TAYLOR MUSIC JOURNEY- FROM STAR TO STARDOM

 

Taylor moved to Nashville and began composing songs every Tuesday after school for two hours with songwriter Liz Rose. At age 14, she departed the group but later became the Sony/ATV publishing house's youngest artist signed. She thought she was running out of time because she wanted to document the first few years of her life on an album while still accurately reflecting the struggles she was facing. Scott Borchetta, a music industry executive who was getting ready to launch Big Machine Records, an independent record company, noticed Swift at a showcase in Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005. She was one of Big Machine's first recruits after her father invested a 3 percent stake in the business.

 

Taylor then began work on her debut record and convinced Big Machine to work with Nathan Chapman as her song producer. The self-titled album by Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006, following the release of her first lead song, "Tim McGraw," in June 2006. On the US Billboard 200, where it lasted 275 weeks, it peaked at number 5. Swift spent 2006 and 2007 promoting her album on radio, television, and as the opening act for country acts in the US. Swift was also the opening act for Brad Paisley's 2007 tour.

 

Taylor released four additional songs from her debut album in 2007 and 2008, and each of them debuted on the Hot Country Songs list of Billboard. Swift's first two EPs, "The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" and "Beautiful Eyes," were published in October 2007 and July 2008, respectively. All three of her debut albums received positive reviews. In 2007, she made history by being named the BMI Songwriter of the Year at a tender age. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Grammy honors and received honors at the CMAs, ACMs, and AMAs.

 

Her Studio Album Storyline 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FEARLESS

On November 11th, 2008, the album Fearless was made available. The first song, "Love Story," which was released in 2008 and 2009, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 list and at number one in Australia. In the US, the second song, "You Belong With Me," peaked at number two. The record, which peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, was the best-selling one in the US in 2009. Swift's first headlining concert tour, The Fearless Tour, brought in over $63 million, and Taylor published a documentary about the tour that was shown on television and made available on DVD. With her album, Swift won numerous prizes in 2009 and 2010 at illustrious award ceremonies like the CMAs and the ACMs. She also earned Artist of the Year at the AMAs and her first Album of the Year trophy at the 52nd Grammy Awards, where she also took home three additional awards. Billboard also recognized her as "Female Artist of the Year" in 2009.

 

Taylor also co-wrote songs with musicians like John Mayer, Boys Like Girls, and Kellie Pickler. She also composed the songs "Crazier" and "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" for the Hannah Montana album on the Disney Channel. Taylor also contributed "Today Was A Fairytale" to the Valentine's Day soundtrack during the Fearless period; the song reached its US apex at number two.

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SPEAK NOW 

"Mine," the lead song from Swift's third studio album, Speak Now, was released in August 2010. On the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, it entered position three. Swift wrote every one of the 17 songs on her third album alone, and she also co-produced each song in response to criticism that claimed Taylor's songwriting was strong because she collaborated with other authors. On October 25, 2010, the record was released, debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 with one million copies sold in its first week. Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012 for "Mean," which she performed at the event in reaction to her widely criticized 2010 Grammy performance and as a demonstration of her musical prowess. 

Between 2011 and 2012, the Speak Now World Tour was conducted, bringing in over $123 million. The "Speak Now World Tour Live" live album was published in November 2011 by the performer. Swift also contributed two original tracks, "Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound," which were both recorded with The Civil Wars, to the soundtrack for The Hunger Games. The latter went on to receive a Grammy nomination and a Golden Globe honor. Taylor contributed to the May 2012 song "Both of Us" by Bob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RED 

The lead track from Swift's fourth studio album, RED, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," was made available in August 2012. Only 50 minutes after its release, it topped the iTunes digital song sales list, becoming her first number one in the US and New Zealand. Her third song, "I Knew You Were Trouble," landed at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and in the top five of the world's most significant music market nations.

The release date for RED was October 22, 2012. For this endeavor, Taylor collaborated with songwriters and producers who would later become important to her career, including Max Martin and Shellback, as well as longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose. Heartland rock, dubstep, and dance-pop influences are among the new genres that Swift has incorporated into the record. Swift's first number-one record in the UK was RED, which also debuted at number one in the US with 1.2 million copies sold in its first week. The Red Tour, which took place between March 2013 and June 2014 and brought in more than $150 million, was the highest-earning national tour at its conclusion.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1989

Taylor relocated to New York City in March 2014 to begin work on 1989, her fifth studio album, which would go on to become her most popular and longest-charting release. Swift broke away from the country sound of her earlier albums and promoted 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album" while drawing inspiration from 1980s synth-pop. On October 27, 2014, the album was released, and in its first week, 1.28 million copies were sold in the US, debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 list. Three of its songs, including "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," and "Bad Blood," which features rapper Kendrick Lamar, peaked at number one in the US, Australia, and Canada. The highest-earning concert of 2015 was the 1989 World Concert, which took place from May to December.

