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In this official clip from the 2007 ACM Awards where Swift plays 'Tim McGraw' from her debut album, she excitedly introduces herself to the song's namesake Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill whilst mouthing 'that's Tim McGraw'. This emphasised her image as a relatable teenage girl through her excitement and innocence showing an ordinary life to here, as well as her country romance image with her serenading her love song whilst playing the guitar - a sign of her hardworking persona.

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Taylor Swift Meets Tim McGraw for the First Time - 2007 ACM Awards

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Official album cover of Taylor Swift's debut album released in 2006. This country album full of teen romance and heartbreak lyrics launched Swift into the music world as an innocent country sweetheart.

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Swift's second album 'Fearless' serves as a continuation of her image as an innocent teenage romantic. On the album cover, you can see the continuation of youthfulness through the same hairstyle, the font of her name, and the image of herself being central. However, a slightly more playful image also reflects the small shift to a pop-country style.

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This clip from the VMAs in 2009 shows Kanye West interrupting Taylor in the middle of her accepting her award for Best Video by a Female Artist. Taylor, only 19 at the time, was publically accepted as the victim of West's bullying, receiving a large amount of support and encouragement from other well-known artists, as well as her fans. This public support from powerful figures such as Obama and well-established artists such as Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson frames Swift's image as influential and successful as well as innocent and the nation's sweetheart. The scandal was the start of a decade-long feud, framing Swift's image differently throughout.

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HD Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

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Official clip of Taylor Swift winning the Album of the Year award at the Grammy Awards in 2010 for her album 'Fearless'. Her shocked reaction to winning the award presents her as grateful, emotional and ecstatic, all emphasising her image as a young and innocent, but hard-working and deserving singer-songwriter. All these elements make her likeable to the public and brand her as a role model due to her achievements at such a young age.

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Taylor Swift Wins Album Of The Year For 'Fearless' At The 2010 GRAMMY Awards | GRAMMY Rewind

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Taylor Swift's song 'Mean' featured in her 'Speak Now' album, was significant in the evolution of her star image. This was her first song without a love/romance/heartbreak focus. Alternatively the song was seemingly in response to critics, such as Lefsetz, trying to discredit and belittle her. This saw a change from the innocent, young country girl to a woman who can stand up for herself and create her own success despite older men trying to bring her down.

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This article was written a week after the trial involving Swift and Mueller took place. The article positively frames Swift in its reporting of the events, it suggests she did not victimise herself (which she had been criticised for in the past), but stood strongly and confidently against Mueller, emphasising her image as a role model to young girls and her feminist advocacy.

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Taylor Swift took the stand on Thursday in a Denver federal courthouse to describe the moment in 2013 when she says she was " violated " by a then-country radio DJ in a way she "had never experienced before." David Mueller, who was 51 to Swift's 23 at the time, "grabbed my ass underneath my skirt," Swift said in her testimony. He "stayed latched on to my bare ass cheek as I moved away from him, visibly uncomfortable."

Mueller claims he never touched Swift's butt, explaining at various points that he only touched her " rib cage" and that a colleague was probably the one who groped her. They were posing for a photo, he said, and their body language was awkward but not inappropriate. On the witness stand, Swift did not suffer that argument, insisting that the grope was intentional and could not have been an accident. "It was horrifying, shocking," she said, according to a BuzzFeed report. "He had a handful of my ass. I know it was him. I thought what he did was despicable."

On Wednesday, Swift's mother, Andrea, testified that the family hadn't gone to the police after the alleged assault because they didn't want to cause a public uproar. "I did not want this event to define her life," she said. "I did not want every interview from this point on to have to talk about it." Instead, they contacted Mueller's employer-he was backstage at Swift's concert on a work assignment when the alleged incident took place-who fired him two days later. Two years after that, Mueller sued Swift for $3 million, alleging that she cost him his job for an assault that never happened. She countersued for $1, determined to prove that she wouldn't back down from what she says is the truth.

When Swift and her team told Mueller's radio bosses about the alleged assault, they enclosed a photo that appeared to show Mueller with his hand behind Swift's butt. In court this week, both parties attempted to use that photo, a sealed document that leaked last year, to prove their respective points. Swift's side says it shows that she's edging toward Mueller's girlfriend and away from him, and that his hand is clearly far below her ribcage. Mueller's attorney Gabe McFarland asked Swift why the photo shows the front of her skirt in place, not lifted up, if Mueller was reaching underneath to grab her butt. "Because my ass is located in the back of my body," Swift replied. She offered a similar response when asked whether she saw the grope taking place. When McFarland pointed out that the photo shows Swift closer to Mueller's girlfriend than Mueller himself, Swift answered, "Yes, she did not have her hand on my ass."

Swift has said several times that she wouldn't settle with Mueller or let his claims stand because she wants to be a visible example of strength to other women considering their options after a demoralizing sexual violation. Full of rightful exasperation, her testimony on Thursday was a galvanizing example of a so-called victim testimony in which the victim refused to be victimized. Swift was confident in her version of the story, unintimidated by a cross examination that implied she was a liar and unmistakably incensed when McFarland tried to cast doubt on her behavior during the evening in question. Wasn't Swift critical of her bodyguard, who didn't prevent such an obvious assault? "I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass," she told the attorney. But, McFarland said, Swift could have taken a break in the middle of her meet-and-greet if she was so distraught. "And your client could have taken a normal photo with me," Swift countered, explaining that a pop star has a responsibility to her fans.

For young fans of Swift's, hearing a beloved artist speak candidly about the emotional damage of sexual assault and stand up to a courtroom of men trying to prove her wrong could be a formative moment for their developing ideas of gender, sex, and accountability. Swift certainly has advantages most women who endure similar violations will never have: the money and time to mount a strong case against her alleged assailant, the jury-endearing privileges of white skin and a beautiful face, and millions of supporters rallying publicly behind her. And since he's suing her for money and she's already one of the biggest superstars in the world, detractors can't argue, as they so often do in sexual-assault cases, that she's making up a story for money or fame.

But Swift also faces some of the same obstacles other assault survivors endure if they bring their perpetrators to court. She must relive a distressing moment over and over again to dozens of observers, recounting in detail how her body was allegedly touched without her consent, while lawyers on the other side try their hardest to make her look unreliable, petty, and fake. When McFarland asked her how she felt when Mueller got the boot from his job at the Denver radio station, Swift said she had no response. "I am not going to allow your client to make me feel like it is any way my fault, because it isn't," she said. Later, she continued: "I am being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are a product of his decisions and not mine." Women who allege sexual assault are scolded all the time for ruining men's lives, even if those men are proven guilty. Swift's sharp testimony is a very visible condemnation of that common turn in cases like these. That's an important message for women who may find themselves in Swift's position someday, and maybe even more so for the men who'll be called on to support or rebuff them.

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Taylor Swift's Sexual Assault Testimony Was Sharp, Gutsy, and Satisfying

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Why does a photo show the front of Swift's skirt in place, if the man was grabbing her butt? "Because my ass is located in the back of my body."

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Lefsetz, known to write very critical reports of Swift, issues this article which accumulates numerous negative comments, discrediting Swift as a singer and a star, ultimately humiliating her. Lefsetz's 'letters' aim to present Swift as an untalented, and an embarrassment.

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Speaking of crowdsourcing...

Someone forwarded me these tweets from Josh Groban:

"I really don't feel that charity performances should be subject to reviews in the same light as other performances...."

"people give their time, energy and voices, for free and with little to no rehearsal and critics should put away the snot-o-meter."

"just a thought. night!"

http://twitter.com/joshgroban

Felice disagreed with Josh, after all those in attendance were paying a fortune for this show, many $1,250 a ticket, they expected a quality performance and were entitled to it.

