Swift’s bio is a great story. Born in Pennsylvania in 1989, she quickly showed musical talent and signed an artist development deal at 13. She pressed her family to move to Nashville to advance her career; they did so when she was 14 and she soon signed a songwriting contract with Sony. Her first album, “Taylor Swift,” was released in 2006. It topped the Country Music charts — 24 weeks as No. 1 — and spent nearly 5½ years on the Billboard 200.
After a series of hit records, she moved to New York and transitioned to pop music, a move that did not hurt her appeal or her sales. In 2019, her music catalog was sold to a publishing company, whose founder, Scooter Braun, Swift claimed had bullied her early in her career. She has since re-recorded and re-released all those early albums.
Swift has shown a ferocious commitment to her independence, refusing to let others define her music, her career or limit her choices. She has not shied away from fights when confronted — along with Braun, she’s squared off against Kanye West, his former wife Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry, among others — and has displayed a maturity and equanimity that few have matched, especially given the scrutiny that comes with the spotlight.
This is all good fodder for the arts and culture section, but we need serious material to warrant space on the opinion page. This brings us to the “Swift effect,” a phenomenon that manifests in two ways: economic benefits and soft power.
