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How did Taylor Swift get

so popular? She never
goes out of style
Published: September 21, 2023 5.49am BST

 Kate Pattison, RMIT University 

     

Last week, USA Today/Gannett posted a job

ad for a Taylor Swi! reporter, seeking an
experienced journalist and content creator to
“capture the music and cultural impact of
Taylor Swi!”.

It’s not the first time Swi! has been the focus
of professional and academic work. In 2022,
New York University’s Clive Davis Institute
announced a course focused on Swi!, taught
by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos. They also
gave Swi! an honorary doctorate in fine arts,
as “one of the most prolific and celebrated
artists of her generation”.

Other universities around the world followed

with their own dedicated courses, including
“The Psychology of Taylor Swi!”, “The
Taylor Swi! Songbook” and “Literature:
Taylor’s Version”.

While musicians and celebrities have been

the subject of our fascinations for decades,
it’s not o!en they receive such individualised
attention. Swi!’s impressive career can be
studied from multiple perspectives,
including marketing, fandom, business and
songwriting, to name a few.

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS T…

So why Taylor Swi!?

From a music perspective, Swi! has broken a
lot of records. Last month, she became the
first female artist in Spotify history to reach
100 million monthly listeners.

Swi! has achieved 12 number one albums on

Billboard, the most by a woman artist,
overtaking Barbra Streisand earlier this year.

She’s the first and only woman solo artist to

win the Album Of The Year Grammy three
times, for Fearless (2009), 1989 (2015) and
Folklore (2020) – each in a different musical
genre. It’s a credit to Swi!’s masterful
songwriting, and demonstrates her ability to
adapt her cra! for different audiences.

There is an expectation for female artists to

constantly re-invent themselves, something
Swi! reflected on in her Netflix
documentary Miss Americana:

The female artists I know of have to remake

themselves like 20 times more than the male
artists, or you’re out of a job.

Over the course of her career, Swi! has

evolved from an award-winning country
music singer to one of the biggest pop stars
in the world. Each of her ten original studio
albums has a distinct theme and aesthetic,
which have been celebrated on Swi!’s
juggernaut Eras Tour.

The tour, which has just wrapped up its first

US leg, is set to be the highest-grossing of all
time, boosting local travel and tourism
revenue along the way. A recent report
estimates the tour could help add a
monumental US$5 billion (A$7.8 billion) to
the worldwide economy.

‘All I do is try, try, try’

But to measure Swi!’s impact by her music
alone would be limiting.

Swi! has been instrumental in changing the

business game for musicians. She’s taken on
record labels and streaming services,
advocating for better deals for artists.

In 2015, Apple Music changed its payment

policies a!er Swi! wrote an open letter
campaigning for better compensation.

Most notably, she took a stand against her

former record label, Big Machine Records,
a!er it wouldn’t give her an opportunity to
buy back her original master recordings. Her
back catalogue was eventually sold to music
executive Scooter Braun, kicking off a very
public feud.

While she’s not the first artist to go a!er her

masters, she’s generated an enormous
amount of attention to an issue that’s o!en
overlooked. Of course, Swi! is in a position
of privilege – she can take risks many other
artists can’t afford to. But with this power
she’s driving conversations around contracts
and the value of music, paving the way for
emerging artists.

In an effort to regain control of her earlier

work, Swi! announced she would be re-
recording her first six albums. Each re-
recorded album has included additional
vault tracks, previously unreleased songs le!
off the original recordings.

These releases have each been accompanied

by a robust promotional campaign, including
new merchandise and multiple, limited-
edition versions of each record for fans to
collect.

The release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

marked the halfway point of this process,
which has paid off big time. Fearless (Taylor’s
Version), Red (Taylor’s Version) and Speak
Now (Taylor’s Version) have all performed
better than the originals.

This is largely due to the unwavering support

from her fans, known as “Swi!ies”. They’ve
embraced the new recordings, shaming
anyone who plays the original “stolen”
versions.

The power of Swi!ies

Swi!’s loyal fandom are known for their
high levels of participation and creativity.
Fans have spent an extensive amount of time
hand-making outfits for concerts, and
discussing elaborate theories online.

Swi! has a reputation for leaving clues,

known as Easter eggs, in her lyrics, music
videos, social media posts and interviews.
There are fan accounts dedicated to
analysing these Easter
! eggs, studying specific
number patterns and phrases to uncover
hints for what Swi! might do next.

Swi! and Taylor Nation, a branch of her

management team, encourage these
behaviours by rewarding fans for their
participation.

Read more: How does a Taylor Swi! fan prove

their love? Money

For the upcoming release of 1989 (Taylor’s

Version), Swi! has unveiled a series of
puzzles on Google, which fans must solve
together in order to reveal the names of the
upcoming vault tracks.

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You can tell me when the *search* is over… if the high

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Swi!ies collectively solved the 33 million

(yes, that’s million) puzzles in less than 24
hours. The games played a dual role - not
only did Swi! announce the vault track titles,
but she’s reclaimed her Google searches in
the process.

Swi!’s fandom crosses generations. She’s a

quintessential millennial, and many fans
have grown up with Swi! over the past two
decades. Some have even started to bring
their children along to the concerts, posting
videos of them set to the bridge to Long
Live.

She’s also found a younger audience on

TikTok, a platform predominantly used by
Gen Z. Affectionately dubbed “Swi!Tok” by
fans (and now Swi! herself), users post
videos to engage with other Swi!ies and
participate in the community.

Swi!’s songs are o!en used in popular

trends. The release of Midnights last year
had many dancing to Bejeweled and Karma,
but Swi!’s older catalogue has also gotten a
good run. A remix of Love Story went viral
in 2020, which helped a new generation
discover her older music. Most recently, her
song August has been used for running on
the beach and spinning around with your
pets.

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August The Summer I Turned Pretty
Version - ava <3

She’s also closely aligned with young adult

shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty,
which has featured 13 of her songs
throughout the show’s first two seasons.
Swi!’s music is so central to the story that
author Jenny Han nearly dedicated the
second book to her.

Ramin Setoodeh
@RaminSetoodeh · Follow

How important is Taylor Swift to the

#VMAs? There is a camera operator
tasked with filming her continuously
during the live performances onstage.

Watch on X

7:36 PM · Sep 12, 2023

23.6K Reply Share

Read 152 replies

Swi! continues to dominate the cultural

conversation through her music, business
decisions and legions of devoted fans.

Right now, Swi!’s popularity is at an all time

high, and it could be easy to dismiss this
hype as a passing trend. But if these first 17
years are anything to go by, Swi!’s proven
she’s in it for the long haul, and worthy of
our time.

 Music Pop music Taylor Swift Taylor Swift's Eras Tour

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