But what struck me was Josh's thin skin. I don't know if he was reacting to my tweet from MusiCares or another's, there were many tweeting away on their hand-held devices, but he seemed to be shocked that we were biting back, that we were judging him, rendering an opinion, questioning his intentions.

That's the sea change in the world of celebrity. Unless you want to function alone, in the privacy of your own bathroom, in the dark, expect people to be aware of what you're doing and judge it. You see, to quote Bob Dylan, a surfer would "rather get you down in the hole that he's in", and he's now got the ability to make this happen.

You're no better than the hoi polloi, you put your pants on the same way. And your fame and riches are dependent upon the public, which gets a say as to your affairs.

But the mainstream media hasn't caught on to this. The mainstream media is in cahoots with the stars playing the old game, negotiating for access, fearful of saying something negative for fear access will be denied in the future. Meanwhile, in cyberspace, it's a free for all.

Oh, people have had opinions forever, it's just that they could not be aggregated, there was not a parallel story to the mainstream spin. But now there is.

For example:

Subject: Re: Grammys

Bob,

I agree, she has become a laughing stock overnight. The discussions on my facebook page alone prove that this will haunt her career forever.

Ross White
Sadson Music

The discussions on his Facebook page? I don't see those quoted in the "New York Times", I don't see them being pored over on the CBS News. It's almost like they don't exist. But they do. And people trust these musings much more than those of the vapid talking heads.

Subject: Re: Grammys

Bob,

I haven't watched the Grammys in years, but my 8 and 11 yr old daughters saw that it was on, so we viewed the show for about 2 hours. I was wondering how Taylor would sound after having heard her on SNL, and judging by the look on Stevie Nicks' face, I thought she wanted to give Ms. Swift a swift kick in the pants to get her on-key.

I did a Google search on "Grammy's 2010 Winners," and found that I wasn't alone. The Washington Post posted a sampling of Twitter comments about her performance.

@Borowitz Report Satan Chooses Taylor Swift Performance as Ringtone

@questlove dear kanye im sorry

@Borowitz Report: God Hoping Taylor Swift Does Not Thank Him

@jfdulac Wifey, listening to Taylor on the #Grammys: "She couldn't even get into the chamber choir at my high school singing like that."

@Borowitz Report T-Pain Hired to Autotune Taylor Swift at 2011

@idolator How suitable: that guy from #americanidol introduces @taylorswift13, who â€" we have to say â€" sounds a little pitchy, dawg.

@harvilla taylor swift's career singing on live television should've gotten an "in memorium" nod

@Kiarri Last year the big battle was between Rihanna & C Brown. This year the fight was between Taylor Swift & pitch.

@jjjrrr Dear Taylor Swift, the music store called, you left your pitch on the counter with your lip gloss

@jeffstearns Taylor Swift? More like Francis Scott Off-Key, am I right?

@feliciapollack Taylor Swift can't sing. She sounds like she's playing "Rock Band" in her basement.

@JenRBoyd Oh boy. Taylor Swift's pitch is flatter than a pancake tonight. Bless her heart

@ianfrancisbush I am starting a disaster relief fund to get Taylor Swift a chromatic tuner.

Laura Faeth

I know, I know, I've got to give the "Washington Post" credit for picking up on this story, and I do, if they continue to get hipper, great, but for the public this is everyday information. Yes, as oldsters decry Twitter as a waste of time, a place where those with no life delineate what they ate for breakfast, these same supposed peons are ripping their clients a new asshole.

So you can sit in your marketing meeting, calculate how you're going to placate radio, but there's a shitstorm blowing somewhere you're not even paying attention.

But speaking of radio...

From: Lance Bakemeyer
Subject: Re: Grammys

I predict you will be right on every count regard Ms. Swift

They played 10 seconds of her duet with S Nicks on the local talk radio station in Denver this morning. Even the talk radio DJ's knew she was out of tune and said so. I'm sure that they never heard of Auto-tune. They seemed dumb-founded that it could sound so bad.

It's amazing how quickly the music biz is changing - you are right on all counts about the public finding what they want and ignoring the mainstream tripe.

Morning shows are seen as evanescent fodder, the rantings and ravings of the irrelevant. Well, tell that to Howard Stern's audience... Didn't he get a couple of candidates get elected, didn't Christie Todd Whitman name a rest stop after him?

The point is, Ms. Swift's abominable performance on the Grammys may not be a big story in the mainstream, but on the Net it's a conflagration, and how often have we seen the Net ultimately influence the mainstream story, like with the U.S. Attorneys fiasco...

Everything's grist for the mill in the mainstream, said and then forgotten. But stories brew online, tenacious bloggers stay on them until they get traction. If you don't think Taylor's poor vocals last night on the Grammys will end up haunting her, you don't have an Internet connection.

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Speaking of crowdsourcing...Someone forwarded me these tweets from Josh Groban:"I really don't feel that charity performances should be subject to reviews in the same light as other ...

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This album cover shows a continuation of Swift's star image through the same hairstyle, font and image of her as the central focus. The continuation also follows through her country-pop style of the 'Speak Now' album, however, it does differ in the album being completely solo with no collaborations. Swift here was controlling her own image, presenting herself as a hard-working, deserving individual in response to criticism that her success came from outside collaborators.

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This Mirror article presents Swift's image through the context of being involved in an awkward encounter with her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, emphasising the perceived tension between them portraying Swift as a figure under public scrutiny. The over-analysis of the short interaction depicts her image through the media's lens as being defined through her romantic relations.

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The showbiz world's most famous exes drank cocktails together at show's afterparty

There are two people with a secret bigger than Victoria's, and we have totally rumbled them...

Harry Styles met up with Taylor Swift on Wednesday night when the exes partied together - just hours after she performed an ode to their failed relationship on stage.

A lingerie-clad Taylor, 24, sang Style - which refers to the One Direction star's "long hair" and "white T-shirt" - at the Victoria's Secret show, before heading to the afterparty with her pal and support act for next year, Ellie Goulding.

The pair drank cocktails together at the Earl's Court bash, before Taylor and pals Karlie Kloss and Lily Aldridge moved on to the London Edition hotel, where all the VS models were staying. There, the Angels were continuing the party in the basement bar. Meanwhile, Harry, 20, had met up with the couple's mutual pal Ed Sheeran , who had also performed at the show, and The Cab frontman Alexander DeLeon, whose girlfriend, Angel Josephine Skriver, walked the catwalk.

A source tells us: "All eyes were on Harry and Taylor when they turned up. People were desperate to see how they reacted to one another.

"It's really awkward, because they have so many friends who get on with both of them. And it was especially awkward as only a few hours earlier, Taylor had been performing a track that is so blatantly about him.

"But they were actually fine. It seemed like they'd buried the hatchet. The drinks were flowing until 3am, when they snuck out of a rear exit five minutes apart to avoid being pictured together." Savvy.

The couple dated at the tail end of 2012, but split following a row during a break on Necker Island in January 2013.

The couple enjoyed a skiing holiday during their short tryst, which is seemingly documented in another track on Taylor's album, Out of the Woods.

Shortly after their split, Taylor posted on Twitter: "Back in the studio. Uh oh..."

Sounds as if time has been a great healer.

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Harry Styles and Taylor Swift in secret meet at Victoria's Secret show

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The showbiz world's most famous exes drank cocktails together at show's afterparty

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This article presents Swift as a powerful and influential figure, her complaint about Apple's decision to not pay royalties during a three-month trial period for its new streaming music service prompted immediate change. This highlights her influence as well as her as an advocate for other artists.

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Taylor Swift Criticism Spurs Apple to Change Royalties Policy (Published 2015)

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Ms. Swift had framed a letter posted to her Tumblr page as an explanation for why she was withholding her latest album, “1989,” from Apple’s new music streaming service.

