Read on Twitter
Why Taylor Swift More Than Deserves Her Artist Of The (past) Decade Title - a thread
She became the youngest artist to ever win album of the year at the Grammy Awards for her album "Fearless." The album came out in late 2008 but it set Swift up to become an international phenomenon over the course of the 2010s; it even landed at No. 98 on last decade's BBH200!
Taylor was someone we could see ourselves in as we navigated our own lives and romances. And with the release of "Speak Now," in late 2010, Swift proved she wasn't capable of just reinventing optimistic love stories, she had a complete grasp on heartbreak and pain, too.
"Speak Now" is an entirely self-written album that charted on the Billboard Hot 200 for 137 weeks, which was not only a huge middle finger to critics who claimed Swift didn't write her own music, but also proof she was one of the most promising songwriters of her generation.
Swift created a bulletproof foundation for a career built around her uncanny ability to pinpoint crucial moments of intimacy and turn them into universal anthems of heartbreak, love, and loss that became soundtracks to real fans' lives.
Obviously, the stellar music never stopped coming. With 2012 came "Red," an album that's aged so gracefully that it's landed on numerous best albums of the 2010s lists.
Taylor dropped her pop album "1989" in 2014an album that boasts one of her biggest BBH100 hits "Shake It Off" which stayed on the chart for 50 weeks. "1989" earned her another album of the year win at the Grammys making her the first woman to ever be honored with that award twice
Swift continued her career growth with "Reputation" in 2017, which helped her break The Rolling Stones' record for highest-grossing US tour in history by earning a whopping $266.1 million. This era of Taylor's is also knows as her iconic "dark era" or "snake era".
Then, capping off the decade came 2019's "Lover," an album that showcased all of Swift's immense musical talents, but stands out in her catalog as the first album that she outright owns — a triumph that goes far beyond the music itself.
It's important to note, though, that there is no singular album that can easily be delegated as the "fan favorite," largely because each album is so special within Swift's discography.
Even critics can't fully answer that question. While "Red" is known for being critically beloved, Billboard had six of its writers argue for one of her first six studio albums as being her best.
Taylor's lyrics always felt so personal, yet relatable at the same time. "All Too Well" was a deep cut tucked cleverly away at track No. 5 on "Red." It was never released as a single, but this mighty pop-rock ballad became the sort of musical zenith artists dream about writing.
Two months before the New York Times exposé of Harvey Weinstein was published, Swift stood up in a Denver courthouse against an ex-radio DJ who groped her at a 2013 meet-and-greet and then had the gall to sue her for damages after he was fired from his job.
The phrases from her testimony, "I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my a--," and "I'm not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault," will forever be ingrained in Swift's fans' minds.
After she won her symbolic $1, which she sought out for "anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault," The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN, told ABC that its national hotline saw a 35% increase in calls over the weekend following her testimony.
There's no doubt in my mind that I'm not the only one who saw their own pain reflected in Swift's lyrics allowing them to grieve.After all she wouldn't have become the artist with the highest-ever amount of American Music Awards which is a fanvoted show if her music was just OK.
I won't rehash the recent legal woes brought on by Scott Borchetta selling Swift's former label Big Machine Records — and thus, all of Swift's catalog up through 2017's "Reputation" — to Scooter Braun (because who needs Big Machine anyway?).
I will say that Swift fighting to own her art, and by proximity her fight for all artists to own their art, is just one example of the work she's done this decade to protect artists' rights.
You may remember that she got endlessly dragged for taking her music off Spotify or writing a letter to Apple condemning its policy of not paying artists during a three-month free trial period of Apple Music.
But underneath all of the misogynistic, "she's only out for money" criticisms spat at her, you'll find she did those things to bring light to issues within her industry that hurt up-and-coming artists who don't have the millions of dollars that Swift has.
Within less than 24 hours, Swift received a direct response to her open letter to Apple, saying the company had decided to reverse its decision.
When Swift chose to leave Big Machine behind in 2018, she didn't just leave for the sake of leaving. She instead negotiated a deal with Universal Music Group that not only granted her the rights to everything she would create under the label,..
But also included a clause in her contract stipulating that "any sale of [UMG's] Spotify shares result in a distribution of money to their artists, non-recoupable."She also said the label had agreed to this "at what they believe will be better terms than paid out by other labels.
That means that with her contract, Swift made sure other favorite artists of this decade, like Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande will benefit from the revenue their art brings in. The same goes for lesser-known and newer artists signed to the label.
Today's pop stars like Ariana Grande wouldn't be able to name-check their former lovers in songs like "Thank U, Next," and have them be the successful hits we know today if Swift hadn't previously crafted breakup songs like 2010's "Dear John" or "Style" (John Mayer, Harry Styles)
It took 13 years for Swift to come out with a track contemplating the misogynist double standards she's had to face as a woman in the music industry, and it's easy to agree with her sentiment: If Swift were a man, then she would, no doubt, be "The Man."
But while she maybe would have faced fewer obstacles and overtly sexist criticisms throughout her career if she were a man, she may not have touched as many women's lives with her music.
