What a month Taylor Swift has had — between several awards, announcing new albums, the Super Bowl, the international start of the Eras Tour and more, the woman is somehow in one part of the world one day in February and another part the next. She is selling out stadiums, getting tons of press (both good and bad, of course) on every aspect of her life and balancing a relationship at the same time. If she has a Google calendar, it must be overwhelmed with all of the things she has to do every single day. I mean seriously, she went to dinner with Sabrina Carpenter while they’re touring in Australia, and I just couldn’t even believe she had time for that.
With all of the news surrounding the pop star this month, you might not have been able to keep up. In case you missed anything, here were all of the major happenings in Swift’s hectic life during the month of February.
Universal Music Group pulled all music by artists, including Swift, from TikTok on February 1
Universal Music Group took their catalog off TikTok because they say they failed to come to an agreement with the app that would adequately pay the musical artists for the use of their songs. TikTok denied this, but either way, Swift’s music is off the app since she has been in a publishing partnership with the group since 2020. Any video using music owned by Universal Music Group as its “sound” has been subsequently muted.
Luckily, videos taken at the Eras Tour have not been silenced, so you can still post videos from the show you’re at — or live vicariously through concert goers who post about it. But, posts following trends like the “Bejeweled” dance (originally created by Mikael Arellano, who later received the “22” hat at the tour) went silent because of the music being removed. Arellano posted this video poking fun at the group’s decision.
Other Swifties on TikTok came up with a way to get around the music being taken down: singing their own covers of the songs for creators to use in their videos. Talia Sporkin (@taliasporkin14 on TikTok) released this cover of “Slut!” the day after the music was taken down. While it’s disappointing to see Swift’s recordings get taken off the app, Swifties are really supporting Swifties by using their covers and giving their accounts more exposure, which is truly a great thing.
Swift announced the release of The Tortured Poets Department, her new album, at the Grammys on February 4
After winning Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights, Swift surprised fans by announcing a new album called The Tortured Poets Department, which will be released on April 19. Some people believe this date may be about her breakup with Joe Alwyn because it is the same day fans noticed Ryan Reynolds had unfollowed Alwyn on Instagram in 2023. Additionally, the album’s name could be a reference to an interview between Alwyn and Paul Mescal (fellow Brit and ex of Phoebe Bridgers, who is friends with Swift) in which they joked about being part of a “tortured man club.” Some of the song’s names, like “So Long, London” and “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” are only making the rumors seem more legitimate.
Before she made this announcement, Swift had fans believing that she would publicly state that she was re-recording Reputation. Her profile picture was changed to have a black and white filter, as were many of her close friends, which fits the theme she followed during her first Reputation era. This ultimately might have been to trick fans who are essentially spoiling Swift’s plans by analyzing her and the people around her so closely. Part of the great thing about Swift and her scheming, though, is that she’s always one step ahead and you can never really know what her next move is.
Also at the 2024 Grammys: Swift became the first artist to ever win Album of the Year four times
In addition to winning Best Pop Vocal Album, Swift won Album of the Year for Midnights. When she won the same award for Fearless in 2007, she was the youngest to ever win it. Now, she is the first to have won the award four times (the other two being folklore and 1989).
The next leg of the Eras Tour started just a few days later on February 6
The international leg of the Eras Tour kicked off in Tokyo, Japan at the beginning of the month and continued to Melbourne, Australia toward the end. On the first day of the tour in Australia, Swift sang “You’re Losing Me” for the first time since releasing the record, which leaked in 2023. Additionally, that show had the biggest crowd Swift’s ever played to — a total of 96 thousand fans were there.
The Super Bowl got hit with the “Taylor Swift effect” on February 11, with a record breaking number of viewers this year
Last year, the focus of the Super Bowl was that the Kelce brothers, Jason and Travis (who were on the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively) were playing against each other. This year, the anticipation surrounding the game had more to do with whether or not Swift would be there since she had just started her tour in Tokyo, Japan, so that she could see Travis — now her boyfriend — play. It’s wild what can change in a year. She made it back, and viewers got to see them kiss on the field at the end, plus there were some great memes.
Swift’s presence at the Super Bowl may or may not have something to do with the over 200 million viewers this year. Was this the “Taylor Swift effect”? Personally, I think so. I know I’ve never watched the game in its entirety before this year. Plus, Swifties started a unique trend of throwing Taylor Swift themed Super Bowl parties called “Taygates.” These parties might be more about the singer and her relationship than the sport itself, but it gives people who aren’t interested in sports a reason to celebrate.
A lot of people (like me) usually watch just for the commercials, and this year, the commercials actually catered heavily toward women, possibly because of the same effect. Dove had an advertisement about girls in sports, Verizon had Beyoncé as the star of their commercial and Cetaphil even used “Taylor Swift imagery” in their commercial.
A group of academic Swifties gathered in Melbourne, Australia for a “Swiftposium” from February 11 to the 13
A three day conference focusing on Swift’s influence took place at the University of Melbourne. Georgia Carroll, one of the keynote speakers, has her Ph.D. in sociology and studied fan culture, which is just part of what the symposium explored. According to The Guardian, 130 academic papers written by people from around the world were selected to be discussed at the Swiftposium in addition to the two keynotes. These papers covered a variety of different topics like gender studies and musicology, using Swift and her cultural impact as an angle.
Although Carroll is a Swiftie, she said the Swiftposium is not so much for loving Swift but for creating a community of academics to examine a range of topics about Swift’s life, work, and grip on society have effected. With Swift and her work “being everywhere,” — from Harvard classrooms to football games to the studio where she records her songs — a Swiftposium seems more than necessary.
Finally: Travis Kelce is going to the Eras Tour in Australia
Credit: NINE
Couples who cross the Pacific Ocean for each other, stay together, right? After Swift traveled to see Travis in the Super Bowl, Travis is now in Australia for the Eras Tour. Travis was seen landing (in a private jet – hopefully he bought carbon credits, am I right?) in Australia on February 21 before her February 23 concert in Sydney.
In conclusion, Swift has done more during the shortest month of the year than most of us will do for the rest of 2024.
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