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YouTube clip of Swift's speech after accepting her second Album of the Year Grammy Award. Her acceptance speech, believed partially in response to West's lyrics in his song 'Famous', presented a new image of her as a feminist activist and a role model for young women.

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Acceptance speech - has stayed humble throughout, still as greatful as when she won her first award still greatful to share stage with other incredible artists

says the most impirtant thing to her is the memories and memeories with the fans - keeps authenticty and intimacy with the fans

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Taylor Swift wins the Artist of the Decade Award  I  AMAs 2019

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Through the entirely new style of the album cover (with a newspaper background - a reference to all the controversy surrounding her in the media before her social media break), the name of the album title, and the sudden return to social media with the snake-themed promo, Swift's image is being reinvented, by herself, in response to criticisms of 'playing the victim'. The 'Reputation' era saw her redefine her public persona on her terms, from victimhood to a position of strength.

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This screenshot of Taylor Swift's Twitter page from 2017 shows her disappearance from social media. She deleted all her posts on every social media platform and unfollowed everyone she had previously been following. As this was following a recent scandal this positioned Swift's image within the victim narrative as she took herself out of the public eye and all the drama but her silence left many questions, which when she came back to social media with her new album this strategic move frames her as a manipulative business woman.

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Swift's comeback to Instagram featured three videos of snakes, followed by the announcement of her new album 'Reputation'. Fans assumed this was a reference to Kim Kardashian's tweet about Swift using snake emojis. This presents her image as strong and powerful, despite others trying to tear down her image, she uses their own criticisms as a symbol of her biggest self-promotion and publicity for an album yet.

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This 'New York Post' article accumulates fans' responses to Swift's ticket releases for her 'Reputation' tour. This article shows that the tour itself as well as the fans' reactions to it, which the media latched onto, offered a new version of Taylor Swift who is no longer relatable to her fans. Her unreliability and her reinvention positioning her as manipulative, saw the principle of authenticity which Swift relied on throughout her career, to connect with her fans and sell her music, weakened and contested. This is reflected in the lack of awards she won for this album and tickets sold for her tour.

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What is Taylor Swift's "Reputation" worth? Not the jacked-up prices she's charging for concert tickets.

That's the verdict from ticked-off fans, who are balking at buying seats for the 28-year-old pop star's tour to promote her new "Reputation" album, citing stratospheric markups and greedy sales gimmicks.

"I paid $150 for my ticket with amazing seats for the 1989 tour. Now for the same seats I have to pay about $500," Twitter user "swiftieloves" recently griped.

A look at Ticketmaster's interactive seat charts confirms that Swift's schedule of 33 dates for the North American "Reputation" tour has yet to produce a single sellout, from its May 8 launch in Phoenix to its Oct. 6 finale in Arlington, Texas.

That's despite seats being available to the general public since Swift's birthday on Dec. 13. By comparison, all the dates on Swift's "1989" tour in 2015 "sold out within minutes," according to concertsandsports.com.

"Sales so far have been a mega disappointment," one music industry insider told The Post. "There are hundreds if not thousands of tickets left for every show."

The stumble out of the gate is especially embarrassing given that the "Reputation" album sold more than 1 million copies within four days of its Nov. 10 release.

On top of high prices, some prospective buyers are getting irked by Ticketmaster's "Verified Fan" program, which required participants to register weeks before tickets went on presale, proving they were bona fide fans and not bots looking to buy tickets for scalpers.

Ticketmaster, which has used Verified Fan for U2 concerts, "Hamilton," "Springsteen on Broadway" and other big shows, told The Post the program tries to "provide fans with the most reliable access to tickets and combat bad actors that use bots that subvert that process."

But Verified Fan - which got rebranded to "Taylor Swift Tix" for the tour - has added a controversial feature called "boosts" that promises fans a chance to "improve [their] position in line to purchase tickets."

Some boosts were innocuous, such as joining Swift's official mailing list. But others cost money, such as pre-ordering the "Reputation" album, shelling out $50 for a T-shirt or purchasing the $60 snake ring that Swift wore in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video.

"To get 'further in line' to buy Taylor Swift tickets she wants you [to] buy merch from her ... this greedy snake," Twitter user "Q_Taryntino" fumed.

Music blogger Bob Lefsetz called Taylor Swift Tix "a tone-deaf scam" that amounts to "upselling with a theoretical benefit" rather than a guarantee of better seats.

Indeed, some fans who bought into the "Reputation" tour's presale between Dec. 5 and Dec. 8 got nasty surprises when tickets opened up to the general public five days later.

"I wasted my time buying with the presale code as the tickets available to the public were much better," Twitter user "paigelizabethh" wrote.

"Any particular reason that #Reputation tickets in the 100s section during presale last week were $446 APIECE and now they're $267????" asked "bigbiiisch."

Ticketmaster touted Taylor Swift Tix as "an unparalleled success," saying it delivered "the biggest registration we've ever had."

By charging higher prices and blocking out scalpers, Swift and her tour promoter Louis Messina could fatten their coffers by as much as $1.5 million per show, according to an estimate in Billboard.

That sounds like a shrewd business strategy, but Swift still has a lot of tickets to sell to make that upside. In the meantime, the "Swifties" are getting restless.

"Taylor Swift's 1989 tour tickets sold out in only a couple of hours," one disaffected fan, "alexiam77," tweeted. "Today, you can *still* get really well-placed Reputation floor seats. If that doesn't tell you your tickets are too expensive, idk what will."

Messina didn't respond to requests for comment. Swift's music distributor, Universal, said it wasn't immediately able to comment.

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Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' tour shaping up to be a disaster

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What is Taylor Swift's "Reputation" worth? Not the jacked-up prices she's charging for concert tickets. That's the verdict from ticked-off fans, who are balking at buying seats for the 28-year-old ...

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In 2018, Swift took to her Instagram, for the first time, to share her political opinions and encourage young people to educate themselves in politics and register to vote. This showed an extremely matured and positive representation of Swift, using her influence as a role model to her largely young fanbase to raise awareness of the importance of voting for everyone. She publically endorses two male senators on the grounds of equality for women, LGBTQ communities and all races. This politicises Swift's celebrity image, presenting her as an advocate for the rights of everyone no matter race, gender, or sexuality - presenting her in a morally positive light.

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Taylor Swift on Instagram: "I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, 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 this country. 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. 
I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love.  Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives.  Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.
So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈"

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2M likes, 0 comments - taylorswift on October 7, 2018: "I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be ..." 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

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This official video of Swift's acceptance speech for her 'Woman of the Decade' Award, affirms her feminist image as a powerful and influential woman. The award itself confirms the image Swift created for herself throughout her career as hard-working and talented. Her acceptance speech is empowering on many different levels; she highlights how she has been criticised for everything she has done in her career and how this is criticism reserved for women, she mentions many female artists commenting on how amazing they are, puts emphasis on the hard work female artists have to put in to achieve the same as their male counterparts and the need to advocate for women in the industry.

This speech is an extremely important event to note in terms of Swift's image as she so powerfully and beautifully describes the challenges of being a woman in the industry, calls out toxic male privilege, highlights the relentless bullying of the media on her as a woman whilst calling for change and activism.

This affirmed her image as a feminist.

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Taylor Swift Accepts Woman of the Decade Award | Women In Music

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These comments from underneath the official YouTube video released of her speech are just a couple of the hundreds all with the same message - Swift's fans saw this speech as an act of feminism, seeing how Swift had been treated in the industry inspired so many of her young fans to be more vocal in their own experiences and to fight for equality. These fan reactions show Swift's image as genuine and authentic as connecting so strongly with her fans, and as being influential in feminism advocacy due to the impact you can see it has had on them.

