Despite breaking up over a year ago and avoiding the public eye, Joe Alwyn is reportedly still earning money from his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, and it's a lot. Swift has since moved on with NFL star Travis Kelce, but that won't come in the way of Alwyn's paycheck, as he will still reap the benefits of their relationship.
Alwyn and Swift dated for six years, much of which was in secret and then behind closed doors during the pandemic. It was during this time that Swift wrote one of her most beloved albums, Folklore, and its sister album, Evermore.
Fans quickly spotted a mysterious co-writer on several songs by the name of "William Bowery." It was later confirmed by both Swift and later Alwyn that he was this co-creator. Alwyn is credited on six of Swift's songs: "exile," "betty," "coney island," "evermore," "champagne problems," and "Sweet Nothing." His work on Folklore made him a Grammy winner in 2021. But it's supplied more than an award, as Alwyn has supposedly pocketed about $2.3 million in Spotify streams alone, according to Life & Style.
When discussing her experience writing Folklore, Swift revealed she was "lonely": “[I was] imagining that, instead of being a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair drinking my weight in white wine, I was a ghostly Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle in a candlestick holder, and I wrote only on parchment with a feathered quill,” Swift said.
As a credited writer, Alwyn will continue to receive royalty checks from additional streaming and Swift's live performances. “Fair or not, it’s made him a very rich guy,” a source told Life & Style. “Joe is making so much on royalties and returns from [Swift's] Eras tour that he doesn’t ever need to worry about money again.”
Alwyn almost won a second Grammy thanks to his work with Swift, as Midnights earned Album of the Year honors at February’s Grammys. But a rule change that went into effect in June 2023 insisted that artists who collaborated on an album must be credited with at least 20 percent of the record’s running time to qualify for Album of the Year recognition. Since Alwyn had only been credited for one track, "Sweet Nothing," he was therefore ineligible for this second Grammy.
Swift's next studio album will be released on April 19 and will likely not have any tracks crediting Alwyn. However, he might play the role of muse for her The Tortured Poets Department. Fans believe the tracks “So Long, London” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" will discuss her breakup with Alwyn. Others believe that the majority of the album will focus on her brief fling with Matty Healy, lead singer of The 1975.
