In a year marked by extraordinary achievements and record-breaking success, Taylor Swift emerges as Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2023. Swift’s dominance across charts, streaming platforms, and sold-out concert venues, filled with enthusiastic bracelet-clad fans, solidifies her status as a global superstar. Throughout the first ten months of 2023, she achieved an unparalleled feat with 65 songs entering Apple Music’s Global Daily Top 100, surpassing all other artists.
Expressing her gratitude, Swift stated, “I am so honored to be Apple Music’s Artist of the Year. Thank you to every single one of you for making this year the most incredible, joyful, celebratory year ever.” She acknowledged the support of her fans, from continuous streaming to lively participation in concerts, attributing the success to their unwavering enthusiasm.
Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, praised Swift’s undeniable impact on the music industry, not just in the record-breaking year but throughout her entire career. Describing her as a generation-defining artist and a catalyst for change, he highlighted the lasting influence she will have on the music landscape.
Apple Music is dedicating a spotlight to Taylor Swift’s Eras era, a cultural phenomenon that transformed her past songs into some of the year’s biggest hits. The platform offers listeners a curated selection of radio programming, interviews, album collections, and playlists that trace the singer-songwriter’s musical journey leading up to this historic year.
Swift’s consistent streaming success throughout 2023, especially during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, contributed to a 61 percent global increase in streams when the tour commenced in March. Notably, Set List: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour claimed the top spot as the most-streamed set list of the year and ranked among the top 40 editorial playlists.
Classic favorites like “Bad Blood,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Shake It Off,” “Wildest Dreams,” and “All Of The Girls You Loved Before” all made their debut on the Apple Music charts in 2023. Additionally, “Cruel Summer,” a track from Swift’s 2019 album Lover, became a global summer anthem, re-entering the Global Daily Top 100 in April and maintaining its position.
Swift’s album “Midnights” retains its title as the biggest album of all time by a female artist in Apple Music history, based on first-day and first-week streams worldwide. As the most-streamed female artist and the female artist with the most songs entering Apple Music’s Global Daily Top 100, Swift’s influence on the platform is unparalleled.
In recognition of her achievements, Swift will receive the Apple Music Award, a physical accolade symbolizing the craftsmanship integral to music creation. The award features Apple’s custom silicon wafer suspended between glass and an aluminum body, signifying the chip’s role in providing access to 100 million songs on listeners’ devices.