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Swift's seventh album, 'Lover', takes her away from the darker tones of her previous album and makes a return to the more positive, romantic feel of her earlier work. 'Lover' takes this even further, reflected by the album cover of pastel colours in a dreamy clouded sky. The complete shift in theme from 'Reputation' signals that Swift wanted to move on from that image and was creating a new positive image of herself, away from the controversy and scandal.

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This article about Swift's lead single from her 'Lover album positions her as influential and incredibly talented, both in music and as a businesswoman. Comparing her style of music release to Micheal Jackson puts Swift on a peddle stool. ME! is seen to be positively reported, framing Swift as versatile and talented through the new genre and successful features.

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Last night at midnight, Taylor Swift officially closed out the Reputation era and rang in the new. She debuted "ME!," her tantalizing first tease of the TS7 metamorphosis, a duet with Brendon Urie from Panic! At the Disco. So much going on. The pastels. The rainbows. The French dialogue. The lovingly framed portrait of the Dixie Chicks on the wall. Her yee-haw go-go boots. Her Pattie Boyd bouffant. The "Delicate"-style vocoder vocals. The Jacques Demy umbrellas. So much disco, so much panic. Her new third cat. Happy New Era's Day.

At this point, she's been teasing her new albums with lead singles long enough to show how she likes to do these things. The Taylor Lead Single is a genre unto itself, and "ME!" has all the signs: It's campy, it's bubbly, it's got a spoken-word interlude ("hey kids, spelling is fun!") and a video loaded with in-jokes. It's a totally canonical Taylor Lead Single. But the question is: What does it really tell us about the album to come and the new music she's got up her sleeve?

Keep in mind: The first song Swift debuts is always an outlier. She doesn't like to give the album's secrets away too fast. She prefers to throw people off the scent. Why does she like to mess with fans' minds this way? She just does. "Innocent" from Speak Now (which she debuted at the 2010 VMAs), "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" from Red, "Shake It Off" from 1989, "Look What You Made Me Do" from Reputation -what these songs have in common is that they're musically far afield from their albums. They're big thematic statements addressing her public image; they talk about the celebrity Taylor, rather than the personal one. But they usually don't end up sounding much like the other songs on the album.

"Look What You Made Me Do" was the most cleverly misleading head-fake of her career-everybody thought Reputation was going to be a whole album of celebrity shade, which turned out to be just 2 of the 15 songs. (Whew!) But arguably it did the job too well-it created a false narrative for Reputation that was hard for people to shake, even after they heard what was (pretty damn explicitly) an album of love songs. "ME!" is far more playful, but it still pokes fun at her image, with lines like, "I know that I went psycho on the phone." You know she's swerving hard back into Old Tay mode when she includes a line about a boy running after her in the rain calling her name. (But did he throw pebbles at her window?)

Her obvious role model for lead-single-izing: Thriller. Strange as it seems now, when Michael Jackson was preparing to drop Thriller on the world in 1982, the first song he released was.... "The Girl Is Mine." So everybody thought Thriller was going to be a whole album of corny ballads using the word "doggone." Even his duet partner Paul McCartney found it baffling - as he admitted, "You could say it's shallow." (And this from the ex-Beatle who released a 1972 solo single of "Mary Had a Little Lamb.") That's part of why "Billie Jean" stunned the world - nobody was ready for it, because he'd fooled us all with "The Girl Is Mine." That's how MJ wanted it. And that's how Taylor likes to do it, too.

Every Taylor Lead Single is required to have a spoken-word moment: "Spelling is fun" joins the tradition of "I mean, this is ex-HAUS-ting," "the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now" and "the fella over there with the hella cool hair." That's another way she follows the strategy of "The Girl Is Mine," since the highlight of that song was the Michael/Macca dialogue, e.g. "Paul, I think I told you I'm a lover, not a fighter!" (The "ME!" video has a neon sign that reads "Lover.")

Taylor's spent this whole week teasing the still-unnamed TS7 project - she's now heavily into butterflies and rainbows and moonbeams and roses, like a flower child in a Jimi Hendrix ballad. Her fab looks all week have evoked Prince in his psychedelic pastel phase circa "Raspberry Beret" and Around the World in A Day - which happened to be his seventh album. She posted a photo yesterday sporting a giant rose, under 22 stars. She's been striking Speak Now-era fashion poses all week, like her dress at the Time 100 gala. And she brought her longtime bestie Abigail of "Fifteen" fame, a callback to Fearless. Is TS7 going to be All the Taylor Eras, All the Time?

"ME!" is a song full of her favorite tropes - Joel Little, who co-wrote Lorde's "Green Light" and "Supercut," sounds right in her zone. The video opens with the Reputation snakes turning into butterflies. (Just like the jet fighters in Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock"?) Also note how the butterflies rise up to her open window, a callback to the video for "We Are Never Getting Back Together," which is still the best Taylor Lead Single in history. (It would also be her best video ever, if not for the brilliance that is "Blank Space.") "ME!" debuts the new cat who has secretly joined Meredith and Olivia. Also, this video has a unicorn-if I'm not mistaken, that's a Taylor first, which is weird if you think about it.
Related: Ex-Factor: Taylor Swift's Best Songs About Former Boyfriends
Nobody enjoys a strategically elaborate album reveal like our girl - no pop star in history has ever made it such an integral part of her artistic evolution. Every album is a huge musical departure, and trying to guess her next move is a sucker's game. She is never going to make the same album she made last time, and the lead single is never going to spill the tea on where she's speeding now. A hint, yes; some clues, bien sur; the full story, never.

As they say in France, "Je suis calme," which translates roughly as "I might be OK but I'm not fine at all," and the morning after a new Swift song drops is always a mess. Like any Taylor Lead Single, "ME!" is a lot. But there are still a million things we don't know about this album. And make no mistake, that's how Taylor wants it.

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Taylor Swift's 'ME!': What the Hell Is Going on Here?

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With her new single 'ME!', Taylor Swift keeps reinventing the art of the lead single.

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In this interview with Jimmy Fallon, Swift highlights the importance of fan reaction to her music and her connection with her fans. This emphasises her authentic image through her value of intimacy.

In this interview we see her bubbly character, having a laugh, talking about her fascination with cats, and drinking wine, which frames her as relatable and likeable.

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Taylor Swift Talks Record-Breaking Midnights Album, Music Video Cameos and Easter Eggs

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Wilkinson. M. (2019) "Taylor Swift: the hardest working, zaniest girl in show business...", Vol 10:3, pp. 441-444

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Wilkinson. M. (2019) "Taylor Swift: the hardest working, zaniest girl in show business...", Vol 10:3, pp. 441-444

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This extract (p.441) suggests that Swift's introduction into the music world as a country singer, as well as her songs being 'personal tales' of her romantic life, posed her as authentic. This constructed her original star image to be authentic and vulnerable, values that allowed her to build a closer connection with fans which set up her strong fanbase of 'Swifties' for years to follow.

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Tweet anouncing suprise Folklore release

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Tweet anouncing suprise Folklore release

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This tweet of Taylor's surprise release of her new album 'Folklore' sees a change from her usual teased build-ups towards her album releases. This gives the impression of authenticity around her image as she released the album without promotions and pre-sales, suggesting she released it because she wants her fans to enjoy her music and because she likes to make music.

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Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb

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Shop the Official Taylor Swift Online store for exclusive Taylor Swift products including shirts, hoodies, music, accessories, phone cases, tour merchandise and old Taylor merch!

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Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb https://t.co/4ZVGy4l23b

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Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb pic.twitter.com/4ZVGy4l23b
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 23, 2020

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Shop the Official Taylor Swift Online store for exclusive Taylor Swift products including shirts, hoodies, music, accessories, phone cases, tour merchandise and old Taylor merch!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb https://t.co/4ZVGy4l23b

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb https://t.co/4ZVGy4l23b

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb

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Shop the Official Taylor Swift Online store for exclusive Taylor Swift products including shirts, hoodies, music, accessories, phone cases, tour merchandise and old Taylor merch!

