McKenna Bitikofer
Staff Writer
Ever since her first album released in 2006, Taylor Swift has consistently stayed in Billboard’s Top 100. And with the Eras Tour, one of the most successful tours of all time, now wrapping up, Taylor has cemented herself as a pop culture icon. However, some people have criticized her over her seemingly convenient releases any time she is slipping from the top of the charts.
As a result of Taylor’s old record company sneakily sold her albums behind her back, she has been releasing “Taylor’s Version” of each previous project. However, the timing of some of these releases has been oddly specific. When “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” was released on July 7, 2023, competing female pop artists Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo took a big hit on the charts.
However, this friendly competition did not hold back Miley as she soon won a Grammy for that same song on the charts, “Flowers” even while Taylor was ranked No. 1 for Overall Artist. This just comes to show that Billboard success does not necessarily mean success in other major areas of this business. With that being said, if Taylor is seen as selfish for her release, then Miley was also selfish for taking the Grammy title.
“Taylor is not purposefully trying to block any other artists from the Billboard besides him,” freshman Kylie Holder said. “She is friends with most artists, such as Drake and Sabrina Carpenter, and she purposely plans her album release dates around them.” Taylor is just doing her job like everyone else. Her releases are not meant to harm individuals, but to simply compete.
This kind of thing has not only happened with female artists. In October 2023, Taylor’s song “Cruel Summer” sat in billboard’s top 100 for fifty-four weeks straight, before it finally dwindled down when Drake released his album “All the Dogs” on Oct. 6. The music industry is based around constant competition, so it was nothing personal when Taylor decided to release “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” on Oct. 27. This move ended up removing Drake from the top 10s a few weeks later, but it’s just a part of the job.
Most recently, with the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” more artists have faced the wrath of Taylor’s Swifties. Released on April 19, the album re-entered No. 1 for its 14th non-consecutive week on Aug. 12. Coincidentally, this just so happended to line up with the release of Ye’s new album “Vultures 2” on Aug. 3. Taylor strategically plays the game of the music industry, even when it is sometimes out of pettiness. With this move, she not only got to cover the music charts with her new fifteen songs, but she also removed Ye from the charts, which forced him to release even more to be able to compete.
Taylor is just like every other musical artist simply trying to compete in a cut throat industry. If she did not have the traction she has today, no one would even notice her specific planning as she would just blend in like every other artist trying to make it big.
“Taylor is just a very widely loved musician especially with how many records she has broken and with her such high levels of success,” Holder said. “She is going to stay at the top of the Billboard for a while, which should strive other artists to try and become more like her.”
