Cultural impact of Taylor Swift

Journalists describe Swift as a cultural touchstone. The Guardian columnist Greg Jericho dubbed Swift a "cultural vitality" whose consistent popularity, accentuated by the era of internet, surpassed that of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and U2, all of whom had a short-lived commercial and critical prime, whereas Swift continued to find success in the 18th year of her career with Midnights. Jericho cited numeric 2022 infographics showing that only Drake, Kanye West and Beyoncé could compete with Swift in terms of popularity.[13] Chris Molanphy of Slate stated that Swift's career has lasted longer than that of the Beatles, breaking the band's once-deemed "unbeatable" records.[14] Elle described her as a "pop megastar at celestial echelons",[15] and Vanity Fair called her "the biggest pop star in the world".[16]

Within celebrity culture, Swift's music, life, and image are points of attention.[17][18] Swift became a teen idol upon the release of her eponymous debut studio album in 2006,[19] and has since become a dominant figure in popular culture,[20] often referred to as a pop icon or diva.[21][22][8] Gayle Pamerleau of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg credited globalization for Swift's fame and called her a social contagion benefitting "from existing in a time of 24-hour, global connectedness, when everybody knows what everyone else is thinking and doing."[12] Kristy Fairclough of the University of Salford dubbed Swift "the center of the cultural universe."[23] The Ringer's Kate Knibbs called Swift inescapable as her music saturates "deep into the tissue of contemporary public life whether we like it or not."[24] Hence, Swift's career choices result in reforms in the music industry. In a 2016 article, Billboard opined that despite having had only a decade-old career, Swift had shown an "undeniable" cultural impact.[25][15]

Time included Swift on its 2010, 2015 and 2019 rankings of the 100 most influential people.[26] In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category.[27] Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes' list of the 100 most powerful women in 2015, ranked at number 64.[28] She was the most googled woman in 2019 and musician in 2022.[29][30] Media outlets noted Swift reached a new zenith of fame in 2023, with Glamour saying she "has officially taken over every aspect of popular culture."[31][18]

Swift's early girl-next-door image made her "America's Sweetheart".

Journalists associate Swift's fame with Americanism. According to Knibbs, with Fearless, Swift had become a "countrified celebrity solidified into industrial-grade American fame" due to her craftsmanship.[24] Jack Dickey of Time said, Swift became "America's most important musician" by 2014.[32] Maxim called her career "a quintessential American success story".[33] Collider contributor Shaina Weatherhead wrote that "Whether she likes it or not, Taylor Swift has become a pillar of the cultural zeitgeist", embodying love, diligence and feminism. Weatherhead added Swift's fame turned her into a staple of American culture beyond just American music.[34]

Cultural critic Greil Marcus noted that Swift "wears the American flag on her face"—red lips, white skin, and blue eyes.[6] According to Vulture writer Nate Jones, Swift is the "musical embodiment of American hegemony".[35] Emily St. James of Vox wrote that Swift tells the stories of American millennials through her songs in the manner Springsteen represented American baby boomers.[36] Swift also metaphorically called herself as "Miss Americana" in her 2019 song "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince",[37] which also inspired the namesake 2020 documentary about her life and career.[38]

Bloomberg Businessweek proclaimed Swift "The Music Industry" on the magazine cover dated November 14, 2014.[1]

Swift received various honorific titles and sobriquets recognizing her impact. "America's Sweetheart" is a title the media used for her in her early days, owing to her "all-American girl" image;[39][40] "Princess of Country" stemmed from her mainstream popularity as a country star.[41][42][43] Some media called her "the Pop Titan"[44][45] or the "Queen of Pop" due to her pop music dominance.[46][47][48] Time and PopSugar used "Queen of Bridges" to appreciate Swift's ability to compose well-received bridges.[47][48] "Queen of Easter Eggs" was coined once Swift became known for the Easter eggs and clues embedded in her album cycles.[49][50][51][52] Swift was dubbed "The Music Industry" by Bloomberg Businessweek,[53] Odyssey,[54] and American journalist Barbara Walters in light of her grip on the industry's fiber.[55][56]

In 2019, Swift became the first recipient of the Woman of the Decade (the 2010s) title from Billboard for being "one of the most accomplished musical artists of all time over the course of the 2010s",[57] and the American Music Awards named her Artist of the Decade for her record-setting wins in the 2010s.[58] In 2021, the Brit Awards awarded Swift the Global Icon trophy "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world".[59] In 2022, the Nashville Songwriters Association International named her Songwriter of the Decade to acknowledge her success as a writer.[60][61] In 2023, she was presented the Innovator Award by iHeartRadio Music Awards for "her impact on global pop culture".[62]

Various objects and locations have been named after Swift. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, established the Taylor Swift Education Center to host curriculum-connected activities for school groups, music programs, workshops and book talks.[63][64] Swift received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from New York University in 2022 for being "one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation".[65] Entomologists conferred a Tennessee-endemic millipede species the scientific name Nannaria swiftae;[66] botanists named a plant remote sensor TSWIFT (Tower Spectrometer on Wheels for Investigating Frequent Timeseries).[67][68]

Swift performing "Mean" on the Speak Now World Tour (2012) in Sydney, Australia

Swift helped shape the 21st-century country music scene.[69] The country landscape is "much different today", according to Tom Roland of Billboard, due to Swift and her career decisions that several critics regarded "unorthodox".[25] Rosen described Swift as the first country act whose fame extended beyond the U.S. and marked internationally, as she offered "modernity, cosmopolitanism, youth" in a genre traditionally representing conservatism, parochialism and older adults.[8] Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had not been popular.[69][8] As of February 2011, Fearless sold 400,000 copies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.[70] Following her rise to fame, country record labels became interested in signing young singers capable of writing their own music.[71] In 2008, Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker called Swift a "preternaturally skilled student of established values". Frere-Jones wrote, as the opening act for Rascal Flatts, Swift "[strutted] across stage platforms, performing a percussion duet on garbage cans, and switching gears without pause—her voice, all the while, light and breathy and without affectation—she returned the crowd's energy with the professionalism she has shown since the age of fourteen."[72] Rolling Stone said Swift's country music had a large impact on 2010s pop music.[73]

According to Roland, Swift insisted on writing her songs, mining inspiration from her real life; she entered country music, which has historically been "a place where adults sang grown-up songs for other adults".[25] With her autobiographical songs of romance and heartbreak, Swift introduced the country genre to a relatable younger generation.[8] Although the U.S. country radio's target audience was between ages 25 and 54, listeners were generally limited to those older than 35 years. Various country music acts, label executives, and radio programmers have unsuccessfully attempted to lower this median age since the early 1980s, but with Swift's rise in the early 2000s the median age dropped below 25 with the genre attracting teenagers. According to programmer John Shomby, Swift "wrote for that specific age and was the first one to ever do that."[25]

Swift was one of the first country acts to employ internet as a marketing tool, promoting her music through MySpace, which was the largest social networking website in the world from 2005 to 2009.[74][75] She created her MySpace page the day before her then-label, Big Machine Records, was launched (August 31, 2005), and eventually amassed over 45 million streams via MySpace, which label CEO Scott Borchetta cited to convince "skeptical" country radio stations of Swift's niche audience. Social media followings and streaming service data have since been used "to prove an act's viability to radio".[25] Sisario credited Swift with widening the appeal of country music, introducing it to younger audiences, and contributing to country radio surpassing Top 40 as the largest format in the U.S.[76]

Swift avoided the urban/dance trends prevalent in pop music to embrace "pure pop" with 1989, which critics thought solidified her as a pop icon.

