OPINION

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By Carter Meagher

With number-one album after number-one album, sold-out stadiums across the world, and legions of dedicated fans, Taylor Swift has plenty of evidence to support the title of greatest singer-songwriter of our generation. 

For me, there is no doubt: Swift is the greatest singer and businesswoman of our generation. Her successful switch from country, to pop, to indie/folk, and back to pop, along with her ability to overcome adversity, are just a few of the reasons why I find her so compelling, as both an artist and a businesswoman.

Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale Tour. Photo credit: user Jen on Wikimedia.

Swift started out as a country singer in 2006, finding herself in a niche that not many artists had been able to carve out yet: a teenage singer writing songs about being a teenager. At that point in the country music industry, most songs were more adult-themed, and most younger female stars were forced to grow up quickly. 

For example, Britney Spears, although a “teen pop star,” released music with very adult themes in the late 90s and early 2000s. When she went on tour for her first album, which was released when she was 18, she wore revealing outfits and performed somewhat sexual dance moves.

Swift refused to fit into this mold. Instead, she wrote songs about her own life: falling in love, finding a place in high school, and making and losing friends. This resonated with her listeners, mostly teenage girls, and she quickly amassed a dedicated following after her debut, self-titled album. With hits like “Teardrops on My Guitar,” about having a crush on someone who didn’t like her back; “Our Song,” about a teenage relationship; and “Tim McGraw,” about reminiscing on the enjoyable times of a relationship, many young listeners connected with her music in a way that they couldn’t with other artists. 

Madeline Port (‘23), a fellow self-proclaimed “Swiftie,” said that Swift “encapsulates the experience of being a teenager. I think a lot of people can relate to her.”

Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour. Photo credit: user GabboT on Flickr.

Despite Swift’s success in the country music industry, winning the Best Album Grammy in 2010 for her second album, Fearless, and countless other accolades for Speak Now and Red, Swift decided to completely change her sound with her fifth album. 1989 was solely a pop album, and, instead of losing her fanbase, Swift’s change of genre catapulted her to previously unseen levels of fame. This crossover is lauded as one of the most successful of all time, and 1989 earned Swift another Best Album Grammy in 2016. With mega radio hits like “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off,” Swift’s music was universal. Throughout her change in genres, Swift had a hand in writing every single song on her albums.

After 1989, Swift released two other pop albums, Reputation and Lover. Although they did not reach the commercial levels of 1989, Swift’s singles reached the top of the Billboard charts, and her albums sold out immediately.

However, after the release of Reputation, Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records, Swift’s original record label with whom she had signed at 16, sold her master recordings in 2019, without telling her, for a large sum of money to Scooter Braun, a man in the music industry who Swift strongly disliked. 

Swift at the iHeart Radio Music Awards after the release of Lover. Photo credit: Glenn Francis via Wikimedia.

Instead of giving up her master rights, Swift decided to re-record her old albums and re-release them alongside “Vault Tracks,” or songs she had wanted to put on the album originally but had never released. With these new tracks, Swift incentivized her listeners to buy her new re-release instead of the original albums that belonged to Braun. In the last few years, she has released her own versions of Fearless and Red, with Speak Now scheduled to be released in July 2023.

During COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Swift released folklore, another genre shift. Swift categorized folklore, and its “sister” album evermore, released in 2021, as alternative music. Despite announcing the surprise album release the day of, with no preview singles, both albums were an immediate commercial and critical success.

Lyndsey McKenna of NPR news praises folklore: “The songwriting’s front and center. It’s called folklore, and I think at its core, it’s really a record about stories and the way that we tell them to ourselves and to others.”

After folklore and evermore, Swift returned back to the pop music scene with Midnights. Featuring hits like “Anti-Hero” and “Lavender Haze,” Swift returned to pop radio at full force. 

Although Swift’s career flourished throughout her genre switch, she was forced to overcome much adversity throughout her time in the limelight. Her ability to spin negative moments in her career into positive ones is another reason I consider her the greatest singer-songwriter of our generation. 

Ye and Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs. Photo credit: user Photo Giddy on Flickr.

A commonly referenced moment in Swift’s career is the 2009 VMAs, when Kanye West (now known as Ye) interrupted her acceptance speech for Music Video of the Year. Although Swift was generally viewed as the victim in this situation, West later wrote a song about the moment, entitled “Famous,” where he insinuated that he had made Swift famous. Swift issued a statement where she denounced the use of her name in the song, and West’s then-partner Kim Kardashian released a secretly-recorded phone call where Swift appeared to give West permission to use her name in the song. 

Many of Swift’s fans turned on her, and #TaylorSwiftisOverParty was trending on Twitter for months. Swift disappeared from the public eye for over a year. 

However, instead of letting this ruin her career, Swift released Reputation in 2017, an album where she capitalized off what she called the “fall of her reputation” in a poem she shared on her Reputation tour. Swift managed to rebound from the hatred she faced after her altercation with West and become even more successful.

Swift’s way of capitalizing off of moments that could have hurt her career shows her incredible prowess as not just an artist, but also a businesswoman. 

Swift at the Reputation Stadium Tour. Photo credit: user UltimateWarrior13 on Wikimedia.

Swift’s impressive and successful catalog of different genres of music speaks volumes for her place as the most relevant singer-songwriter. Despite her levels of success, she continues to write her own music, something not many other artists can claim. And, when faced with potentially career-ending situations, Swift is always able to find a way to benefit. 

In March, Swift began her “Eras Tour,” where she celebrates all ten of her albums in one show. Although fans had a multitude of issues securing tickets to her shows thanks to problems with Ticketmaster’s website, the tour had an unprecedented amount of ticket sales, even for Swift.

June Evins (‘23), who saw Swift in concert a few weeks ago in Atlanta, says, “Swift is an amazing performer. It’s better than going to Broadway. It was truly a magnificent experience. If you ever have the opportunity to see Taylor Swift live, hop on it! There was not a person in the audience who looked unhappy.”

Swift appeals to me as both a performer and a songwriter. She embodies the characteristics needed to succeed in the music industry: talent and business savvy. But she is much more than that to me. I relate to her music, I love her personality, and she is a comfort to me. I can’t wait to see her in concert in July.

Featured image credit: Eva Renaldi on Wikimedia.