The Swift Empire

Taylor Swift is a leading figure in the music industry. With five albums and ten Grammys (and counting), she is easily on her to being the Queen of Pop.

So what’s her secret to success?

In my humble non-popstar opinion, Taylor Swift would not be where she is today without these key factors:

Writing

“Hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest” - All Too Well

Taylor writes lyrics based on personal experiences. She uses her own accomplishments, heartbreak, love stories, and challenges to fuel the emotion in her writing. Her songs are full of clever one-liners and raw emotion. They are handed to us on sparkly albums with a wink and a nudge and plenty of songs to play on repeat for any sort of emotional situation.

Media

“Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream” - Blank Space

This woman is not afraid of the media. She uses the rumors, jibes, and gossip to create anthems like Shake it Off and Blank Space. When the Blank Space music video came out, I watched it five times and laughed until I cried. Then I showed it to my sister and laughed some more.

Taylor takes the hateful comments from the media about her love life, and shoves it right back in their faces with an over the top allegory. She portrays the crazy serial dater the media makes her out to be. And that clearly is not who she is. Also, she owns her – widely made fun of - super white girl dance moves in Shake it Off, and it is perfect.

_Transition to Pop _

“‘Baby, I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me” - New Romantics

Taylor started in the country business but as she explored her voice and writing, her albums changed. I respect that her music changed. It makes sense. She started out when she was a teenager, and as an adult her music should be different.

Her voice has evolved and she is in the prime of her career.

I love her pop music way better than her country music, especially from a New York setting. 1989 is her first fully pop album, and honestly, it was a long time coming.

_Fans _

“You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter/You are the best thing, that’s ever been mine” - Mine

Taylor Swift is well known for how she treats her fans. In Shake it Off, she invited her biggest fans to dance in the video with her. She keeps track of how her songs inspire people, and responds to that.

It’s not just donating money to fund child literacy, it’s pizza nights and baking parties. She sends her mom into the crowd at the beginning of each concert to hand out backstage passes. She takes the time to get to know her fans and invites them to share the spotlight, because why stand alone onstage when you can have friends?

Squad Goals

“The playful conversation starts/Counter all your quick remarks/Like passing notes in secrecy” - Enchanted 

Taylor Swift doesn’t treat her fellow artists as competition, she treats them as friends. She mixes things up by singing with her friends onstage and in music videos.

She makes it clear her friends are a huge part of her life, whether or not she has a boyfriend. She has brought together a group of strong independent women who support and love each other. Really, isn’t that the whole point of girl friends?

All in all, Taylor Swift is a savvy businesswoman and genius writer…not to mention her ability to rock some truly impressive gowns.

This article was previously published on Blithe and Bonny