Taylor fought against two of the biggest streaming services in the world at the time, Apple Music and Spotify, in an attempt to disapprove of the way these businesses compensated artists. Swift removed her complete discography from Spotify in November 2014, claiming that the free, ad-supported version of the service undermined the paid, premium service, which pays higher royalties to songwriters. Taylor criticized Apple Music in an open letter he published in June 2015 for not paying artists royalties during the three-month free trial of the streaming service. Apple declared the following day that it would compensate artists during the free trial period. Swift earned the first-ever Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the 2014 American Music Awards after being named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2014. Swift also won a BRIT, numerous VMAs, and numerous other awards during this time period, making 1989 the most decorated musical decade ever. 1989 earned three categories at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, including Album of the Year. As a lead artist, Swift became the fifth act overall and the first female to receive Album of the Year twice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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REPUTATION

With her sixth studio album, reputation, Swift made one of the most effective comebacks in history after spending the majority of 2016 largely avoiding social media and the general public. The lead song from the album, "Look What You Made Me Do," broke the record for most views in the first 24 hours after release.The record, which featured a strong electro pop sound with hip hop, R&B, and EDM influences, was released on November 10, 2017. With 1.21 million copies sold in its first week, it launched at the top of the Billboard 200. With this accomplishment, Swift made history by becoming the first artist to sell one million copies of four albums in the US in a single week. Three additional foreign singles were produced by the project, including "Ready for It?" which reached number five in the US. She started her reputation stadium tour in favor of reputation, which lasted from May to November 2018. The tour broke Swift's own record for the highest-grossing US tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour ($181.5 million), with box office receipts of $266.1 million and over two million tickets sold. Additionally, it turned into the most successful North American music tour in history. 

The trip brought in $345.7 million globally. Swift's Stadium Tour concert video was made available on Netflix on December 31. At the 2019 Grammy Awards, Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. Swift received four honors at the 2018 AMAs, including the Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist trophies. Swift won a total of 23 awards at the 2018 ceremony, making her the most-awarded female artist in AMA history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LOVERS

In November 2018, Universal Music Group and Taylor signed a new multi-album contract, and her ensuing albums would be promoted under the Republic Records imprint. She was given permission to keep ownership of her master recordings as part of the deal. Swift would own her first studio album, her eighth, when it was released. Swift became the first female artist to accomplish this feat when her album Lover, which was published on August 23, 2019, became Taylor's sixth straight album to sell over 500,000 copies in its first week in the US. Setting a record for the most concurrent entries by a woman, all 18 of the album's songs made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same week. 2019's best-selling solo studio record worldwide, "Lover," sold 3.2 million copies.

Swift became involved in a well-publicized dispute with manager Scooter Braun and her previous label, Big Machine, over the ownership of the masters to her back catalog while promoting her album Lover in 2019. She claimed that despite her repeated attempts, Big Machine would only allow her to purchase the masters if she agreed to swap a new album for an older one under a different contract, which she declined to sign. Swift's masters, recordings, and artwork were reportedly sold to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million in October 2019. In an attempt to take ownership of and control over her music and life's work, Swift started re-recording her back catalog in November 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FOLKLORE, EVERMORE AND RE-RECORDING

Swift unexpectedly revealed on July 23, 2020, that she would be releasing "Folklore, her eighth solo album, at midnight. With 8 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart, the record became the year's longest-running #1 after debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200. "Carigan," the album's lead song, also debuted at the top spot. Folklore was created independently during the COVID-19 pandemic in cooperation with Taylor's longtime musical collaborator Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner of The National, with whom Taylor had never previously collaborated, and Bon Iver, who are featured on one of the album's songs. Swift self-directed "folklore: the long pond studio sessions," a documentary in which Taylor, Aaron, and Jack perform all the songs from the album while discussing the meanings and inspirations behind it, and it was published on Disney in November 2020. Swift received 5 Grammy nods for Folklore, including album and song of the year. Taylor became the first woman to receive the Grammy's top award three times when she took home the Album of the Year trophy.

Swift's earlier upbeat pop albums have been replaced by an indie folk and alternative rock production on Folklore and Evermore. Both albums sold over a million copies globally in their first week, and Folklore set a new record for the number of female artists' first-day Spotify album streams. In November of last year, Taylor started working on the re-recordings of her first six studio LPs. Fearless (Taylor's Version), a re-recording of her sophomore album Fearless, was the first product of this attempt to acquire her back catalog. In addition to the 20 tracks that had already been released in 2008 and 2009, it also contained six previously unheard songs that were not initially included in the album. It was released on April 9, 2021.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MIDNIGHT

With the release of Midnights, her tenth studio album, on October 21, Taylor Swift broke a number of previous records.It had the biggest first week of any album this year, with UK sales of 204,000, nearly doubling the performance of the prior leader, Harry's House, the third solo album by Harry Styles. Again surpassing Styles' numbers of 53.9 million, Midnights also had the greatest first-week streams of the year with 72.5 million. It broke the record for the most streams of a single album in a single day on Spotify on the day it was released.

Swift's 2014 album 1989 had the biggest opening week in the UK's history, surpassing her previous highest sales total of 90,300. The 32-year-old US musician has surpassed Madonna to establish a new mark for the most UK No. 1 albums by a solo female artist, with 12, but Madonna still holds the record for the fastest succession of nine UK No. 1 albums by a female artist. Kylie Minogue is now in third place on that list after Swift has displaced her. A reissue of Minogue's 1997 record Impossible Princess, incidentally, debuted at No. 5 this week on the charts.

Midnights also dethroned The Car, Arctic Monkeys' eagerly awaited seventh album, to claim the top position. The Sheffield band amassed just over 100,000 chart sales, which turned out to be far from the close-run chart fight that had been predicted.Lavender Haze, at No. 3, and Snow on the Beach, a collaboration with Lana Del Rey, at No. 4, round out Swift's list of her Top 5 songs. Only the three most popular tracks from any album qualify for the singles chart, per new chart rules implemented after 16 of Ed Sheeran's 17 songs debuted in the Top 20. Swift's first original music release since the unexpected releases of Folklore and Evermore in 2020 is Midnights. As part of her quest to reclaim ownership over her first six albums after the master recordings were sold to music mogul and well-known Swift rival Scooter Braun, she has also released rerecordings of her albums Fearless and Red in the interim.