Journalists highlighted how Swift redefined the 21st-century pop music direction by expanding pop's perceived boundaries to bring forth emotional engagement and artistic ambition without forfeiting commercial success, defying critical beliefs. In 2013, Rosen described the Red-era Swift as a prim figure—"a rock critic's darling who hasn't the faintest whiff of countercultural cool about her", setting her apart from pop stars that followed the "raunchiness" trend of the period.[8] In 2016, Roland said Swift "managed to conquer country and, in an unprecedented move, transition fully into life as a pop artist with her latest album, 1989, without even a hiccup."[25] 1989's commercial success transformed Swift's image from a country singer to a full-fledged pop star.[77][78][79] Its singles received heavy rotation on U.S. radio over one and a half years following its release, which Billboard noted as "a kind of cultural omnipresence" that was rare for a 2010s album.[80]

Humanities academic Shaun Cullen described Swift as a figure "at the cutting edge of postmillennial pop".[81] Retrospectives from GQ's Jay Willis,[82] Vulture's Sasha Geffen,[83] and NME's Hannah Mylrea note how 1989 avoided hip hop and R&B crossover trends, influencing younger artists to explore "pure pop" and cultivating a trend of nostalgic 1980s-styled sound.[84] Ian Gormely of The Guardian deemed Swift a leading figure of 21st-century poptimism who replaced dance and urban trends with ambition. He wrote that her transition to pop proved "chart success and clarity of artistic vision aren't mutually exclusive ideas."[85] Geffen attributed Swift's pop transition success to her lyrics rooted in layered, emotional engagement rather than superficial themes that dominated mainstream pop.[83]

According to Lucy Harbron of Clash, pop stars like Dua Lipa would not exist if Swift had not normalized blending various pop music genres in 1989—an explicit trend among pop artists since the album.[86] It paved the way for artists "who no longer wish to be ghettoised into separated musical genres", for BBC's Neil Smith.[87] In 2022, critics Sam Sanders and Ann Powers regarded Swift as a "surprisingly successful composite of megawatt pop star and bedroom singer-songwriter."[88]

Swift's Les Paul guitar and microphone from the Red Tour (2012–2013) placed in the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix

Swift has ventured into diverse genres and artistic reinventions in her career.[89][90] Pitchfork opined in 2021 that Swift changed the music landscape forever with a "singularly perceptive" catalog that accommodates musical and cultural shifts.[91] Harbron stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds.[86] The BBC and Time designated Swift a "music chameleon".[90][89]

Swift's fourth album Red intensified the critical debate over Swift's genre categorization, as she was a country artist at that time, but Red contained heavy pop, electronic and rock elements. Swift said that she opts to let others label genres.[92] Critics felt that Red signified Swift's inevitable transition to mainstream pop. Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times claimed that Red is "perfectly rendered American popular music" irrespective of whether it is a pop or country record. The New York Times' Jon Caramanica dubbed Swift "a pop star in a country context".[93][94] According to Harbron, Red proved the industry that avant-garde is not the only experimental approach in music and that Swift "opened a door for every other musician" in 2012 to coalesce multiple genres into an album.[86]

Post-1989, Swift released Folklore and Evermore, which were described as a mix of indie folk,[95][96] chamber pop,[97] and alternative rock styles.[98][99] They expanded the perception of Swift's discography, with many critics describing her catalog as a musically heterogeneous collection of songs.[17][100] Having demonstrated an emo appeal, Swift's songs are often covered by pop-punk and metalcore acts.[101] Billboard credited Swift with the power "to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit".[102]

Swift is fundamentally a Nashville-enriched songwriter, "steeped in Music Row's values of craftsmanship and storytelling" as per Rosen.[8] According to Zoya Raza-Sheikh of The Independent, Swift is able to balance universal themes with hyper-specificity, possessing "an uncanny talent for reflecting the world's emotional angst through her own lens."[103] In being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, music journalist Nick Catucci opined Swift helped make space for other singers like Ariana Grande, Halsey, and Billie Eilish to later do the same.[104] Professor Hannah Wing of Wichita State University attributed Swift's popularity to the intimacy in her music, cultivating a "feeling of closeness".[105] According to Scarlet Keys, songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music, Swift "mixes poetry with a very colloquial, current language", and frequently uses poetic devices but also knows to be "practical", such as in "Mean" (2011) or "Shake It Off" (2014).[6]

According to Raza-Sheikh, Fearless and Speak Now depicted Swift's adolescent innocence that resonated with a large audience, followed by her matured records Red and 1989, which exhibited her confidence in defining her narrative, becoming "unafraid of upsetting the status quo and critics"; she explored "the role of the villain" in Reputation.[103] It was not until Folklore and Evermore some critics considered Swift's artistic credibility.[106] Commentators regarded both Folklore and Evermore as poetic reinventions, contextualizing them as "lockdown projects" or archetypal "quarantine albums".[107][108] Uproxx noted that Folklore changed the tone of music in 2020.[109] Critic Tom Hull wrote that Swift "caught the spirit of the times" with Folklore.[110] The New York Times and Vogue named Folklore one of the best moments of the "COVID era".[111][112]

British scholar Jonathan Bate dubbed Swift a "real poet", favorably comparing her to literary figures such as William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson, and wrote that she has a "literary sensibility" that other pop stars lack.[113] Stephanie Burt, an English professor at Harvard University, opined that Swift's songwriting skills are rare: "at both the macro level of songwriting—presenting a story or an idea—as well as the micro level of fitting together vowels and consonants."[114] The term "Swiftian" has been used in music journalism to describe works similar to or derivative of Swift.[115][116][117]

A highly successful artist on multiple Billboard charts, Swift has been credited with pushing the boundaries of commercial success.[123] She ranks eighth on Greatest of All Time Artists, a Billboard list ranking music acts based on chart success, the only 21st-century act in the top 15 region.[124] She is the longest-reigning act of the Billboard Artist 100 (78 weeks);[125] the soloist with the most cumulative weeks atop the Billboard 200 (62);[126] the woman with the most Billboard 200 number-ones (12),[127] Hot 100 entries (212),[128] Hot 100 top-10 entries (42),[129] and weeks atop the Top Country Albums chart (99);[130] the act with the most Digital Songs number-ones (26),[131] the most number-one Pop Airplay songs (12),[132] and the longest song to top the Hot 100 ("All Too Well (10 Minute Version)");[133] and the only act to monopolize the Hot 100 top 10.[134]

Critics describe Swift's commercial power as unrivaled, as her success is evenly distributed across streaming, pure album sales, and track sales.[2] She is the only act in Luminate Data history to have five albums—Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, and Midnights—sell over one million copies in one week.[135] To New York magazine, her sales figures prove she is "the one bending the music industry to her will".[120] Financial Times and I-D called Swift "the last pop superstar", given her ability to generate sales figures unseen since the "1990s boy bands" era, which was regarded as the commercial peak of the U.S. music business.[136][137]

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) named her Global Recording Artist of the Year in 2014, 2019 and 2022 for being the most consumed artist in those years; she is the only artist to achieve this three times.[138] Charlotte Kripps of The Independent said Swift led an international resurgence in country music, introducing the genre to a new U.K. audience.[139] Swift also became the first country act to find chart success beyond the Anglosphere. Rosen described her as the genre's "first truly global star", cultivating dedicated fandoms in foreign markets such as Ireland, Brazil and Taiwan,[8] where country music was not popular.[69][8] Jakarta, Quezon City and Singapore are among her biggest cities on streaming platforms.[140]

She holds several unique all-time chart feats in Australia, Ireland and the U.K.[141] In 2021, she became the first act to have three number-one albums on the U.K. Albums Chart in less than a year, besting the Beatles' 54-year-old record.[15][142] On Chinese music platforms, her albums are some of the best-selling of all time and have earned her the highest income for a foreign artist (RMB 159,000,000).[143] She was the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s.[144]

On Spotify, Swift is the most streamed female act globally,[145] the only artist to have received more than 200 million streams in one day,[146] and the first female act to reach 100 million monthly listeners.[147] Midnights is the most streamed album in a single day, with 186 million streams, and the first to collect 700 million global streams in one week.[148][149] Variety dubbed Swift the "Queen of Stream".[150]

