Since the beginning of her career, Taylor Swift has moved
from genre to genre, starting as a country artist and later down the line
moving onto dominating the pop genre. She is a household name, even if you
claim to not like the singer as soon as one of her songs comes on you can’t
deny that you know the words.
The country turned pop star hasn’t had the easiest time in the media, starting at a young age Swift has seen the world turn against her multiple times. Branded as a serial dater for dating a normal amount of people and even having #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trending worldwide on Twitter, it has been clear that people didn’t want to just bring down her music but bring down her as well. However, despite constant scrutiny from the media and career moves that could have ended in her losing it all, Swift is constantly setting new records that only she seems to be able to beat.
From tight curls to acoustic guitars, Taylor started by
bringing country music back into everyone’s homes. White (2019) states, “Her
country music became more than a 2 popular sensation to all country music
lovers worldwide; she became the face of country music.” It didn’t take Swift
long to go from handing out copies of her self-recorded CDs to reaching her
first award shows. Dominating the industry, Taylor could have stuck to being
the top of her genre and would have had years of success doing it and even
though she is known as one of the most popular country artists decided to
broaden her field further. Her most notable songs from this era of her life
being Love Story, You Belong With Me, Teardrops on My Guitar.
“Swift’s transformation was remarkably successful; she
became one of the biggest female pop stars in the world and managed to hold on
to much of her original fan base, as well as expand her appeal,” Wilkinson
(2019). Swift went for a complete character rebrand halfway into her career and
where others would fall, this became her peak. When Swift released 1989 it was
completely different from anything she had done before, sure she had released
singles that would reach the radio, but this album was pure pop and would spend
months hitting the top of every chart. It was a big leap for the singer and her
success only proved the talent that she has. 1989 became the album that other
artists would be compared to, it set a standard so high that even Taylor
herself found it hard to beat.
If switching from country to pop wasn’t enough, Folklore was
the experiment in Taylor’s career that could have lost her the most. Surprise
releases are uncommon for pop artists, when going into a new album release it's
wise to constantly promote so that when it does come out it can perform well.
For Taylor’s 8th album, Folklore, she steered away from this, and with the
album she had completely written and produced in lockdown, she announced its
release 24 hours before it came out.
The album as well was nothing like Taylor had released
before, instead of being full of radio hits, the songwriter focused on the
storytelling and compared the album to a fairy-tale book full of stories she
has always wanted to retell to the world. Even though the album was unexpected
and the second album for Swift to fully own, it has been one of her most
successful albums so far. The surprise album won ‘Album of the Year’ in the
2021 Grammys and was a smash with critics everywhere.
As well as the dramatic changes in genres, there are other
things that differ Swift from the other current artists that she’s set against.
For one, Taylor has a bond so strong with her fans nobody can deny that she
goes out of her way to make sure that they are shown as much love as they give
her. From inviting fans into her house to listen to her albums early with them,
baking them cookies, sending them Christmas presents, and sorting out any
financial problems they have, Swift always looks after those who call their
selves fans.
Taylor has taken several massive career moves throughout the
whole of her career, I believe it’s hard to deny that over the last two decades
Taylor has shaped the music industry, and her constant changes in direction
have only made her career more powerful but helped that of those around her.
After being set as prey in the media for the last ten years, when looking at
the artist herself it’s hard to understand why people do hate her. Is it
because she is successful and unapologetic with that?
Taylor has not only become an artist, but she is a role
model to young women everywhere who have constantly been set back just because
the world tells them they are not good enough. From her inspiring tour speeches
to her music, she tells people everywhere, it’s okay to be you and not
apologise for that.
What is next for Swift? The singer tried in the past year to
buy her masters back which her former managers denied, meaning that she lost
all work that she had spent her life working for. Every success she had in the
past was tarnished as it began to seem like it seemed like it is now out of her
reach. Enough to make an artist lower their voice and just get on with whatever
their management forced them to do, Taylor Swift went against this and is now
re-releasing all her previous albums, under her name. Once again, she is going
against the normalities of pop releases, making her albums longer and adding on
any song that she wants instead of being told what to do.
White, S. (2019) ‘Taylor Swift and the 1989 album release
and fanbase response parasocial relationship study’ Available at: http://dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/207675
(Accessed: 06/05/21).
Wilkinson, M. (2019) ‘Taylor Swift: the hardest working,
zaniest girl in show business…’ Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2019.1630160
(Accessed: 06/05/21).
