Author : Hughes Nelson
Image Credit : Kevin Mazur/WireImage
A captivating tale of growing from an aspiring songwriter to a global music sensation, Taylor Swift’s musical journey spanning 17 years has been awe-inspiring. As the singer is on her way to becoming a billionaire, she has been through an immense amount of highs and lows that have only made her stronger and turned her into the admired icon she is today. The country and pop music industries are known for their cut-throat competition and Taylor’s ascend to stardom in both genres have been nothing short of a miracle, but what was even more astounding was the seismic impact that she had on the business over the years, bringing about a revolution in how things were previously conducted.
Some of the major changes that were introduced in the industry because of Taylor Swift can be encapsulated in the following heads:
- She Became an Advocate for Artists’ Rights
Swift first spoke out in support of artists’ rights in the 2010s, when she pulled out her catalog from Spotify in November 2014 as a protest against low royalty payouts which were a result of the platform’s “freemium” model. Just months before that, she had expressed her displeasure regarding the same in an op-ed of the Wall Street Journal in the following words: “Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my opinion that music should not be free.” It wasn’t until 2017 that the singer allowed her music to be back on Spotify. A similar scenario followed in 2015 with Apple Music when the artist threatened to keep her 1989 off of the platform when it took the decision to not pay royalties to artists during its free three-month trial period. In just 24 hours Apple Music retracted their decision.
- She Took Control of her Music and Professional Life
When in 2019 all rights of the master recordings for her first six albums, and her former label Big Machine Label Group, were sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings without any prior notice to Taylor, she described it to be the “worst case scenario”. However, instead of losing hope and giving in to her helplessness, she decided to take back control over her music to gain master ownership, determined not to be exploited. She then announced that she would re-record all her songs that had been sold to Braun as ‘Taylor’s Version(s)’, even though it meant investing years of hard work and capital. Not only was it a risky move, but it was also the first of its kind to be done on such a massive scale. It turned out to be a huge success for Swift she has already re-released three of her albums: Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
- She Learnt the Art of “Having Her Cake and Selling It Too”
If there is one thing that even Swift’s haters cannot deny, it is that she possesses an incomprehensible strength when it comes to marketing, having found the perfect way to make her music available on streaming platforms while also adding to her physical sales. At the core of this success lies the fact that she has created an extremely solid personal brand by building strong and genuine connections with her fans. She puts out her soul into her music and customizes her styles, colors, and emotions accordingly so as to form a deeper bond with her listeners. Moreover, putting premiums on early listens, bringing out surprise drops, adding Easter Eggs and bonuses for the fans in her albums, selling the albums as art objects and collector’s items, and even putting up sales of store-exclusive items have contributed immensely to her commercial success.
- She Brought About Major Ticketing Reforms
Taylor was the pioneer in setting up the idea of securing advance registration for an opportunity to buy tickets and seat-by-seat pricing of tickets based on demand. The idea came into being before Taylor’s 2018 Reputation Tour where she paired with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program to create SwiftTix to fight against scalpers, bots, and random technical issues.
- She Brought Forth the Idea of a “Fluid Artist”
In each of her albums, including Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and even Reputation, Swift has shown a wide range of musical diversity, ranging from country to pop to electro-pop and even trap and hip-hop. And as always, she came under a lot of fire from country music fans who accused her of “being country whenever she wants to be” and robbing “real true country artists”. However, Swift had made it clear from the very beginning that she is never going to be “just a country artist” and with each new genre and style that she undertook, her fan base only expanded, establishing the idea that an artist can pursue and create music in any genre that he/she/they desired instead of sticking to just one label. As for all the negativity she received, she just learned to “shake it off”.
Apart from these, Taylor set up the perfect example of profitable Touring, with her ongoing career-spanning Eras Tour becoming a blockbuster success that can bring her the title of a “billionaire”. She also broke the idea of there being a wall between the artists and fans, by personally connecting with her fans, inviting them over for secret listening parties and house parties for upcoming albums, and even sending them home-baked cookies, among other things. This has led her to build a massive community of Swifties through warmth, meaningful engagement, and relatability.
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