Swift is noted for her vast CD and vinyl sales in the 21st century, when music consumption had largely shifted to digital formats.[121] Having driven the vinyl revival, she is regarded as a champion of independent record shops.[151][152] Swift has made LP variants of her albums available exclusively at small businesses, driving their sales. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she shared her LPs to record shops for free.[153][154] Evermore held the record for the biggest sales week for vinyl LPs in the U.S. since Luminate Data's inauguration in 1991, and has since been surpassed by Swift's own Red (Taylor's Version) with 112,000 vinyl LP sales,[155] and Midnights with 575,000 LPs.[156] The latter is the first 21st-century album to sell over a million LPs in the U.S.[157] and over 80,000 LPs in a year in the U.K.[158] Due to her support of independent record shops, Record Store Day (RSD) named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.[153] Swift's third live album, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, became the first RSD-exclusive LP ever to reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200.[159]

Pitchfork considers Swift's name a brand on its own.[165]

Various authors have compared Swift to media franchises, conglomerate companies or a one-woman brand. Per The Ringer, Swift is an omnipresent "musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."[24] Author Elamin Abdelmahmoud agreed, saying Swift is an institution with economic, commercial and cultural consequences.[166] Music publisher Matt Pincus called Swift "an intellectual property franchise" like the DC Extended Universe[136] while Fortune compared her to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[161] According to Internet survey company QuestionPro, "If Taylor Swift were an economy, she'd be bigger than 50 countries; if she was a corporation, her net promoter score would make her the fourth most admired brand."[167]

Per Professor R. Polk Wagner at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Swift associating her lyrics with a range of goods and services through trademark applications represents her understanding that "she is bigger than the music". He added, "It's more of a branding right, thinking of Taylor Swift as a conglomerate."[168] Additionally, in a practice called "domain squatting", Swift bought the pornographic website domain names "taylorswift.porn" and "taylorswift.adult" to prevent them from being misused.[169]

Swift, one of the most followed people on social network services, is a "social media powerhouse", according to Entrepreneur.[162] She was the most followed person on Instagram from September 2015 to March 2016,[170][171] and has consistently been influential on Twitter, placing first in Brandwatch's rankings in 2018,[172] 2019,[173] and 2021.[174] Ticketing executive Nathan Hubbard said that Swift was the first musician "to be natively online."[9] Culture critic Brittany Spanos opined that Swift's social media presence is one of the reasons she is still "really relevant" after years: Swift "grew her fan base on Myspace. She was using Tumblr way past its prime. Twitter. She's now on TikTok, commenting on people's videos."[175]

Swift's marketing is a combination of social media engagement and television. Brandwatch and Cision called Swift a "master of product launch", with knowledge of "a strategic and well-balanced communications campaign". According to public relations (PR) academic Sinead Norenius-Raniere, Swift's integrated marketing strategy consists of: timed announcements across marketing channels, harnessing the potential of both traditional and digital media, authentic and "intimate" communications with consumers to build trust, and usage of multimedia to offer "sneak peaks".[176] Her novel promotional efforts, such as Midnights Mayhem with Me, were a subject of critical praise for innovation.[177][161]

Swift on the Eras Tour; a scene in the show where she is surrounded by dancers dressed in costumes from her different "eras".

Swift is known for her traditional, conceptual album rollouts, often referred to as "eras", each of which consists of a variety of promotional activities.[178][179][180] Rolling Stone described her eras as an inescapable "multimedia bonanza".[181] She is credited with making the "two-year album cycle" approach of releasing and promoting albums the industry standard.[25][182] Nevertheless, journalists also praised Swift's fast-succeeding release of Evermore less than five months after Folklore. Variety compared it to similar moves by the Beatles and U2,[183] while Rolling Stone found it reminiscent of Prince in 1987 and David Bowie in 1977.[184]

Easter eggs and cryptic teasers similar to Swift's became a common practice in pop music.[185] Publications describe her discography as a music "universe" subject to analyses by fans, critics and journalists.[186][187][20] Swift's outfits, accessories, diction, color coding, and numerology have also been Easter eggs.[161][188] El País critic Iker Seisdodos called her "a master of the art of suspense".[6] According to Lutz, her marketing style is "an ever-changing burlesque act of selectively revealing details while maintaining an aura of mystery and excitement"—a strategy that goes beyond the music and entertainment industries.[161]

Each of Swift's eras is characterized by a unique aesthetic, color palette, fashion style,[189][190] and an associated mood or emotion.[191] Reinventing her image and style throughout her career, Swift has popularized several aesthetic trends, such as Polaroid motifs with 1989,[192] and cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore.[193] Lutz opined that the era shifts helped broaden her fan base and critical appeal.[161] Sehdev asserted Swift has managed to remain interesting by constantly reinventing herself "while remaining authentic".[161] However, in a counterview, Fairclough claimed that Swift's "shifting aesthetic" indicates her struggle with a lack of identity.[21]

An AirAsia Airbus A320 celebrating Swift's arrival to Kuala Lumpur for her first ever concert in Malaysia in 2014

Swift embraces corporate sponsors. Her marketing incorporates strategic business partnerships with companies, which were once regarded as a "taboo" among musicians.[194] Marketing expert Christopher Ming wrote, "Sure, working with brands like Apple Music, Elizabeth Arden, and Diet Coke feel like no-brainers. But it takes a certain amount of marketing ingenuity to make campaigns with NCAA Football, United Postal Service [sic], and Papa John's work. Yet they all did."[161] Swift promoted Red (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) using Starbucks and Google Search, respectively.[195][196] Journalists stated that the impact of her album releases is "felt across social media", with brands and companies often endorsing her to capitalize on her "momentum", leveraging her cultural relevance.[197][31][198]

Swift has been instrumental in reforming the business aspects of music,[208] often considered a flag-bearer for artists' rights. Journalists praise her ability to question industry practices, noting how her moves changed streaming platform policies, prompted awareness of intellectual property among upcoming musicians, reshaped the concert ticket model,[2][209] and negotiated better financial compensations from labels for all music artists.[210] Elle described the Swift-enabled reforms to streaming services as "a milestone moment in the history of music".[15]

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek convinced Swift to return to Spotify after she released 1989 to wide commercial success without the platform.

Swift contested music streaming services to regulate corporate policies for better preservation of artistic integrity.[15][211] She said digital streaming services have become a dominant form of media consumption since 2013, causing a gradual decline in traditional album sales.[212][213] In November 2014, Swift announced that 1989, her then-upcoming album, would not be released on Spotify, which was growing in popularity at the time, in protest of the platform's "minuscule" payment to artists (US$0.006 to 0.0084 per stream). In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, she expressed her belief that the value of works of art should be fixed by artists:[212]

"Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is. I hope they don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art."

