Another Taylor Swift documentary? For fans who spent thousands on Eras, reliving it is priceless

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The biggest pop star is increasingly known for her business acumen rather than just her performances, though opinions vary.

Taylor Swift is currently one of the world’s most popular artists, and many consider her to be the most successful of all time. Her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” broke sales records upon its release, as reported by Billboard. The Eras Tour has become the highest-earning concert tour in history, and the film documenting it achieved record-breaking box office success as the top-grossing concert film ever.

And she’s not slowing down on content-making or record-breaking.

Taylor Swift is giving fans a new concert film, “The Eras Tour: The Final Show,” featuring performances of songs from her album “Tortured Poets Department,” which she released during the tour. She’s also releasing a documentary series called “The End of an Era” that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the massive tour. Both the first two episodes of the documentary and the concert film became available on Disney+ on Friday.

Although fans are excited about her new releases, they follow a period of criticism surrounding her recent album and how it was promoted. Some people are wondering if Taylor Swift is appearing too frequently in the public eye, or if her latest work is encouraging excessive spending.

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Whether people are talking positively or negatively about Taylor Swift, there’s a lot of attention on her, and she’s responding by consistently releasing new music and content. As she explains in the trailer for her documentary, she wanted to give her fans more than enough.

Taylor Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, are incredibly enthusiastic. They’ve meticulously analyzed every frame of the trailers and promotional clips, and are already organizing viewing parties for her new films. Concerns about her appearing too often aren’t a worry for them at all.

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After releasing the somewhat chaotic album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ last year, the pop star has teamed up with Max Martin and Shellback for a more polished new project.

Taylor Swift first burst onto the scene with her debut album in 2006, at just 16 years old, and she’s been a major figure in pop culture ever since. For almost twenty years, everything about her life – from her music and relationships to her friendships and disagreements – has been closely watched and talked about.

Content creator Reagan Baylee, a longtime Taylor Swift fan, often thinks about how artists like the Beatles and Michael Jackson weren’t criticized for being too visible, unlike some artists today. She’s 29 years old and finds this difference interesting.

Baylee, a popular Swiftie based in Los Angeles, highlights a double standard: male artists who’ve achieved similar success or faced comparable challenges rarely receive the same criticism as Taylor Swift. Many people – both fans and those critical of Swift – believe this disparity is due to sexism.

Amanda Todhunter, a pop culture commentator who doesn’t take sides in the Taylor Swift debate, argues that both fans and critics should be able to discuss her work honestly without being unfairly accused of sexism. Recently, Todhunter and other observers, including people within Swift’s fanbase, have pointed out the large number of different versions of Swift’s album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” While all versions contained the same 12 songs, Swift released around 15 different editions with varying titles and included extras like different formats, colored vinyl, posters, and alternate versions of the lead single, “The Fate of Ophelia.”

Todhunter suggested the variants might simply be a mistake, and believes it’s fair to criticize her for that. He doesn’t think this criticism is necessarily due to sexism, especially if the variants genuinely deserve scrutiny.

Taylor Swift often used countdown timers on her website to reveal new album versions and merchandise, which consistently generated a lot of online excitement. However, many people, both fans and those outside the fandom, found these countdowns to be somewhat disappointing.

A Taylor Swift fan on Reddit shared a screenshot of a countdown timer hinting at a small run of CDs with extra acoustic songs, jokingly complaining, “I’m done, Taylor. This is the worst!” Many fans expressed annoyance that these bonus tracks were exclusive to certain versions, particularly since they’d already bought other announced editions.

Todhunter explained that, given the artist’s success, the issue isn’t about money. He believes it’s likely related to marketing, excessive ambition, or attempts to unfairly influence the Billboard charts. He noted that even some of her fans have expressed disappointment with these practices.

Many Taylor Swift fans are quick to defend her against accusations of being greedy. They often highlight her private charitable donations and the generous bonuses she gives her employees. They also note that other artists, both from the past like David Bowie and present day like Travis Scott, have frequently released multiple versions and editions of their own work.

Taylor Swift is a hugely successful businesswoman, and she’s approaching things from that perspective,” explained Tyler Conroy, a 33-year-old fan and full-time content creator focused on Swift. “If she were truly as motivated by money as some people claim, she’d be expanding into many more product lines. Think jewelry, perfume, clothes, skincare – she could be profiting from everything her fans love. But she isn’t, and that’s telling.

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Taylor Swift has officially surpassed $1 billion in net worth, largely due to the massive success of her Eras Tour, according to Bloomberg. This news coincides with the release of her re-recorded album, ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version),’ and the strong performance of her concert film in theaters.

Baylee believes the criticism surrounding the album release and promotional countdowns is simply a result of Taylor Swift’s massive success with the Eras Tour. She sees it as a normal part of growing at such a high level.

She feels that the artist’s connection with her fans has faded. While she believes the artist had trouble using social media in an interesting way, she understands how hard it is to be genuine and personal when you’re constantly in the public eye.

Between the issues fans are facing and the very high price of Eras Tour tickets, it’s become clear that being a Taylor Swift fan can be quite expensive. This is why Isabel Dieppa, a 42-year-old from Sacramento, has stopped identifying as a fan.

Dieppa, like many women her age, has listened to Taylor Swift since she was young, originally buying her albums and merchandise. However, she started to question the artist when she couldn’t afford tickets to the Eras Tour.

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Why are concert tickets so expensive and how can I get a cheaper ticket?

Pop culture writer Dieppa explained that as costs around her increased, the celebrity became less relatable, eroding the image of her being an ‘everywoman.’ She described it as feeling like the loss of a long-time friend.

Tickets for Taylor Swift’s tour were expensive, often costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars. However, many fans felt the price was worth it. For example, one fan, Conroy, who was working a regular job at the time, attended four concerts and spent almost $4,000 on tickets.

Kayla Wong, a 30-year-old Taylor Swift fan from Los Angeles, attended four concerts on the tour, including the first show in Arizona and the last one in Vancouver. She jokingly said she had to spend a lot of money – essentially, she paid a high price for resale tickets – to get them. She figures she spent several thousand dollars just on the Vancouver tickets.

Conroy and Wong, who also manages a social media account focused on Swift, both agree that while the cost of concert tickets seemed high, the Eras Tour felt like experiencing a major sporting event – similar to seeing their favorite team win the Super Bowl or World Series. They came to this conclusion independently, during separate conversations.

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Kayla Wong was at the last of Taylor Swift’s Los Angeles concerts in 2023, and Tyler Conroy attended the final U.S. show of the Eras Tour in Indianapolis in November 2024. (Photos courtesy of Kayla Wong and Tyler Conroy)

Taylor Swift is something I’m incredibly passionate about, so consider how much money fans spend on sports tickets,” Conroy explained. “When you go to a game, you’re seeing your team at their absolute best. Imagine if you could watch your team play in the Super Bowl every day – how many times would you go?”

The excitement of seeing Taylor Swift perform songs from every stage of her career – with incredible energy and endurance – is why so many fans are captivated by the Eras Tour. They’re eager to learn about the making of the tour and are happy to watch a full concert film to get a behind-the-scenes look.

Baylee shared that right now, she’s less focused on the negativity in the world and more interested in remembering the joy she felt when she was younger, singing with a crowd of fans and feeling completely free.

Some people might think we’ve been seeing a lot of Taylor Swift recently, but her fans are always happy to see more.

Wong joked that she’s excited for Taylor Swift to start touring again, predicting Swift will get married first and then go on tour.

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2025-12-12 14:02