Music-watching thing.
Put that all together, and you get this:
Forbes estimates she’s earned $252 million since June 1 of 2008, while our modest figures see her earning $239 million in income with another $86 million in real estate and plane assets. Being in the current 39.6 percent tax bracket, she’s probably paid $94.6 million to the IRS over the years, not factoring in any charity, other deductibles, and any creative accounting. Her dad is an SVP at Merrill Lynch, and her mom worked in mutual-fund marketing, so it’s fair to assume that Taylor has all her ducks in a row when it comes to finances. With an above-average 15 percent going to management, other staffers, and care for her cats Meredith and Olivia Benson, that would all leave her with $195,844,245.11, with a whole lot more coming soon after 1989.