Karim R. Lakhani and Marco Iansiti, business administration professors at Harvard Business School, reviewed the issue and upheld Swift's belief that musicians should set the prices.[214] For academic Jessica Searle, Swift proposed music as a "non public good".[215] Nilay Patel, writing for Vox, criticized Swift's beliefs about albums and said she "doesn't understand supply and demand"; Patel stated that the internet has "killed" the album format, claiming most consumers would not shop for a Swift CD anymore.[216] Eventually, Swift withdrew her entire discography from Spotify, prompting it to say "We hope she'll change her mind and join us in building a new music economy that works for everyone."[212] 1989 was a commercial success upon release, and another Vox journalist Constance Grady regarded this a "major blow" for Spotify, which attempted to bring Swift back by releasing playlists dedicated to Swift. Her music stayed off Spotify for nearly three years, until Swift released it back on June 9, 2017, in celebration of Swift's milestone 100 million certified units from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[217] Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stated on CBS This Morning that he convinced Swift to bring her music back on Spotify by meeting her in Nashville, "explaining the model, why streaming mattered", and how her fans want her music back on Spotify.[218]

In June 2015, Swift wrote an open letter to Apple Inc. on Tumblr, addressing the three-month free trial that Apple Music had chosen to offer their users while not paying the artists whose catalogs are streamed by users during the trial period. Swift said she finds it "shocking" that they had opted not to pay "writers, producers, or artists" for the three months. She explained:[219]

"This is not about me. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year's worth of plays on his or her songs. [...] Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

Swift asserted 1989 would not be on Apple Music either and urged the company to change the policy before its launch on June 30, 2015.[219] Eddy Cue, an Apple executive, apologized and promised to reverse the policy.[220] Cue told Associated Press, "When I woke up this morning and I saw Taylor's note that she had written, it solidified that we needed to make a change."[221] When Apple Music officially launched, it paid royalties to artists during the three-month trial.[211] Various musicians, music organizations and industry commentators expressed their gratitude to Swift.[221]

Following the expiration of her six-album Big Machine contract in 2018, Swift signed a new global contract with Republic Records, a label owned by Universal Music Group.[222] She revealed that, as part of the contract, any sale of Universal's shares in Spotify would result in non-recoupable equity shares for all Universal artists.[223] Grady called it a huge promise from Universal "far from assured" until Swift interceded.[224] Financial Times's Jamie Powell said, "Swift, on her own, is as powerful as an entire union", and dubbed the equity negotiation "Comrade Swift's special dividend".[225] In 2023, American businessman Elon Musk asked Swift to release her music or concert videos directly to Twitter. Highlighting the pleas of Ek, Cue and Musk, Fast Company opined Swift is "arguably the most powerful person in tech".[226]

Swift's dispute with Scooter Braun has been credited with bringing widespread awareness of masters to the public.

Swift's "battle" against exploitative recording contracts for the ownership of her masters has been described as "revolutionary".[15] In June 2019, after Swift moved to Republic Records, Braun acquired Big Machine for $330 million, making him the owner of all the Big Machine masters, including those of Swift's first six studio albums. Swift responded she attempted to purchase the masters but was offered unfavorable conditions, while Borchetta claimed she declined a chance to purchase them.[227] Swift alleged the label blocked her from performing her music at the 2019 American Music Awards,[228] and claimed Borchetta and Braun were "exercising tyrannical control" over her.[229] Big Machine then released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 (2020), an unreleased live album by Swift, without due diligence.[230] The controversy was highly publicized, becoming one of the most widely discussed and covered news topics of 2020 and 2021.[231] Evening Standard called it "music's biggest feud".[232]

Re-recording the albums was the only viable option to gain full ownership of her music, as per Swift. Braun sold the masters in October 2020 to Shamrock Holdings for $405 million under the condition he would continue profiting.[233] Swift disapproved again, rejected a Shamrock offer for equity partnership, and began releasing the re-recordings via Republic.[234] The re-recorded albums were met with critical and commercial success, breaking multiple commercial records.[235][236] When "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" became the longest song ever to top the Hot 100, Jack Antonoff, the song's producer and a frequent collaborator of Swift, told Rolling Stone that a 10-minute-long song topping the Hot 100 teaches artists to "not listen" to what the industry has to say.[237] In October 2023, Bloomberg estimated the value of the music Swift has released since the dispute in 2019 to be $400 million.[11]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez contextualized the masters dispute as part of the subjugation of creative industries in the U.S. by private equity firms.

Numerous music artists, politicians, journalists and legal experts supported Swift's actions regarding the issue, deeming it trailblazing and inspirational.[229][238] Publications observed, while the issue of master ownership and conflicts between labels and artists such as Prince, the Beatles, Janet Jackson, and Def Leppard have been prevalent earlier, Swift was one of the few to make it a public discourse on artists' rights, private equity and industry ethics.[239][240][165][241] Dubbing the dispute one of the 50 "most important moments" of the 2010s decade,[242] Rolling Stone journalists noted Swift's role in shifting the public perception of the concept of re-recording or re-mastering.[243] Dominic Rushe of The Guardian said Swift's battle marked a change in the digital music era, with artists more aware of their rights without the need to rely on record labels anymore.[241] Pitchfork critic Sam Sodomsky recognized the visibility she brought, saying Swift "can enact change by wielding the leverage of the reliability of her success" and that it is "financially lucrative for the industry to listen" when she speaks.[165]

Unlike most artists when faced with this kind of injustice, Swift could stand up for herself, and in doing so, invoke meaningful dialogue and inspire change within the notoriously slow-moving music industry [...] Re-recording a back catalog of six full albums and respective secret bonus tracks, then developing a hugely successful campaign to drive loyal fans towards the new versions of their beloved albums—and away from the original master recordings, prompting a dip in streams that will be mimicked in the rights holders' income statement—is something only very, very few artists can do. Taylor Swift is, indeed, amongst that handful.

— Eilish Gilligan, "Taylor Swift's Re-Recordings Expose The Music Industry's Chokehold On Intellectual Property", Refinery29[244]

The A.V. Club and MarketWatch interpreted Swift's statements as a criticism of private equity, highlighting The Carlyle Group, one of Braun's investors.[245] U.S. Congress members like Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed Swift and stated that she is "one of many" creative businesses threatened by private equity firms that harm the U.S. economy.[246][247] Music attorney James Sammataro observed that "any time Taylor brings attention to an issue, it gets magnified [...] She has a very loud megaphone and she's not afraid to use it. She's had great success in effectuating change."[248] The outcomes of the re-recording venture have been described as unprecedented.[235] Kornhaber opined that the re-recordings disproved critics who doubted Swift.[249]

Inspired by Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), the concert industry adopted the "slow ticketing" model.

The concert industry shifted to a "slow ticketing model" after Swift, who is known for her stadium concerts,[250] first implemented it with the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018). It replaced the selling-out of tickets in minutes with a demand-driven ticketing approach that requires consumers to register in advance and allowed them to purchase tickets at any time and price level upon access. This meant higher ticket prices in the beginning and a gradual drop as the concert date approached, replacing "momentum with consumer choice and experience" and bypassing scalpers, according to David Marcus of Ticketmaster. The model was initially criticized by journalists, who thought it was an attempt at camouflaging Swift's dull ticket sales following her unfavorable press in 2016; however, the tour was a sold-out success, surpassing the Beatles to become the highest grossing North American tour of all time, after which critics favored the model.[251][252][253]

In November 2022, the pre-sale of the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour was mismanaged by Ticketmaster, attracting widespread public and political criticism. Due to the "astronomical" demand for tickets,[254] with 3.5 million people registering for the on-sale program, the Ticketmaster website crashed within an hour of sale but still sold 2.4 million tickets, breaking the record for the most concert tickets sold by an artist in a single day. Ticketmaster attributed the crash to "historically unprecedented" site traffic.[255][256] Fans and consumer groups accused Ticketmaster of deceit and monopoly.[257] Several members of U.S. Congress claimed that Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment should be separated as their merger led to substandard service and higher ticket prices.[258] The U.S. Department of Justice opened investigations into Live Nation–Ticketmaster,[259] whereas several fans sued the companies for intentional deception, fraud, price fixing, and antitrust law violations.[260] Bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee censured the companies at a hearing.[261] Under pressure from the National Economic Council, Ticketmaster and other ticketing companies agreed to terminate junk fees—additional fees revealed at the end of ticket purchases. American legal scholar William Kovacic termed it the "Taylor Swift policy adjustment."[262] For the 2023 concert film of the tour, Swift adopted an unconventional release strategy that directly partnered with movie theaters to bypass the major film studios.[263]

Pitchfork asked, "Is there any other artist [other than Swift] who could force urgency into the federal investigation of a music industry monopoly just by going on tour?"[264] Entertainment Weekly and The A.V. Club listed "Swifties vs. Ticketmaster" as one of the biggest cultural news stories of 2022. The former's Allaire Nuss wrote, "If there was ever an artist with enough pop-culture prowess to bring down the music industry's most hated monopoly, it's Taylor Swift."[265][266] The Washington Post proclaimed Swift has "an unbreakable hold on our increasingly fractured world—and its discourse—in a way that almost no one else can."[20]

In her "You Need to Calm Down" music video, Swift critiqued the media for pitting female artists against each other by portraying drag queens impersonating various pop stars competing for one crown.

