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Nina Martel

ENGLISH 1302-211

Ms. Ana Mendoza

February 2, 2024

Taylor Swift: The Art of Storytelling Through Melodies and Business

Fogarty, Mary , and Gina Arnold. "Are You Ready for It? Re-Evaluating Taylor Swift." Peer

Review, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2021.1976586. Accessed 1 Oct. 2021.

Taylor swift has never been a stranger in the public eye, from a very young age all

cameras were locked on this pop star .The public perception of her writing her own music

is crucial for her to distinguish herself as more than a “dumb Blond” but rather a creative

and inspirational artist. Fogarty provides in depth and logical information on a variety of

areas in Taylor’s life to better understand her machinery. To convey this information

Fogarty first starts by citing experts in the music industry about their thoughts on Taylor

as a person tied together with her music. One excellent point in the article was bow the

author perceived Taylor as a minor point when contrasted with the bigger picture of the

music industry.The author did this by discussing the persona she embodies by using to

her advantage her voice, image,and the understanding of how Swift uses her music

credibilities to her advantage. Noting the fact that Taylor writes all her songs, making

them more meaningful to the listeners, because it allows them to resonate the lyrics with

passion. This benefits my own research because it allowed me to open up to a perception

of Taylor Swift in accordance with the media.

Melissa K. Avdeeff (2021) TikTok, Twitter, and Platform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in

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Response to Taylor Swift’s LGBTQ+ Allyship in ‘You Need to Calm Down’,

Contemporary Music Review, 40:1, 78-98, DOI: 10.1080/07494467.2021.1945225

Opinions are a nonstop commotion in any industry, to voice your perspective can be a

tricky rope to walk on especially with fame.The author Mellisa K. Avdeeff provides

understandment by resurferencing media through discourse analysis to examine how

different topics are perceived and how it goes hand in hand with canceling culture. The

event that this article spotlights is Taylor Swift’s music video ‘You Need to Calm Down’,

this track features an extensive LGBTQ+ content and lays out a message loud and clear,

Swift is an ally to this community. Melissa proceeds to include an analysis on the

responses of different media apps such as Twitter, Tik Tok, and other unnamed platforms

with their thoughts on the video. Tik tok seemed to have the most positive response while

twitter made the #YouNeedToCalmDown trending in more than 20,000 tweets and

dragged more attention to the video, confirming the authors hypothesis that “reception is

connected to conventions of each platform" .This article fits into my research as

responses from a bigger sample of people provides a better understanding of online

communities.

Paul Théberge (2021) Love and Business: Taylor Swift as Celebrity, Businesswoman, and

Advocate, Contemporary Music Review, 40:1, 41-59, DOI:

10.1080/07494467.2021.1945227

Women in the music industry face challenges against misogynistic everyday, but day after

day they rise against odds.Paul Theberge expresses the incredible adapting skills that

Taylor Swift holds by her strategic business moves through observations and analyzing

data.Paul points out the decline of CD sells then contrasts it with providing the statement
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“She can move product”.Leaving no doubt that Swift’s cunning business moves entice

her ability to sell products, even “artifacts” that don’t normally do well. Apart from being

a savvy business woman, a feature Taylor does not lack is empathy, when issues surfaced

with Apple music and Spotify, the singer took a stand with smaller artists to get better

pay, even to the extent of having her music removed, with the pay changed. This journal

offers a more qualitative approach to the emotional side of Taylor Swift

Tripp, C., Jhensen, T. D., & Carlson, L. (1994). The Effects of Multiple Product Endorsements

by Celebrities on Consumers' Attitudes and Intentions. Peer, 20, 535-546.

https://doi.org/2489757

Consumerism is a mannerism all over the world, there are some factors that play a bigger

role, so what is it? In the article The author Carolyn Tripp and her fellow colleagues want

to investigate if celebrity endorsement exposure to consumers increases the credibility, by

conducting studies and analyzing the aftermath of the data. In the study performed, a

group of participants were previously informed about a celebrity's involvement in the

products, which surprisingly led to a more negative thought of the celebrity as a person

and not so much of the product. In light of those results, another study was examined

where the more public figures endorsed products, the perception of the brand was often

more tinted in a negative light on numerous occasions, but some brands gained the

opposite, fame. Leading to the conclusion that while a famous individual promoting a

brand does leave room for exposure and growth for the future, it does carry the risk of

people becoming skeptical of the product because money is involved.After reading this

article , the data provided along with the research and studies is applicable to my paper
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because Taylor Swift has been involved in product promotions, providing a better

understanding of why certain actions were made.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24807419?searchText=%28%28music%29+AND+%28Taylor+swift

It is often said that poems are the brain's way to connect with the heart.The author Philip

Meyer expresses the primary focus that a song could have the catchiest beats and become

a sensation worldwide, but won’t form a meaningful bond with listeners. To connect with

a song is to understand the lyrics, Philip uses personal, and outside sources to validate

how important it is to resonate lyrics with feelings. In a TED talk mentioned, the speaker

Anna Smith details how important it is for artist to embody emotions in inanimate

subjects (lyrics), to find inner emotional truth.The author also includes his own opinion at

the start of the article to emphasize his understanding on how important it is for lyrics to

actually be meaningful and not just words on paper.Another source he cites is Taylor

Swifts music video “Wildest Dreams”, he depicts the music video as a heartbreaking love

story told by lyrics such as “Say you’ll see me again even if its just in your, Wildest

Dreams”. A lyric that tells you so much yet nothing at the same time, and quickly relating

to the heartbreaking side that many artist don’t dare speak about, not because it’s

controversial but because they lack the emotional intelligence to. By including this article

as part of my research paper, and connecting it with the mastery that is taylors artistry, it

helps me better appreciate the offer though lyrics that build a story that Swift constructs.