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This music video from the Lover album brings together various high profile celebrities in a celebration of queerness. The music video bursting with positivity, colour and sass, proves itself as a pride anthem, taking a stand against homophobes and haters. This positions Swift as an acitivist, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. Through the numerous collaborations, the video also marks her transition out of her villian era, into an era of positivity and maturity, seeing societal issues as the bigger problem to tackle than celebrity drama.The last scene with Katy Perry is significant in Swift's image construction as it confirms that there feud is over, representative of Swift moving away from her era of controversy and scandal, emphasising a mature and postive version of herself.

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Avdeeff, M.K. (2021) "TikTok, Twitter, and PLatform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in Response to Taylor Swift's LGBTQ+ Allyship in 'You Need to Calm Down", Vol 40:1 pp. 78-98.

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Avdeeff, M.K. (2021) "TikTok, Twitter, and PLatform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in Response to Taylor Swift's LGBTQ+ Allyship in 'You Need to Calm Down", Vol 40:1 pp. 78-98.

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This extract (pp.93-94) discusses how the mainstream media criticised Swift for 'You Need to Calm Down' as 'trivialising queer marginalisation'. However, the public accepted the song's release well, as shown through the response on Twitter, it was received as a positive for queer representation. With the mainstream media attempting to criticise Swift, the controversial image remains, however, due to her constructed shift to positivity and activism, fans reconnected to Swift's authenticity and celebrated the video for its message, therefore the controversy of her image remained far weaker than in previous eras.

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As this article shows, the media criticised Swift for being a white supremacist. Due to her silence for many years on any political issues, her image in the media was affected negatively which also meant that when she did reveal political opinions and advocacy, she still received criticism from people who argued that she was just trying to "regain her star image" (p.146)

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Driessen, S. (2022) "Campaign Problems: How Fans React to Taylor Swift's Controversial Political Awakening" Vol 66:8, pp. 1060-1074

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Driessen, S. (2022) "Campaign Problems: How Fans React to Taylor Swift's Controversial Political Awakening" Vol 66:8, pp. 1060-1074

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This academic article explores Swift's 'political awakening'. Driessen exemplifies the controversial impact of Swift going public with her political opinion, mainstream media outlets publically dismissing it as a 'betrayal' due to years of silence on political matters framing her as an "Aryan pop princess" thanks to her heterosexual whiteness (p.1061). This therefore presents Swift's politicised image as a liberal activist and do-gooder as she endorses political views which support human rights despite the negative backlash she knew she would get from high-profile mainstream media sources.

Driessen also discusses how, following the release of 'Lover', Swift's music "transitioned into a space to express political views, civic engagement, or even address civil rights" (p.1063), further emphasising her image as an activist and using her influence for good.

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Smialek, E. (2021) "Who Needs to Calm Down? Taylor Swift and Rainbow Capitalism" Vol 40:1, pp. 99-119

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Smialek, E. (2021) "Who Needs to Calm Down? Taylor Swift and Rainbow Capitalism" Vol 40:1, pp. 99-119

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Swift's activism towards LGBTQ+ rights sparked controversy as with everything she does, however, as this tweet shows, fans recognised and appreciated her efforts suggesting her transformation of the image moving away from the 'reputation' era, brought back the authenticity key to Swift's persona and fanbase interaction with her.

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president barack obama - kanye west - jackass (actual video) 2009.09.16

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A year after the VMAs scandal, Taylor performed a new song 'Innocent' which would go on to feature in her 'Speak Now' album. Featuring lyrics such as "Who you are is not what you did" and "Thirty-two and still growing up now", Swift could have been trying to present her image as forgiving and kind, however many critics, such as this article, saw this as manipulative and condescending, giving way to the accusations of racism.

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West released his song 'Famous' in 2016, bringing the feud back to the attention of the media and the public. His lyrics "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous." Despite West trying to discredit Swift for her own success and negatively affect her image, this had the opposite effect further emphasising the image of her as a victim.

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This Sun article concerning the reignition of the West-Swift feud, notes how Kim Kardashian became involved by also lashing out at Swift using snake emojis on Twitter to paint Swift as two-faced and manipulative. This is significant as Swift uses the snake symbol in her Reputation album, transforming the negative narrative into a powerful symbol of resilience and empowerment, expressing her side of the story through her music. The consistent snake imagery in the album reinforced the narrative she wanted to convey and provided a crucial marketing tool to tease her album.

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KANYE West seemed to reunite his ugly feud with Taylor Swift in an odd Twitter rant by sharing a photo of a snake.
The rapper took to the social media platform once again to baffle his millions of fans and followers in a stream of thoughts that followed one after the other by first turning heads with a dig at the "Cardigan" singer.

Kanye tweeted a picture of a rattlesnake with the caption: "Not gonna use a snake emoji cause you know why ... I'm not sure if Christians are allowed to use snake emojis."

The mega-stars' feud last heated up in 2016 when Kanye said he gave Taylor, 30, a heads up before releasing his song, Famous - a hit which included the lyric, "I made that b**ch famous."

However, Taylor did not agree, which led Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian, to defend her husband by using snake emojis to call the pop singer a "snake" after Taylor said did not expect the lyric.

Taylor would go on to use a robotic snake during her Reputation tour.

Seven years before this incident, Kanye interrupted Taylor at the MTV Video Music Awards as he stole the mic from her during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video acceptance speech.

But Kanye wasn't not done with his Twitter tirade, as he then posted a blurry photo of his eldest daughter North hanging off the side of a boat in a pink life jacket.

He wrote: "Hang 10 Northy," but that was just the beginning of things.

The hitmaker then proceeded to showcase his notes for an apparent "village" and "children's ranch," which focuses on "supporting mothers/families" and providing "therapy."

Aside from dreaming up his own "village," Kanye also used up a couple of tweets to share his thoughts on random emojis.

In one tweet, the Grammy winner, 43, says, "There's so many lonely emojis man."

He then shared an emoji of a Queen's guard and wonders, "Why people don't never use this? This emoji is a person too."

Amid his tirade, Kanye even posted a photo of his ranch including an alpaca and a donkey.

The rant comes after Kanye and Kim returned from the Dominican Republic after their "make or break" trip in hopes of saving their marriage.

An insider told People: "They decided to travel together so they can be away in private.

"Between the kids, work, and dealing with Kanye's bipolar episodes, it's been hard for her [Kim] to think clearly.

"She just wants to do what's best for the kids. And she thinks finding a way to save her marriage is what's best for them."

Kim, 39, and Kanye, who tied the knot in 2014, have had their martial issues under the spotlight since the hitmaker's first presidential rally in South Carolina which featured him bursting into tears as he claimed the couple considered abortion when she was pregnant with North.

After the now infamous rally, Kanye revealed that he's been trying to divorce the reality TV star for two years

The source added: "Kanye has made it clear that he will continue to run for president. Kim is not happy about it, but this isn't her focus."

While the couple now appear to be relaxing with their kids - North, 7, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and Psalm, 15 months - in Colorado after their Dominican Republic trip, it may not be enough to solve their issues.

A source told Us Weekly: "Their vacation definitely helped put things at ease for the time being, but the issues they were dealing with go deeper than that and unfortunately won't just be solved with a trip."

It is also believed that the famous pair won't last pass Christmas.

A source exclusively told The Sun: "Kim thought that time away with the kids would remind him of his most important job - being their dad.

"She even offered to fully support a 2024 run for president if he got help and listened to the political consultants they hired.

