This B.C. Swiftie is in the top 0.05% of Taylor Swift fans on Spotify

When Lindsay Harris of Kamloops, B.C., opened up her Spotify Wrapped for 2023, she was a little bit nervous.

The music streaming service delivers users a personalized, interactive, and highly shareable breakdown of their listening habits for the year. It also lets them know if they rank among the top listeners for an artist.

Last year, Harris had been in the top 0.5 per cent of Taylor Swift listeners on Spotify and she was concerned that maybe she wouldn't have matched her previous record.

Instead she bested it.

She discovered she's in the top 0.05 per cent of overall Taylor Swift listeners on Spotify, having listened to 30,827 minutes — or more than 21 days — straight of the star's music.

"I was shocked and delighted and a little embarrassed, but not really." Harris said. "Because loving Taylor Swift is something to be proud of."

Harris is one of countless Swift fans who have made the singer a global superstar and Time Magazine's person of the year. In Vancouver, tickets to Swift's shows next December were one of the hottest items of the year. 

Harris started off as a casual fan, but moved into super fandom in 2020 when Swift's folklore album was released.

She said she turned on the album when she was writing her PhD and never looked back.

"I was just captivated by it and I listened to the album on repeat all day every day for the next 10 days while I wrote my dissertation, which was a very challenging process and the music just carried me through it."

Harris said what caught her attention was how Swift gives voice to things like the experiences of young girlhood or womanhood.

"She's able to capture very nuanced emotions with really rich language."

Swift's music relatable

Meghan Burry agrees with Harris. 

The PhD candidate at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., created and taught a course in 2022 called Taylor Swift's Literary Legacy. 

"It's been such a privilege to witness and grow kind of alongside the career that she has developed and how she has continued to stay relevant and has remained so steadfast in her songwriting ability," Burry said.

Burry says Swift is arguably one of the biggest celebrities in the world, but still manages to connect with listeners at a basic level.

"She can take words and music and craft a beautiful message or narrative about friendship, about loss, about heartbreak, about grieving the death of a loved one," she said,

"There's so many things that you can turn to Taylor Swift for."

For Harris, Swift's songwriting ability and vulnerability make her music relatable.

"There's so much to explore and there's so many layers to to peel back when you're listening to her music," she said.

Family connection

Harris also listens to Swift with her 12-year-old daughter. She had attempted to get tickets to the Vancouver show but wasn't able to get an access code.

"There's millions of people that want to see her….. I was realistic about my chances and disappointed, certainly, but understand."

Swift is playing at B.C. Place in Vancouver on Dec. 6, 7 and 8, 2024, dates that line up with Harris's birthday.

Harris said they plan to go and tailgate ahead of the concert so they can be part of the event even if they don't have tickets.

"This music is really so intergenerational in the way that it speaks to our experiences and the way that it's a shared love for us."

CBC has reached out to Spotify to find out the total number of Taylor Swift listeners using the service and is waiting to hear back.