Dwight, Emma. “JSTOR: Log in through Your Institution.” Celebrity Humanitarianism,

2016, www.jstor.org/institutionSearch.

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We grow to believe that famous people aren’t the same as your everyday human

being, or as how most of us compare it, “superior to me”. In writing this article, the

author Emma Dwight provides historical analysis of previous life-changing events in

which celebrities fought for equality to further try to minimize humanitarianism gap.By

doing this analysis, Dwight gains a deeper comprehension of humanitarianism and how

big the gap really is. One of the major events she included was China’s Woman’s Right

Action Group, while the celebrities in particular weren’t mentioned, Emma went on in

explaining that the group itself did share many of the same ideologies as the rest of the

world. A major point that made it differ from the rest of the world was that it maintained

itself within it’s own culture, they didn’t compromise their morals of what change they

wanted just because they gained fame.Another situation mentioned was an essay titled

“Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars'' was penned by a very well known actor,

Jennifer Lawrence. In this essay, she addressed the gender pay disparity in Hollywood

and shared her personal experiences as a woman in show business. Lawrence expressed

frustration with societal norms that allow men to freely express opinions while women

risk negative perceptions for doing the same. She openly discussed her decision to not

negotiate higher pay for her role in the film “American Hustle”, highlighting how

difficult it actually is just to be treated equally. By adding the knowledge provided by this

research paper, before comparing myself to celebrities like Taylor Swift, they themselves

deal with challenges in their own way.

. Caramanica, Jon. “Taylor Swift, a Pop Star Done with Pop.” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 26 July 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/arts/music/taylor-swift-folklore-review.html
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In an ever changing world it is impossible to remain indifferent , that even goes for artists whose

main sellpoint is all based on change. Jon Ceramanica wrote this article using Qualitative

Analysis, by mentioning things such as interviews and observations on Taylor Swift’s ever

changing album genres in order to better understand how Swift adapts so quickly. He first starts

by mentioning an old song of hers “We Are Never Getting Back Together” which features the

pop singer taunting a guy she was happy to “Never get back together” with, and instantly became

a universal anthem for teens everywhere. The thought was quickly cut off by the introduction of

a more recent album “Folklore” which was thought by critics to be soppy and emotional, the

complete opposite from her previous song. The album was classified as Indie Rock, a genre not

popular among many artists, and especially not one that’s commonly transitioned.The author

observed her change in genres over the past 8 years, referring back to how she first started out in

country rather than pop, of which she surprisingly gained success in both. With the comparison

of both albums, this article will benefit my research paper as it will help me appreciate how

brave Taylor Swift really is for not sticking to just one genre of music.

Alison B. Hammond, Sara K. Johnson, Michelle B. Weiner & Jacqueline V. Lerner

(2022) From Taylor Swift to MLK: Understanding adolescents’ famous character role

models, Journal of Moral Education, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2022.2041409

Inspiration exists in everything we look at, from a bug on the floor to the person on stage

winning a Nobel prize.The author Allison Hymand used surveys to analyze what it is that

the youth now look up to, in order to confirm her thesis that famous people can in fact

positively influence young “adults”.The article covered how famous people can

positively influence young individuals by serving as examples of good character.

Researchers analyzed data from adolescents in the northeastern United States to

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understand the types of famous character role models (FCRMs) youth admire and why.

The results highlight various reasons for looking up to FCRMs, with character attributes

being frequently cited. This study lays the groundwork for further investigation into the

impact of public figures on youth, whether positive or negative. This additional support

will benefit my research paper as it prompts the positive outcomes Swift provides in the

modern world.

Arnett, J.J. Adolescents' uses of media for self-socialization. J Youth Adolescence 24,

519–533 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537054

Society naturally instills itself in everybody's mind as to who they’re “supposed” to be.

The author Arnett Adolescents begins by presenting a typology of adolescent media uses,

including entertainment, identity formation, high sensation, coping, and youth culture

identification. The subsequent discussion explores how these media uses relate to

adolescent socialization. Notably, media differ from other socializing agents (such as

family, school, and community) because adolescents have greater control over their

media choices. This self-socialization allows them to select media materials that align

with their individual preferences and personalities.As media messages may diverge from

those received from other sources like peers and adults, so can the self-socialization.A

result that comes from the analysis done was that while there may not be much of a

choice, the variation is there.Which all further proves his thesis that the media plays a

huge factor in the socialization of humans. This journal will serve as an advantage to my

research paper because it opens up to the idea that big or small, people like Taylor Swift

can have major impacts.

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Bozeman, B., & Feeney, M. K. (2007). Toward a Useful Theory of Mentoring: A Conceptual

Analysis and Critique. Administration & Society, 39(6), 719-739.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399707304119

Mentoring is something a lot of us either give or receive, while I may not be wise beyond

my years, I do know there's a lot to be worked on. In this article, author Bozeman and

Feeney, state that persistent problems exist in the development of mentoring theory and

research, he presents this by providing conceptual analysis of confounding concepts such

as “training” or “socialization” to continue to make progress in the mentor theory.Their

conceptual analysis underscores these problems, demonstrating how mentoring theory

and research struggle to address fundamental issues. These unresolved issues hinder the

advancement of explanatory theory. This peer article will benefit my research in knowing

more about Taylor Swift as she is widely known as a mentor to plenty of people

worldwide.