"None of their friends can see the marriage lasting more than a couple of months if he ignores Kim and her requests and just goes ahead with what he wants, even if it upsets her.

"Nobody would be surprised, or blame her, if she quietly ended things by Christmas."

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Kanye West reignites ugly feud with Taylor Swift in Twitter rant

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KANYE West seemed to reunite his ugly feud with Taylor Swift in an odd Twitter rant by sharing a photo of a snake. The rapper took to the social media platform once again to baffle his millions of ...

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Wilkinson, M. (2019) "Taylor Swift: the hardest working, zaniest girl in show business...", Celebrity Studies, Vol 10:3, pp.441-444

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Wilkinson, M. (2019) "Taylor Swift: the hardest working, zaniest girl in show business...", Celebrity Studies, Vol 10:3, pp.441-444

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This source argues that Swift manufactured her image from the hard-working connotations of a country singer, to continue this image through her transition to pop with her albums 'Red' and '1989'. This positions her image as not only a successful, hard-working pop star but also a clever businesswoman.

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Brown, A. (2012) "She isn't whoring herself out like a lot of other girls we see": Identification and "Authentic" American Girlhood on Taylor Swift Fan Forums, Volume 5:1, pp. 161-120

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Brown, A. (2012) "She isn't whoring herself out like a lot of other girls we see": Identification and "Authentic" American Girlhood on Taylor Swift Fan Forums, Volume 5:1, pp. 161-120

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This extract (p.162) presents the argument that Swift's music and image represent white privilege. Through her silence on political issues of race, lyrics connected with American 'whiteness', and the stereotypical roles played throughout the Kanye West and Taylor Swift feud of the innocent white girl as a victim and angry black man as a bully, this image around Swift was created.

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Both album covers reflect her transition in Swift's music through the change in layout from her previous three albums. Her new look - the shorter, straight hair, along with the red lipstick, accumulated a more mature image. As these are official album covers, this was the image that Swift herself, along with her publicity team, was aiming to create. The image of a mature woman as opposed to an innocent teenage country girl allowed her success to be recognised as well-deserved and earned.

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'Miss Americana' is an important example of how Swift chooses to present herself. Her documentary depicts her as actively constructing her own image by showcasing her authenticity, vulnerability and resilience. It explores her evolution from country sweetheart to empowered artist, emphasising her role in shaping public perception whilst highlighting her strong connection with her fans and the reciprocal relationship between her and them.

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Watch Miss Americana | Netflix Official Site

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In this revealing documentary, Taylor Swift embraces her role as a songwriter and performer — and as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.

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The release of 'Look What You Made Me Do' as the lead single from 'Reputation' was significant in her reinvention image. This time Swift was not coming back as the 'good girl' admitting to her mistakes, 'Look What You Made Me Do' shows Swift controlling her narrative addressing the controversies and her public image. The dark imagery and recreated looks from various standout eras throughout her career presented Taylor as a clever businesswoman, strategically using past scandals and negative public perceptions as a marketing tool of anticipation and engagement for her fans in the music. Although the message of this music video is slightly defensive, by embracing the dark imagery and motifs of snakes, she communicated a message of resilience, strength and self-empowerment.

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The Guardian, as a mainstream media source, presents Swift in this article about her new Folklore album as versatile in her ability to enter a new genre of indie rock, but also as unimpressive and mediocre in relation to her creation of this album. The article largely gives the impression that the album was only successful due to its strategy and logic Swift suggesting perhaps her entry into the new genre was not entirely welcomed.

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Taylor Swift's surprise eighth album, Folklore, takes 16 complex and intriguing tunes by pop's reigning colossus and gussies them up in atmospherics acceptable to the mature indie rock listener. Gone are the brash production values, the musical pugilism that codes Swift as "pop". Gone are the trademark valedictory shouts at the end of her songs. In their place are tunes that exhibit a desire to be taken seriously by a different demographic, one whose delicate sensibilities are more responsive to ruminative thrums and just-so orchestrations.

Take Epiphany, the war-themed song Swift has said was inspired by her grandfather Dean landing on the beaches of Guadalcanal in 1942. The song is sombre, its medical subplot chiming gently with the suffering being wreaked by coronavirus ("Hold your hand through plastic now/ Doc I think she's crashing out"). Swift ends some of her lines with emphatic yelps.

The music, unfortunately, is a miasma of gingerly fingered piano and consolatory tonalities - pillowy, but totally unmemorable, the equivalent of a hospital newsagent condolence card. The album closer, Hoax, pairs Swift's anguished words ("Your faithless love is the only hoax I believe in") with minimal chamber music of chaste rectitude.

It is a shame that these searching, intelligent songs take so few real risks with form

Swift, now 30, has long been fond of the National, whose multi-instrumentalist lynchpin Aaron Dessner has broken out from the band to become a favoured producer (Sharon Van Etten), collaborator ( Big Red Machine with Justin Vernon, Michael Stipe), charity album-wrangler (Dark Was the Night, Day of the Dead), festival organiser, label boss and all-round, eminently commissionable good egg. But most everything Dessner touches turns a nuanced shade of greige.

Folklore is no exception. If it is a strong record - and it is - it is because Swift's songs survive the nicey-nicey torpor of their treatments, because there are still enough gutsy apercus and Easter eggs here to keep even casual listeners engaged; it is a success because Swift got the bespoke amber-hued liminality she ordered. Folklore is a mission, accomplished - and in secret during lockdown; Dessner didn't even tell his daughter, a huge Swift fan, what he was working on.

Undoubtedly, this album opens up the vast reserve of Swift's talent to a new audience. But it is a shame that these searching, intelligent songs take so few real risks with form, even as Swift builds three-song takes on the same events in Cardigan, Betty and August or writes a musical biography of the fortune-squandering heiress Rebekah Harkness on The Last Great American Dynasty.

Occasionally, there are glimpses of what could have been. Peace is little more than an electronic palpitation and a watercolour hue of tension; its minimalism is toothsome. Up top, Taylor remains Taylor, venting about love. In that respect, Peace is an heir of sorts to 1989's Blank Space, with Swift warning a lover that being with her might not be easy. "Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?" she sings. Best of all the Dessner collaborations is Seven, a moving song about a childhood friend (or, possibly, a little more) whose opening notes have a strangeness to them that could have been mined to far, far greater effect.

This could have been a truly startling left-field endeavour. But as lockdown experiments go, Folklore is nothing if not eminently logical. Who better to duet with than Dessner's pal Bon Iver, who made his name with For Emma, Forever Ago, an album written in the seclusion of heartbreak? As it is, their head-to-head Exile is instructive, rather than devastating, a duet atomising a relationship from two points of view, with all the song's moving parts visible. A throaty Bon Iver sings some of his lines just as Swift must have sung them on guide vocal, emphasising every second syllable. " You're not my home land any more." Later, though, he is electrifyingly recognisable as Bon Iver, gusting in from left-field, off the beat rather than on it: "So step right out!" he gnashes. Underneath, some predictably housebroken piano and string stuff goes on: Dessner.

It's not all Dessner. A clutch of songs where Swift works with her more familiar producer Jack Antonoff are still waftily on-message, but are better. The subdued Mirrorball is Indie Taylor in excelsis, a song with chiming guitars playing in the next room in which Swift considers her many faces, how women try to reflect back what is wanted from them.

One of many relationship autopsies here, My Tears Ricochet opens with spectral cooing and assumes its form very, very slowly; the lyrics, by contrast, are packed with zingers. "I didn't have it in myself to go with grace," rues Swift, "and you're the hero flying around, saving face."