Swift has been described as a "polarizing figure". Her fame has had detrimental effects on her position in the media; some are genuine critique of her actions, while the rest constitute unverified tabloid gossip that has resulted in various moments of negative press for Swift.[278][279] Branding expert Jeetendehr Sehdev told Fortune, "People love her or hate her".[161] Swift has generally used negative critique as musical inspiration, writing songs such as "Shake It Off" (2014), "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017), and "You Need to Calm Down" (2019).[24]

Swift's dating life has been a subject of tabloid scrutiny and has thus prompted some pop culture news outlets, conservative commentators, and social media users to slut-shame her.[280][281] Figuring out the celebrity inspiration behind a Swift song is the media's favorite game, in the words of Rosen, who wrote that outlets maligned Swift "as a serial kisser-and-teller, as an entitled rich kid, as a mean girl with a victim complex", attributing it partly to the "shrill" tone of Swift's early songs. However, Rosen also stated that there is "a sexist double standard in the policing of Swift's confessions, especially when you consider the routine misogyny in the songs of rockers, rappers, and woebegone beardy indie balladeers."[8] Some media outlets and journalists are also noted for their bias, frequently vilifying Swift for clickbait or to gain readership, capitalizing on consumer interest in "juicy" details about Swift's life.[15][282]

Snake, a term that was used by detractors to ridicule Swift in 2016, became the main visual motif of her 2017 album Reputation.

Swift's public disputes and alleged "feuds" have received widespread online attention and media coverage.[283][284] She began experiencing media "overexposure" in 2012.[285] Some media are noted for igniting "beef" between Swift and other celebrities, especially against other women. Swift has had "feuds" with celebrities like Perry and Nicki Minaj,[286][287] both of whom publicly engaged Swift. Animosity alleged by media outlets also contest Swift against Cardi B,[288] Adele,[289] Demi Lovato,[290] SZA,[291] and Grande—despite the fact that Swift engaged none of them and even attempted to quash some of the rumors[292]—and against her former boyfriends Joe Jonas, John Mayer, Calvin Harris,[284] and Jake Gyllenhaal.[293] Kanye West has been a significant source of controversy in Swift's public image.[294]

Knibbs commented that Swift was a "country music princess on the verge of superstardom" in 2009, became a "snake" in 2016, and returned as a "full-blown music juggernaut" after 2019, providing an excellent "case study for the ups and downs of modern pop stardom".[24] Swift has attempted to avoid overexposure since 2017,[295] and has often mocked the media in her music; she sold supplementary magazines inspired by Reputation at Target with sarcastic comments about her life mimicking gossip headlines.[296] According to Carter Sherman of Vice, after viewing Swift as a "villain" from 2016 to 2018, growing self-awareness in the media helped popular culture undergo a "Great Swift Revival" in 2020, healing her public image.[297]

Kanye West taking the microphone from Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, with Taylor Lautner and Shakira in the background.

The decade-spanning feud between Swift and West mutually affected their reputations and cultural perception.[298] In September 2009, at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video for her 2009 song "You Belong With Me", becoming the first country singer and one of the youngest artists (age 19) to win a MTV Video Music Award. While Swift was delivering her speech, West climbed the stage, interrupted her, and took her microphone to declare "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!", referring to "Single Ladies" (2008). Swift was then escorted backstage. Beyoncé later won Video of the Year that evening, and invited Swift to finish her speech. Nevertheless, West's actions were met with widespread criticism; then-U.S. President Barack Obama called West a "jackass" on television. West issued apologies and blamed his "difficult day" but subsequently recanted. Swift joked about the incident in her Saturday Night Live monologue in November 2009. Swift and West posed together in photographs from the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, and she stated that they had become friends with help from Jay-Z, a mutual friend.[298]

The feud was re-ignited when West released his 2016 single "Famous", containing the lyrics "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous" in reference to the 2009 incident. West claimed that Swift had approved the lyrics beforehand on a phone call, whereas she said she was not made aware of the second line describing her as a "bitch". He also released a music video for "Famous", incorporating a naked wax doll of Swift, which she dubbed "revenge porn" in 2019. After Swift "shaded" West in her speech following her Album of the Year win for 1989 at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016), talking about not letting detractors take credit for her fame, West's then-wife, Kim Kardashian, released trimmed clips of the Swift-West call on Snapchat that appeared to support West's claim. "#TaylorSwiftisOverParty" became the top trend on Twitter, with viral social media posts calling Swift "fake, calculated, manipulative, a snake, a liar and is not what she seems". Various media criticized, trolled and "cancelled" Swift. The backlash caused Swift to step away from the spotlight for a year, avoiding being seen by the press until the 2017 release of Reputation, which was partially inspired by the controversy. It was not until 2020 that the full, unedited footage of the call leaked, proving Swift had not lied, resulting in "#KanyeWestisOverParty" becoming the top Twitter trend.[298][294][210]

The BBC called it the "music's most notorious on-off feud".[299] Jones pinpointed her overexposure during the Red and 1989 album cycles as the reason why the media easily "turned against" her in 2016,[35] such as an opinion piece from Vice's Grace Medford that attributed Swift's later success to her "vilifying" West.[300] However, after 2020, media outlets began praising Swift for standing her ground.[301][302] Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian wrote in 2023 that Swift had become "immune to hate" and re-established herself as the world's favorite popstar.[303]

Swift has been vocal about the impact of press coverage on personal health, discussing issues like eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia athletica, self-esteem, and cyberbullying. Jessica Gold, professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, stated, "when our political leaders are struggling to build consensus on and convey the gravity of issues" like mental health, Swift is sending a powerful message by opening up about her issues—"one that is likely to save lives in myriad ways".[305] When discussing Miss Americana writer Elana Fishman confessed, "every so often, I'll still catch myself criticizing the way my tummy or legs look in a photo or how a certain pair of pants fits me. From now on, whenever that happens, I'll be repeating a line Swift says in the film: 'We do not do that anymore, because it's better to think you look fat than to look sick'".[306]

The Daily Targum stated that despite being an expert in handling negative criticism, even Swift "succumbed to insecurities that blossomed into eating problems, which shows how even the strongest among us are susceptible to potential eating disorders due to the toxic environment of social media".[307] Ellen Ricks of HelloGiggles called Swift's reveal of her disorder inspirational, noting "how it can potentially impact so many people still fighting", as "there is still so much stigma and misinformation" surrounding it.[308] In the article "Why women say sorry too much and what to say — and do — instead" for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Kate Midena highlighted Swift's comments on her struggles to "deprogram the misogyny in my own brain" in Miss Americana. Midena wrote that being trained to say sorry is "a conundrum women have been stuck in since the middle ages" and that girls are often taught to value empathy over "masculine traits" such as strength and assertiveness, and hence they "feel the need to cushion their actions with an apology".[309] Miss Americana prompted critics of Swift to respond, such as comedian Nikki Glaser, who confessed her comments about being skinny came from a place of insecurity.[310] Journalist Richard S. Hé stated the intention of their 2016 Vice article "Taylor Swift Isn't Like Other Celebrities, She's Worse" was to "deconstruct the pettiness of the celebrity–industrial complex" but regretted it could have been unduly critical of Swift.[311]

More songs are about love than anything else — how wonderful it is when it begins, and how deeply painful it can be when it ends. Taylor Swift did not invent this idea. People have been singing songs about broken hearts as long as music and broken hearts have existed, and her male peers aren't questioned in quite the same way she is. Heartbroken girls are labeled as whiny in our society, while heartbroken guys are endearing and lovable. And it sucks.

