NEAR TRUTHS: KICKING UP SAND

POETIC JUSTICE: A new Taylor Swift album is coming, and we will soon find out if she is still capable of single-handedly sucking all the oxygen out of every other conversation. Judging by the frenzied response to her presence in the crowd with Travis Kelce at Coachella, supporting her pals Ice Spice and Bleachers, she's not losing a scintilla of momentum. Not content to be merely the biggest music artist in the world, the Republic megastar and marketing visionary has, of late, simply become the biggest thing in the world, dominating the pop-cultural landscape in a way we haven’t seen since the heyday of The Beatles.

Her Eras Tour, in the wake of which linguists are still minting extravagant new synonyms for “big,” was the first ever to gross $1b and will ultimately hit $1.6b; it continues its record-breaking run with, among other marvels, 15 U.K. stadium dates, eight of them Wembley shows that will put her before 700k+ punters in London alone. All this comes after the filmed version’s fantastic, unprecedented performance at multiplexes (a new iteration of the film has begun streaming on demand).

In addition to issuing huge drops like Grammy Album of the Year Midnights (7m+ U.S. ATD), La Swift has upended the marketplace with her lavish “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings of her catalog (2023’s remake of pop blockbuster 1989 was the biggest yet, with 3.6m in U.S. ATD). Now she’s preparing to deliver her latest set of new material, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT; prepare not only for an avalanche of streams and sales (multicolored vinyl in multiple iterations, etc.) but also for exhaustive parsing—from stans and Nobelists alike—of its 16 tracks and what they say about her life and loves.

What will this next chapter in the history of Taylor’s world domination look like? Strap in and stay tuned.

COACHELLA AND COUCHELLA: Coachella moments not involving Tay that had the biz buzzing included Olivia Rodrigo’s appearance during No Doubt’s high-energy set, Billie Eilish’s duet with Lana Del Rey and her subsequent Do Lab party appearance (during which she previewed material from her forthcoming album), guest appearances by Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky and Kali Uchis during Tyler, The Creator’s headline set, Vampire Weekend's show (a last-minute addition to the lineup) and nostalgic perfs by Sublime and Blur. Once again, the AEG/Goldenvoice production of the livestream on YouTube was first-rate, allowing global viewers (there were 100m last year) to not only see and hear the show but experience the vibe of the crowd—and toggle easily between stages. If the future of programming is live, the presenters are in the process of developing and consolidating the largest live global audiences possible, leveraging all new-tech and first-mover advantages. Expect to see enormous growth in this corner of the live world in the coming years.