If Folklore has one major use it is this: it helps the seasoned Swift fan sell the woman's immense talents to other grown-ups, who have previously shielded themselves from her brand of eloquent drama with vinyl copies of Sufjan Stevens records. These 16 tracks (17 on the deluxe version) play out quite pleasurably in their entirety, the joins between Swift, Dessner and Antonoff ultimately only of niche interest. But Swift's powerful songs reach their climaxes with bittersweet orchestrations, rather than blows to the solar plexus or a ringing in the ears. Everything hovers; little truly lands.
Kitty Empire is the Observer's pop critic

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Taylor Swift: Folklore review - love and loss in lockdown

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Swift's lyrical power just about survives the greige indie atmospherics supplied by the National's Aaron Dessner

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In contrast to The Guardian article, Rolling Stone (an American magazine with a music focus) is entirely blown away by Swift's eighth album which offers a completely different representation of her. It frames Swift as extremely talented through her genre shift, intricate story-telling and intimacy. This article portrays Swift as authentic through its discussion of her having 'absolutely nothing to prove', bringing out the best of her reflected in the intimacy of the lyrics and the relaxed approach to the release.

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So here we are again. The world was in the middle of the cruelest summer ever, just staggering through late July, when Taylor Swift decided to make it all so much messier - her specialty. In a move that nobody saw coming, she announced a surprise album on July 23rd, less than a year after her career-capping smash . (A year to the day after she dropped "The Archer.") Like the rest of us, Swift had to cancel her summer, including her LoverFest shows, which would have been next week. Instead, she spent the quarantine season throwing herself into a new, secret project: her eighth album, . But the real surprise is the music itself - the most head-spinning, heartbreaking, emotionally ambitious songs of her life.

It's a total goth-folk album, mostly acoustic guitar and piano, largely in collaboration with the National's Aaron Dessner. No pop songs at all. It's as far beyond as was beyond Reputation . She's always relished her dramatic creative zigzags, but this is easily her most audacious move, full of story-telling depth she's never come close to before. Some of us have spent years dreaming Taylor would do a whole album like this, but nobody really dreamed it would turn out this great. Her greatest album - so far.

self-consciously summed up the first 30 years of her life, bringing all her musical passions together. But on , she leaves her comfort zones behind. It sounds like she figured she wasn't going to be touring these songs live anyway, so she gave up on doing anything for the radio, anything rah-rah or stadium-friendly. She just made some coffee, sat at the piano, and let her mind wander into some dark places. You can picture the candle on her piano flickering as the wax melts over her copy of Wuthering Heights and another song rolls out.

Her sonic chemistry with Dessner is right in every detail; she also teams up with her longtime wingman Jack Antonoff, and duets with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon on "Exile." The vibe is close to "Safe and Sound," the rootsy gem she did with the Civil Wars for The Hunger Games soundtrack in 2013. As she explains in her Prologue, "In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory."

really feels like the debut album of a whole new Swift - her narrative scope has opened up, with a wide-ranging cast of characters for 17 songs, without a dud. Yet you can still hear that this is the same songwriter who dropped "Last Kiss" on the world 10 July-9ths ago. Here's a Swift progress report on her quarantine: "I've been having a hard time adjusting/I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting/I didn't know if you'd care if I came back/I have a lot of regrets about that." The power of her mind.

It's amusing, in retrospect, how people actually worried that being happy in love might mean Swift would run out of things to write songs about. Not a chance. It turns out to be the other way around, as she lets these characters tell their own stories: A scandalous old widow, hated by her whole town. A scared seven-year-old girl with a traumatized best friend. A ghost watching her enemies at the funeral. Recovering addicts. A fumbling teenage boy. Three of the highlights - "Cardigan," "August," and "Betty" - depict the same love triangle, from all three different perspectives. Other songs tell both sides of a story: "The 1" and "Peace," or "Invisible String" and "The Lakes."

hits overdrive halfway through, when it reaches a trilogy of heavy hitters. "August," the album's most plainly beautiful ballad, is a summer romance gone wrong: "I can see us tangled in bedsheets/August slipped away like a bottle of wine/Because you were never mine." "This Is Me Trying" is the disturbingly witty tale of someone pouring her heart out, to keep herself from pouring more whiskey. "Illicit Affairs" is another tale of infidelity: "Take the words for what they are/A dwindling mercurial high/A drug that only worked the first few hundred times." The tension explodes when she sings, "Don't call me kid/Don't call me baby/Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me."

It's going to take weeks if not decades to puzzle out all the intricately interwoven narrative details of these songs. "Mirrorball" is about the same nervous dance-floor poseur of "New Romantics," six years later, except tonight she feels like the disco ball that reflects everyone's most desperate insecurities. "Mad Woman" expands on the familiar topic of witch hunts, but it also sharpens the feminist rage of "The Man." "The Last Great American Dynasty" satirizes the upper-crust milieu of "Starlight" when she sings, "There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen/I had a marvelous time ruining everything." (Taylor uses the word "marvelous" twice in her career, and both times it's in songs about the Kennedys? No detail is too tiny for her to plan eight years in advance.)

"Betty" is a first - she sings in the voice of the 17-year-old boy in a Taylor Swift song, reckoning with the fickle behavior detailed by the girls in "Cardigan" and "August." It takes off from the harmonica solo in Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" - which feels appropriate for the only tale on the album where she goes back to high school. "The Lakes" is a bonus track for vinyl, CD, and (what a flex) cassette, but it's a must-hear: Taylor walks in the footsteps of William Wordsworth, the Romantic poet who essentially invented the kind of introspective writing she does, wandering the Windermere Peaks of the Lake District.

Remember when she was threatening to spend this year rerecording all her old albums? She does the opposite here - she refuses to repeat her most reliable tricks. So many of the world's favorite Swift-ian trademarks are missing. No country moves, no synth pop, no first dates, no "Taylor visits a city" song, not even a laugh. The references to fame are few and far between, although they're tasty when they do show up, as in "Invisible String": "Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to L.A." She can't resist adding: "Cold was the steel of my axe to grind/For the boys who broke my heart/Now I send their babies presents." Touché.

If was the last album of her twenties, is the first of her thirties. was styled as a well-rounded musical autobiography with everything from Nashville twang to electro-disco. takes a completely different approach, yet feels even more intimate, simply because it's the sound of an artist with absolutely nothing to prove. She's never sounded this relaxed or confident, never sounded this blasé about winning anyone over. It makes perfect sense that the quarantine brought out her best, since she's always written so poignantly about isolation and the temptation to dream too hard about other people's far-away lives. ("Last Kiss" is usually a summer favorite, but this year, "Hope it's nice where you are" feels a little too close to the bone.) On , she dreams up a host of characters to keep her company, and stepping into their lives brings out her deepest wit, compassion, and empathy. And it sounds like for Taylor Swift, her best is yet to come.

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Taylor Swift Leaves Her Comfort Zones Behind on the Head-Spinning, Heartbreaking 'Folklore'

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Review: Taylor Swift's new album, 'Folklore,' is a radical detour into the deepest collection of songs she's ever come up with.

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The contrasting reviews of Swift's Folklore album represent the controversy of her whole persona in the media's view. Public opinion is split on her due to her differing images throughout her career offering a central, consistent image of controversy and confliction.

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Theberge, P. (2021) "Love and Business: Taylor Swift as Celebrity, Businesswoman, and Advocate" Vol 40:1, pp. 41-59

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Theberge, P. (2021) "Love and Business: Taylor Swift as Celebrity, Businesswoman, and Advocate" Vol 40:1, pp. 41-59

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This extract (p.51) portrays Swift as a social activist, standing for equity and fairness for other artists. It also emphasises her image as influential and powerful as her action quickly pressured Apple into agreeing to her demands due to her status.