— Nicole Pomarico, "Taylor's Pointing Out Sexism in The Music Industry", Bustle[316]

Journalists have reported on the intense misogyny and slut-shaming directed at Swift,[317][281] who has been vocal in condemning all forms of sexism. She highlighted misogynistic language used against her in tabloids and headlines, as well as sexist comments discrediting her achievements.[15] She stated that her "dating life has become a bit of a national pastime" and does not appreciate the "Careful, Bro, She'll Write a Song About You" trope as it "trivializes" her artistry.[314] Some opined Swift is an easy target for male derision, triggering "fragile male egos",[318] and that she "infuriates male critics by not looking like a sexpot", challenging the male gaze.[319] According to Rosen, some media and public censure Swift's "acidic" lyrics about former partners while praising male artists like Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Drake for the same, revealing the double standards.[8] Several former detractors of Swift have blamed their unconscious misogyny.[250]

In various media, Swift has been the subject of comments, "jokes", punch lines and memes that have been perceived as sexist. The New Feminist highlights, apart from sexist men, several women also channel their internalized misogyny towards Swift.[320][321] At the 70th Golden Globe Awards (January 2013), hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered a joke about Swift, following tabloid news that week that claimed Swift had broken up with Connor Kennedy; Fey said that given Swift's "interest in famous guys", she should stay away from actor Michael J. Fox's son, who was escorting the award winners off the stage that evening. Poehler disagreed and said "Swift should go for it", to which Fey retorted. The joke was the subject of viral news coverage.[322] Fey also had a history of joking about Swift's dating life.[323] Two months later, when Vanity Fair asked about Fey and Poehler, Swift quoted Madeleine Albright: "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."[322] She subsequently elaborated:[323]

"For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her, I think that's taking something that potentially should be celebrated—a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way—that's taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist."

In June 2013, American retail company Abercrombie & Fitch sold shirts saying "More Boyfriends than T.S." After backlash from Swift's fans, the retailer withdrew them.[324] Westboro Baptist Church leader Ben Phelps called Swift the "poster child for the young whores of doomed America", accusing her of "fornication and sin-coddling songs", and announced plans to protest at her concert.[325] In October 2014, on Australian radio show Jules, Merrick & Sophie, Swift stated she is "unfairly criticized" for her lyrics compared to her male peers:[326]

"You're going to have people who are going to say, 'Oh, you know, like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends.' And I think frankly that's a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They're all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there."

In a 2016 interview, when asked what advice she would give her 19-year-old self, Swift replied, "Hey, you're going to date just like a normal twenty-something should be allowed to, but you're going to be a national lightning rod for slut-shaming."[327] In a 2019 interview with New Zealand DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Swift stated that the slut-shaming "happened to [her] at a very young age, so that was a bit hard. That was one of the first times [she] was like—Wow, this is not fair."[328]

On March 1, 2021, Swift criticized the writers of Netflix series Ginny & Georgia for using a "lazy, deeply sexist joke" slut-shaming her.[330] Beth Ashley of Grazia wrote sexism is why male celebrities like Pete Davidson are celebrated for his dating history, while Swift is "shamed and shunned".[328]

In August 2017, a sexual assault trial was held in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, involving former DJ David Mueller, a KYGO-FM radio employee, who filed for defamation against Swift. He claimed she had him wrongfully terminated following an incident at a 2013 meet-and-greet,[331] in which Swift posed for a photo with Mueller.[331] Swift alleged Mueller reached under her skirt and grabbed her buttocks in the photo.[332] Mueller was escorted out of the concert once Swift reported it to her mother and team.[333][331] The incident was reported to KYGO, and Mueller was fired shortly after.[334] He sued Swift for defamation in September 2015, claiming he never touched Swift under her skirt and that he lost his job and reputation due to her false claims.[332] Swift counter-sued Mueller for battery and sexual assault, seeking $1 in damages. The jury ruled in Swift's favor.[334]

The trial was a subject of wide media attention due to Swift's status as a high-profile celebrity.[335] In a post-trial statement, Swift revealed she counter-sued Mueller to empower other victims of sexual assault.[336] The BBC stated that the trial was culturally significant as it highlighted the underreporting of sexual assaults, Swift's refusal to back down even though the defense lawyers attempted to discredit her, and the symbolic $1 damages. Brand strategists said, Swift "has been not only trying to empower ordinary women that she doesn't know but also music industry colleagues" with the case. Public relations expert Marvet Britto stated that Swift "is aware that her defiance in fighting against these allegations—not only made toward her but other artists and colleagues—will achieve global visibility around sexual assault issues that, in many cases, go unreported and ignored and are marginalized."[337] In December 2017, Swift was named a "Silence Breaker" in Time magazine's Person of the Year issue.[338] Elle described the trial as a landmark case "aiming to not bankrupt the perpetrator, but to set a precedent for other artists and women around the world to speak up and hold predators accountable for the irreparable damage they cause."[15] Additionally, Swift donated $250,000 to American singer Kesha in 2016 to assist her with the legal fees for her sexual assault case, and further donation to the Joyful Heart Foundation for survivors of sexual assault in 2017.[15]

Swift is credited with shaping the career trajectories of female country singers like Maren Morris (left) and Kacey Musgraves (right).

Critics have noted Swift's musical style resonating in albums released by female country singers like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini.[339] Swift's onstage guitar performances contributed to the Taylor Swift effect—a phenomenon to which upsurge in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed.[340][341][342] Todd Cassetty, president of Cassetty Entertainment, opined "everybody was trying to mimic" Swift and that "a lot of young women are trying to find their voice now, but a lot of them were inspired to pick up a guitar" because of her.[25] Journalist Shah Ezayadi attributed Swift's commercial success with "the way she makes her listeners feel understood, particularly her young female audience." Raza-Sheikh said Swift is a cultural litmus test: "can we begin to respect art created by famous women, particularly when it explores love stories and womanhood?"[103]

"There's her odd brand of beauty, part Barbie, part Southern belle: Swift’s career has always seen her playing with the tropes of femininity—the homecoming queen, the fairy nymph, the socialite—only to subvert them with a goofy charm."

— Jo Ellison, "Why I believe in Taylor Swift", Financial Times[319]

Feminism is a core aspect of Swift's discography, particularly since 2014.[326] According to Rosen, Swift existed on the modest, "Victorian" end of the feminist spectrum, compared to pop stars like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus, who "represent aggressively sexualized feminist pop, harnessing big beats and skimpy outfits to work through questions of power and self-determination"; however, Swift's songs "aren't totally chaste: Sex is there in the rush and flush of the music, and it peeks through, discreetly, in the lyrics."[8] Many of her songs address feminist themes; examples include "I Did Something Bad" (2017), "The Man" (2019), "The Last Great American Dynasty" (2020), "Mad Woman" (2020), "Vigilante Shit" (2022), and "Would've, Could've, Should've" (2022).[343] Kayla Bartsch of National Review attributed Swift's stardom to "her unmatched ability to capture the essence of the modern woman."[344]

Swift played a man (middle) in the music video for "The Man" (2020) to ridicule sexist double standards.

