Taylor Swift gets 1.8 million more Spotify followers after endorsing Kamala Harris
Taylor Swift recently endorsed Democrat US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the race against Republican former President Donald Trump. The endorsement was seen as a significant milestone in the Presidential race as the singer is one of the most high-profile celebrities to endorse either candidates. While there was fear of ‘right-wing backlash’ to Swift’s fanbase, the opposite has actually happened.
Taylor Swift gains 1.8 million Spotify followers
Since she announced her support to Kamala Harris on September 10, some 25 days ago, Taylor Swift has gained 1.8 million new followers on the music streaming platform Spotify. The platform is considered a good metric to measure the popularity of musical artistes. Taylor now has 122.6 million followers on the platform, second only to Indian singer Arijit Singh (123.3 million followers), as per latest data from Chartmetric. The surge in followers is big for Taylor and many are linking it to a wider approval for her following her endorsement of Kamala Harris.
Donald Trump supporters say Taylor has lost followers
However, supporters of Kamala Harris’ rival – former US President Donald Trump – say that the rise in followers is not so significant and amounts to only 1.5% of her total following. According to Variety, some Trump supporters have pointed out that Taylor has seen a decline in Spotify monthly listeners, a metric of regular or loyal listeners of an artiste. Since Sept. 10, Swift’s monthly listener number has declined by about 3%, down 3 million to 91.4 million, Variety reports. However, it may be noted that Taylor’s monthly listeners had been on a decline before that too, since they hit their peak in April – 116 million. That was when she released her latest album The Tortured Poets Department. That an artiste sees a surge in monthly listeners right after an album or single release followed by a gradual decline is a routine event.
The US Presidential election is set to be held on November 5 with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump locked in a close battle. Numerous celebrities have endorsed both the candidates.
