Taylor Swift is among the most powerful artists of her generation — and her fans, the Swifties, are among the most powerful fandoms. On this week’s episode of Billboard On the Record, host Kristin Robinson explores the nature and business of superfandom with Olivia Levin, the New York Times best-selling author and founder of social media page @swiftiesforeternity. Levin shares how she turned her page into a six-figure income, spanning ticketing, social media management, writing and brand deals. She also explains why Taylor Swift continues to inspire such loyalty with her listeners, why her re-recordings changed the game and what she thinks the music business gets wrong about superfans like her.
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Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions.
Host:
Kristin Robinson
Executive Producers:
Diona DaCosta
Jade Watson
Produced By:
Kayla Forman
Mateo Vergara
Edited By:
Rachel Derbyshire
Kristin Robinson: The biggest buzzword that I’ve been hearing is super fans. You wrote the book on the Taylor Swift fandom. What do you think the music business get wrong about being a super fan?
Olivia Levin: Some people try to sell so much to super fans rather than make them a part of what the artist is doing, and that is something Taylor gets right every single time.
You managed to make @swiftiesforeternity into this business as a fan where you’re running an HQ account for another artist. You’re still doing @swiftiesforeternity and doing brand deals and stuff like for that, and then ticketing. Is there a ballpark of how much you’ve been able to make?
Six figures.
What are some ways that you’ve seen Taylor Swift really treat her fans right, that have led to her having such, like, a long-lasting fandom?
She always made time to connect with them, online but also in person. She’s famously known to have done a 13-hour meet and greet where she stood for 13 hours and she took no breaks because the fans weren’t getting any breaks.
Taylor Swift is among the most impactful artists of her generation, and her fans, the Swifties, may be music’s most impactful fandom. I’m not just saying that for flattery. I do think that it is undeniable that not only is Taylor Swift a massive artist with a sprawling catalog of hits, often written all by herself, she also has had a sizable impact on the music business in a number of ways. But just one example is, let’s be honest, how many people outside the music industry knew or cared about catalog sales until her? Today, I’m joined by Olivia Levin, a Taylor Swift super fan and the founder of the social media account @swiftiesforeternity which boasts over 630,000 followers on Instagram.
Keep watching for more!
