How to Become a Pop/Country Superstar; or Whatever Taylor Swift is Actually Good at

Samuel Ellis
Pi Kappa Alpha

OMFG. Have you heard Taylor Swift’s new song?

I have. It’s called “Safe and Sound” and was released collaboratively with country/folk duo The Civil Wars as the first single from the upcoming soundtrack for The Hunger Games. It’s a pretty good tune in my opinion, but considering the single’s phenomenal success after only two months, what I think clearly doesn’t matter. I doubt Taylor cares, anyway. The song charted the moment it debuted, has already sold more than half a million units, and, if history is any indicator, is just the next logical step in possibly the most successful celebrity marketing campaign in recent memory.

No, we’re not talking talent, so my ill-informed readers who swear by Swift’s pipes and are absolutely certain that she rose to stardom on talent alone can save it. We’re talking salesmanship. And Swift’s got it, which is convenient, because otherwise her slightly-above-average-but-not-really vox-guitar combo would at best reserve her a folding chair at the back left table of the ACM’s, somewhere between Neal McCoy and Josh Gracin.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s great that she writes her own songs (an area in which she actually is extraordinarily talented) and actually feels what she’s singing and everything, but she is by no means a phenomenally gifted singer or instrumentalist. Her musical endowments, howsoever successfully she’s using them, sit right on top of the bell curve.

She’s not really what anyone would call unique, either. When Swift strummed into the mainstream back in 2006, country music had been indelibly geared toward the pop scene for some time (if you’ve heard any of the over-produced, kitschy “country” numbers released over the last decade ironically complaining about how Nashville needs to get back to its roots, you know exactly what I mean). Swift’s style didn’t deviate too far from this trend, but she was still somehow able to catapult past her competition and establish her place as country music’s darling pop baby.

And the reason, once again, is marketing.

She knows her audience better than probably any current established artist. Obviously the large majority of her fan base is young girls, and Swift accounts for this exceptionally well. She not only by tailors her songs specifically for the ‘tween female boyfriend-less demo, she never leaves them wanting or feeling unappreciated. She loves her fans, or at least says so, and they absolutely idolize her for it.

She also markets everywhere. Like, EVERYWHERE. Taylor Swift is more a brand now than a she is a human being, and as long as girls can buy her off the shelf at Target, they will. She does appearances and speaking engagements like it’s her job (which I guess it kind of is), has her name on hundreds of different products, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with music, and absolutely owns social media. She takes advantage of every opportunity and exhausts every portal, just like John Mayer!

And the result? Nothing short of MONEY. I could rattle off statistics quantifying her success over the past six years, but I doubt her millions of album sales, thousands of collective weeks on the charts, and carats upon carats of by-no-means-just-country-music accolades would shock anybody.

Coming full circle, it would seem “Safe and Sound” is the most appropriate play at this point in her career. After half a decade of unparalleled success, the cross-genre collaboration will help Swift avoid being pigeonholed as too mainstream but also give her fans something fresh – an undoubtedly calculated stratagem. She needed someone new and unique, but not completely devoid of Grammys, so the indie-ish Civil Wars were a perfect opt. Attaching the song to a predictably popular book/movie franchise wasn’t a bad move either. If nothing else, she’ll avoid the malignancy of the “has-been” label for another day.

Clearly, the kid’s got skills. She’s savvy, or at least has promoters and advisors who are, and knows how to play the game. I’m still not what I’d call a fan, but as someone who hopes to be a huge success in SOMETHING, I’ve got a great deal of respect for her.

Samuel is a senior studying political science and English. You may contact him at sellis11@utk.edu.