Swift's 2014 single "Blank Space" is a satirical feminist critique of her portrayal in media.[314] The Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti called its music video a "dystopian feminist fairytale", playing into the "annoying, boy-crazy" tropes media projected on Swift.[345] In the music video of "The Man", Swift's portrays a male alter-ego named Tyler Swift, presenting several prevalent examples of sexist double standards, including objectification, sexualization, toxic masculinity, and patriarchy.[346] iHeartRadio's Paris Close said it demonstrates "how the hubris of male privilege plays out in the real world".[347]

The artistic reinventions of her career were also examined feministically. Swift said, "The female artists I know of have to remake themselves 20 times more than the male artists, or else you're out of a job" in regards to the music industry "discarding" female pop stars as soon as they reach their mid-30s. The 2020 Prospect article "It's time to face the facts—our male pop stars need to try a bit harder" pointed out the requirement for female pop stars to be "highly visual, and to change that visual often".[348] Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic of The New York Times, considered Swift's "hamster wheel of constant reinvention" a meta-commentary on the expectation that female pop stars "unveil new versions of themselves for our viewing pleasure, one-upping their old image with new wardrobes ad infinitum", while male pop stars do not change much.[180]

In a contradictory perspective, even though Swift described herself as a feminist,[349] her 2014–2015 public appearances and social media posts with female singers and fashion models whom the media called her "squad" gave some the impression that she did so to keep her name afloat in media.[23] A number of critics claimed Swift's feminism lacks intersectionality,[350] causing her to come off as a white feminist whose "clique was really just an exclusive group of mostly white actresses and supermodels."[35]

Swift is socially liberal,[358] having criticized white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the U.S.[359][312] She is pro-choice and an advocate of gender equality and LGBT rights.[360][361] However, Swift has also been censured by some liberal and conservative critics;[362] the former criticize consider her activism performative,[363] while the latter detest her for being an outspoken, "woke" liberal.[364] She endorsed Democratic candidates Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper for the 2018 U.S. midterm elections in her home state Tennessee,[365] and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 2020 U.S. presidential election,[366] and criticized Republican politicians Donald Trump and Marsha Blackburn.[367]

According to The Times, 53% of adult Americans are fans of Swift, far higher than approval ratings of Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump (right) in 2023.

Facebook data from 2014 revealed that Swift is one of the artists who formed the "happy median" of musical listening habits of its Democratic and Republican users.[368] According to a 2023 survey reported by The Times, 53% adult Americans consider themselves fans of Swift, ratings higher than those of Biden and Trump; journalist Ellie Austin explained that though Swift is left-aligned, some rightists still "covet" her, making her a "uniting" demographic fulcrum that can bridge America's political divide.[369] In another survey reported by The New York Sun, Swift was the third most popular choice for the U.S. president, after Trump and Biden.[370] Former White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah Griffin joked that Swift was the "only person" who could defeat Trump in an election.[371]

Swift's political sway was further evident in the bipartisan criticism of Ticketmaster. CNN journalist Allison Morrow wrote in an article titled "One Nation, Under Swift" that Swift's fans united the parties in a way "the Founding Fathers failed to anticipate".[372] Brooke Schultz of the Associated Press noticed how the issue turned into a political movement and considered Swift's fans an influential voter demographic.[373] As per Morning Consult, 55% of Swift's U.S. fans are Democratic, 23% Republican, and 23% independent.[374]

Swift was apolitical as a country artist, avoiding discussing political topics in her early career—noted by critics in retrospect as her time under Big Machine. When asked by Time in 2012 regarding the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Swift said, "I try to keep myself as educated and informed as possible. But I don't talk about politics because it might influence other people. And I don't think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for."[375] Journalists criticized Swift's lack of political activism despite her status as a celebrated figure, claiming her philanthropy is inadequate.[21][376] Motivated by Swift's apoliticism, Trump called her a "terrific" role model; conservative lawmakers invited her to visit the U.S. Capitol.[377]

She remained apolitical for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, not supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton or speaking against Trump as some had expected.[21] Critics questioned who Swift had voted for in the election as she posted a picture of her in a polling station queue.[362] After she shared a photo of herself wearing an outfit similar to what Clinton once wore, a USA Today headline said, "Who did Taylor Swift vote for? Here's why her sweater suggests Hillary".[378] Entertainment Weekly analyzed Instagram's "most popular Election Day content", reporting that some of the most-liked posts were those from Rihanna, Lovato, Kourtney Kardashian, and Grande, all of whom had explicitly endorsed Clinton, but it was Swift's "innocuous" non-partisan post that earned the most likes (2.1 million).[379] This showed Swift was a pop culture anomaly, according to The Ringer critic Alyssa Bereznak.[362] BBC journalist Nick Levine found her political silence "increasingly conspicuous".[21]

According to Bereznak, apoliticism might have been "an advantageous business strategy" for pop stars before, but for cultural figures like Swift, their "actions, communication, and work" will be analyzed by the media in a political lens. In 2017, Swift supported the 2017 Women's March via Instagram,[362] which was met with criticism from both fans and critics, who felt it was pointless as Swift refused to channel her feminist activism into politics.[362] The Cut suggested, even though Clinton had the open support of Perry, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Springsteen, Swift's public endorsement "could have" helped her become President.[380] Medford opined Swift cannot subsist in a political vacuum as it becomes "deafeningly noticeable". Criticizing her use of social media only for music announcements and not politics, Medford wrote: "To have such a large, wide-reaching platform and use it only for the advancement of your own ambition reflects poorly, regardless of how progressive your politics may be."[381]

Some critics attributed Swift's political silence to a significant portion of her fandom in 2014 being conservative country fans.[350] The most intense sociopolitical criticisms alleged that Swift is a crypto-fascist.[382][383] Exploiting her persisting political silence in 2016 and 2017, some white supremacists in the U.S. considered Swift one of them—a neo-nazi. Some alt-right websites proclaimed her their "Aryan Goddess",[384][385][386] waiting for Trump's win to announce her "Aryan Agenda" to the world.[387] Liberal media outlets demanded Swift to clarify her political stance.[350] When a blog post by PopFront, a left-wing website, alleged that "Look What You Made Me Do" was a "subtle" alt-right nod, Swift's team called the post defamatory and demanded that PopFront "issue a retraction, remove the story from all media sources, and cease and desist," or face legal consequences.[388] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized Swift for attempting to "suppress constitutionally protected speech".[389]

However, NPR journalist Leah Donella asserted that there is no reason to think Swift is a white supremacist, stating "she has no affiliation with any white supremacist groups. She has never publicly made any white supremacist remarks, nor has she ever been accused of making them in private". Donella noted claims that Swift is a white supremacist rest solely on the fact that she is white, "looks white, and hangs out with mostly white people", justifying the latter with 2014 studies demonstrating that a white person has only one person of color as a friend for every 91 white friends: "This isn't a Taylor Swift thing. It's a housing segregation/workplace diversity/general American history thing."[386]

Kamala Harris thanked Swift for endorsing the Democratic campaign in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Swift voiced her political view for the first time in the 2018 midterm elections, "breaking her political silence" according to the media.[390][366] She endorsed Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper via social media posts on October 18, 2018; it was a subject of widespread media coverage and sparked much praise from fans, journalists, celebrities, and Democrats. For instance, This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner tweeted, "A big shout out to Taylor Swift for speaking out. You can single-handedly change this country. Impress your fans with how critical and powerful their voices are. If you get them to the polls on Nov 6, everything you care about will be protected."[365][391] Swift also censured Republican candidate Blackburn for her "appalling" policies:[391]

"In the past I've been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions. I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in [the United States]. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening, and prevalent."

