Taylor Swift may be best known for bubble-gum pop anthems loved by teenage girls, but at 25 she has shown herself to be a formidable force in the business world, as Apple found out.

Apple, a $750 billion tech leader that is rarely described as laid-back in its commercial strategies, quickly did an ‘about-face Sunday’ after Swift threatened a partial boycott of its new streaming service unless the company improved compensation for artistes.

The episode underscored how Swift has emerged as a premier power broker from the millennial generation, able not only to pack arenas around the world, but also to turn her massive fan base into valuable leverage.

Key to Swift's success has been a precocious talent for controlling her image, allowing her to promote her music aggressively, while keeping a sugar-sweet public persona with social media as her vital tool.

With more than 59 million Twitter followers, she is topped only by fellow pop stars Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and President Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Swift has since been discreet about politics and has spoken warmly about Obama. She has asked her online fans to steer clear of politics for fear of raising divisions.

Nonetheless, one prominent supporter of her Apple campaign suggested that Swift had skills that could come in handy in politics.

Moreover, the singer Elvis Costello wrote on Twitter that Swift could be a "future president."