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Theberge, P. (2021) "Love and Business: Taylor Swift as Celebrity, Businesswoman, and Advocate" Vol 40:1, pp. 41-59

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Theberge, P. (2021) "Love and Business: Taylor Swift as Celebrity, Businesswoman, and Advocate" Vol 40:1, pp. 41-59

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This extract suggests how the Mueller sexual assault case played a role in Swift's image as a social activist as she is seen advocating for the rights of victims of sexual assault. Using her celebrity status, she took a traumatic event for her as an opportunity to take a stand on sexual assault and support victims within and outside the industry.

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This article represents the mainstream media reaction to Swift's Woman of the Decade Award speech which was a very postiive one, describing it as "her most feminist, badasss speech yet", thus framing her as feminist and badass.

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Taylor Swift Pulls No Punches In Her Most Badass Speech Yet And We’re Giving It A Standing Ovation

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Swift's self-made behind-the-scenes videos such as this one, significantly asserted her image as authentic. In these videos, she is intimate with her fans, letting them see the 'real her', allowing them to feel close to her and like they really know her by showing them parts of herself and her work inside the industry which not everyone did.

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Making Of - Love Story (On The Set with Taylor Swift)

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This particular TMZ article, questions the authenticity of Swift and Hiddleston's relationship, relating it to Swift's recent break up with another public figure, Calvin Harris. This portrays a narrative that this was a strategic move, suggesting calculated motivations, and challenging Swift's typical authentic image.

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Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston -- How Real Was It???

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People who were around Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston are talking about their relationship or lack thereof, and a lot comes down to timing.

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This Daily Mail article portrays Swift's image in the context of her brief relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. The article suggests Swift's emotional investment in the relationship through revealing personal details. It frames her as a high-profile figure navigating the challenges of public scrutiny in her relationships which is a theme she presents through her songs, an image she creates of herself.

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It seems to have finished as quickly as it started.

The relationship between country star Taylor Swift and actor Jake Gyllenhaal is over, according to new reports.

The couple, who began dating in October, ended their brief fling last month and spent Christmas apart.

'They're over,' a source told People magazine. 'It ended last month.'

And it seems that it may have been Jake, 30, who put the breaks on the relationship with the 21-year-old country superstar.

'Jake reached out to her and started all of this, but now he's not acting as interested,' a source told Us Weekly.

'He said he wasn't feeling it anymore and was uncomfortable with all the attention they got.

'He also said he could feel the age difference. Taylor is really upset. We told her not to move so fast with this but she didn't listen.

'Jake cares about her, but (the publicity) was a lot for him. He wants to keep his private life private, and that's hard to do dating Taylor.'

The couple were last seen together in public on December 9, spending the day out and about in Los Angeles shopping for groceries and eating dinner out.

During their brief romance Jake splashed out on a whopping $11,000 vintage Gretsch guitar signed by country star Chet Atkins as a gift for Taylor's 21st birthday.

The pair also met one another's families, with Jake introducing Taylor to his movie star sister Maggie and her four-year-old daughter, before he flew to Nashville to meet her parents.

They even spent Thanksgiving together.

But things appear to have fizzled out as quickly as they began.

Taylor spent New Years Eve at a party in Nashville after spending Christmas with her family.

Meanwhile Jake, 30, was in New York and was seen attending the wrap party for Broadway's Fela!

He also spent the Christmas period and dined out with his mother at famed NY gastro-pub The Spotted Pig.

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Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal split up after two month fling

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It seems to have finished as quickly as it started.

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Taylor Swift - All Too Well: The Short Film

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Swift controls her own narrative through her music By using the media's scrutiny of her personal relationships, she turns it professional by writing songs indirectly about many of her public relationships and breakups. This is one significant way in which Swift throughout her career has taken control of her own image despite the media's construction of her. This portrays her as a smart businesswoman as she uses these personal stories to sell her music and create intimate stories allowing her to gain back her authenticity with her fans.

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The Eras Tour Concert Film Official Trailer

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The Eras Tour Concert Film Official Trailer

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Swift's release of her 'Eras Tour Concert Film' trailer, is a source of a permanent record of her Eras tour. The tour itself suggests Swift using her strong fanbase and powerful platform to control her narrative. She embraces the evolution of her reinvention making it her own 'eras' addressing controversies surrounding these changes, allowing her to shape her public image on her terms. This reinforces the narrative of her growth and maturity, managing her construction into a positive of showcasing how these shifts have resulted in her image as a talented, dedicated and authentic star.

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TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR Concert Film Official Trailer

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This article summarises Swift's re-recording era. Swift reclaimed ownership over her albums that were sold to Braun, which emphasises her activist image as she makes a point of gaining back what is rightfully hers, setting an example to other female artists. This article also emphasises her popularity and influence as a star through the success of the albums despite the potential risks. Swift's dedication and hard-working attitude, a strong theme of her image, is reinforced here as she has re-recorded six of her albums in the midst of other projects, also displaying her commitment to her fans.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: Taylor Swift attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, ... [+]
Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Taylor Swift dominates the Billboard 200 chart for a second week with her latest album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), which debuted at No. 1 on the tally last frame with an impressive 716,000 equivalent units sold. This marks the third time that Swift's re-recorded releases, which are all known as Taylor's Version, have achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success.

While things are clearly working out in her favor, the decision to embark on this endeavor was not without its risks, and no one could have predicted the level of triumph these re-recordings would ultimately achieve.

Swift first announced her ambitious plan to re-record her first six albums in the summer of 2019, a move that surprised and intrigued her legion of devoted fans. The singer-songwriter made this decision after the rights to her music were sold away from her, leaving her eager to reclaim ownership and control over her catalog.

MORE FROM FORBES Taylor Swift Has Extended The Eras Tour More Than 10 Times

Her strategy was to sell and upload these re-recorded albums onto streaming platforms, encouraging her followers to focus on the updated versions, which would generate royalties directly into her bank account.

At the time, Swift's plan seemed like a calculated and logical step, but the success of re-recorded albums was largely uncharted territory, leaving room for uncertainty and potential disappointment. Despite being one of the biggest stars in the music industry, there was no guarantee that her fans would fully embrace the re-recorded versions and forgo streaming the originals they already knew and loved.

Other artists who had re-recorded their music before hadn't experienced the same level of triumph that Swift's venture ultimately achieved. The possibility of her re-recordings underperforming, reaching only the top 10 on the Billboard 200 instead of the top spot or even missing that tier entirely, was a genuine concern. Given Swift's stature in the industry and her consistent record of chart-topping success, anything less than a No. 1 would likely be noted in the press as potentially embarrassing.

MORE FROM FORBES Taylor Swift Just Tied An All-Time Billboard Record. Can Any Of Her Competitors Keep Up?

But once she started, she couldn't stop. Backing out of her promise to fans was not an option, as Swift had already committed to re-recording six albums. A cancellation of the rollout would have been awkward and disappointing, and her reason why would have been apparent. The pressure was on, and the success of her re-recorded albums would determine whether her winning streak atop the Billboard 200 would continue or come to an end.

Thankfully, Swift's worries were put to rest, as her re-recordings have all proved to be massive triumphs. Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version) and now Speak Now (Taylor's Version) all soared to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold incredibly well. These re-recordings have not only solidified Swift's place in music history but also demonstrated that even with lightly reworked versions of songs that her fans were already familiar with, she could still achieve chart-topping success and outperform many other artists with brand new collections.

The risk that Swift took with her re-recorded albums was significant, but the rewards have been even greater than anyone could have anticipated. With three No. 1s in a row, she's all but guaranteed to earn as many more before the re-recordings era is done, and by that point, some of them may rank as her biggest and best releases yet.

MORE FROM FORBES Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' Scores The Biggest Debut Of 2023...And It's Not Close

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Taylor Swift's Re-Recorded Albums Are Huge Successes-But They Were A Real Risk

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What if the re-recorded albums had underperformed?