Swift received "fierce backlash" from Republicans, Trumpists, and right-wing supporters, who felt "betrayed" by Swift, criticized, slut-shamed, and berated her online; they stated she "ended" her career, should have "shut up" and "stick to music". The National Republican Senatorial Committee opined, "If you haven't heard, multimillionaire pop star Taylor Swift came down from her ivory tower to tell hardworking Tennesseans to vote for Phil Bredesen." Charlie Kirk, president of conservative group Turning Point USA, tweeted: "You just endorsed a Democrat in the Tennessee Senate race with a ridiculous statement saying Marsha Blackburn, a woman, is against women. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." Trump told reporters: "I'm sure Taylor Swift doesn't know anything about her. Let's say that I like Taylor's music about 25% less now, OK?".[391][366]

Over 169,000 people registered to vote in the 2018 elections within two days of her post, as per Vote.org, whereas only 59,000 people registered to vote in the 30 preceding days. Publications credited the Taylor Swift effect.[392][393][394] As per a statistical research by academics Gwendelyn Nisbett and Stephanie Dunn, Swift's narrative and message in the post influenced her followers, beyond their parasocial attachment to her.[395] Behavioral scientist Simone Driessen wrote that some media consider Swift's political "coming-out" as a strategy to further her career, whereas others consider it mandatory for pop stars in a political climate "to express where they stand".[396]

In 2019, Swift stated that when she began her country music career, Big Machine and other label executives advised her to not discuss politics, making an example of the Dixie Chicks controversy.[365] She described Trump's presidency as an autocracy, and regretted not endorsing Clinton in 2016, but said her negative press at the time made her feel "useless" and "like a hindrance".[397] Swift added that Clinton was being called a "manipulative" liar by Trumpists on the internet—the same type of harsh comments Swift had received in 2016 following her West-Kardashian feud, and wondered whether she would be a liability to Clinton: "Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women. The two nasty women"; as "millions of people were telling me to disappear", Swift decided to step away from spotlight.[210] Emily Strayer, member of the Chicks, opined in 2020 that Swift had much more power to change things than they ever did.[398]

Swift described Blackburn as "Trump in a wig" who won in 2018 by "being a female applying to the kind of female males want us to be in a horrendous 1950s world."[367] Blackburn responded in July 2021, claiming liberals want a Marxist socialist society which prohibits women to perform, or create the type of music Swift does, denying private intellectual property rights,[399] and that Swift "is going to be the first ones who will be cut off because the state would have to approve your music."[400] In the 2020 election, Swift endorsed Biden and Harris and lent her protest song "Only the Young" (2020) to their campaign.[366] Forbes staff Seth Cohen found Swift's increased political engagement in the past year "notable for its high-profile approach and big hit commentary."[352] Trump eventually lost his re-election; Biden was elected as the next U.S. president.[401] Swift was found to be the second most influential celebrity in Biden's win, after LeBron James.[402]

Nota bene: This section is non-exhaustive and includes illustrative examples only.

A cutout of Swift's face being used at the 2017 Chicago Pride Parade

• The New York Times noted the positive impact Swift had on the LGBT community as a country artist by releasing the 2011 music video for "Mean".[376]
• Time described "Welcome to New York" (2014) as an "equality anthem".[403]
• On March 23, 2018, Swift called for gun control, donating to victims and to March For Our Lives.[366]
• On June 1, 2019, she created a Change.org petition urging senators to vote for the House-passed Equality Act.[366] As of April 2020, the petition had over 704,000 signatures, including those from Democratic senators like Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Ed Markey, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tim Kaine, and Cory Booker. Swift wrote a letter to Republican Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander, asking him his support:[404] "For American citizens to be denied jobs or housing based on who they love or how they identify is un-American and cruel".[405]
• Swift performed at Stonewall Inn during the WorldPride NYC 2019.[406]
• The release of "You Need to Calm Down" led to a spike in donations to GLAAD, an LGBT non-governmental organization, as the lyrics namecheck the organization.[407] Anthony Ramos, GLAAD executive, stated Swift "is one of the world's biggest pop stars; the fact that she continues to use her platform and music to support the LGBTQ community and the Equality Act is a true sign of being an ally."[405][408] CEO Sarah Kate said, Swift "continues to use her platform to speak out against discrimination and create a world where everyone can live the life they love. [...] In today's divisive political and cultural climate, we need more allies like Taylor."[408]
• On August 26, 2019, at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, after winning Video of the Year for the "You Need to Calm Down", Swift urged the audience in her speech to sign the petition and said the White House has not responded despite having "five times the amount of signatures that it would need to warrant a response".[409] The next day, then-White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere issued a statement criticizing the Equality Act.[410] "You Need to Calm Down" became a gay anthem.[411]
• On May 29, 2020, Swift criticized Trump's "provocative" tweets regarding the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul,[366] and after the wide George Floyd protests, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Black Lives Matter movement,[412] voiced for removing the Confederate monuments in Tennessee,[413] and called for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.[414] Swift's tweet criticizing Trump became her most-liked tweet, garnering over two million likes.[415] In the Forbes article "Taylor Swift And The Tweet That Could Help Take Down A President", Cohen said Swift's political voice "could have enormous political consequences" as surveys indicate white women and young first-time voters—Trump's weakest demographics—both forming significant portions of Swift's U.S. fanbase, and "will therefore be key to the outcome of the 2020 election."[351]
• After Swift posted on Instagram in September 2023 about Vote.org's National Voter Registration Day, more than 35,000 people registered to vote, a 23 percent increase in total registrations and 115 percent increase among 18-year-olds when compared to the 2022 National Voter Registration Day.[416]

• In March 2015, impelled by Swift's Rhode Island estate High Watch, then-Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo proposed a luxury tax on second homes worth over $1 million in the state, referred to as the "Taylor Swift tax". It was withdrawn after wide criticism.[417][418]
• On May 19, 2023, members of the Massachusetts General Court introduced the bipartisan "Taylor Swift Bill" to require ticketing companies disclose full ticket costs upfront and outlaw dynamic pricing.[419] Similar bills were introduced in the state legislatures of Minnesota and California.[420][421]
• On May 22, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed the "Save Our Swifties" bill into law, banning the use of bots to bulk-purchase tickets.[422][423] Similar bills were launched in New York and Washington.[421]
• U.S. Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone drafted the BOSS and SWIFT Act (Better Oversight of Stub Sales and Strengthening Well Informed and Fair Transactions for Audiences of Concert Ticketing) in the House, mandating an overhaul of ticket sale and resale platforms.[420]
• In June 2023, an anti-scalping "Taylor Swift Bill" was proposed to the National Congress of Brazil.[424]

Swift's cardigan and flannel coat from Folklore and Evermore exhibited at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Swift's music, visuals, general attire, and concerts have influenced fashion trends and led to sales surges. She boosted the popularity of red lipsticks—considered one of her signature fashion motifs, especially since Red, which prominently featured red lips in its cover.[436][437] Swift helped popularize sleeveless formal wear and waistcoats in women's fashion.[438]

"The scarf" mentioned in autobiographical lyrics of "All Too Well" has also become a signature object associated with Swift.[439][440][441] It has been described variably as "an unlikely pop culture icon in an inanimate object",[442] "a universal symbol for heartbreak",[443] a "fantastic pop culture mystery",[444] "the green dock light of our time",[445] a "fabled accessory" and "a source of cultural curiosity" by publications.[446] According to Rob Sheffield, the scarf is so significant to Swift's discography that it "should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."[447] Following the 2021 release of her self-directed All Too Well: The Short Film, the Google searches for "Taylor Swift red scarf meaning" spiked by 1,400 percent.[448]

Cottagecore experienced a resurgence on the internet after Swift used it,[449] increasing sales of hand-knitted Aran jumpers in Ireland and the U.S.[450] RTÉ thanked Swift for putting cardigans "back on the map" with Folklore.[451] Upon Evermore's release, replicas of the flannel coat Swift wore on the cover artwork sold out on Farfetch instantaneously.[452] The Eras Tour increased the demand for metallic boots, cowboy hats, and sequin dresses. CNN reported that fashion retailers marketed their products to target attendees of the tour, with various clothing brands creating a range of items inspired by Swift and her "eras" and scoring their biggest sales year yet.[453][454]

Various higher educational institutions offer undergraduate and elective courses focusing on Swift since 2022.[208][17] To examine Swift's multifaceted impact, Indiana University Bloomington had a three-day academic conference in 2023,[561] and the University of Melbourne is set to host the Swiftposium 2024, an international symposium organized by scholars across Australian and New Zealand universities.[566]