Surround Sound

By Geneva O’Hara

All opinions are those of the author.

Between 2020 and 2022, Taylor Swift was on top of the world, in terms of her public image. Following the release of the albums Folklore in July of 2020 and its sister Evermore in December of that year, her pursuit of artistic greatness was at an all-time high. With the tracks on both albums spanning from what felt like storybooks to full-length novels all packed tightly into 4-minute wonders, no one could deny with merit that Swift was a prodigy. Prior to a slew of “Taylor’s Versions” and announcements from the press regarding the megastar’s carbon footprint and billionaire status, the marketing of Swift’s brand was perfectly paired with her music’s sonic persona: reserved, down-to-earth, and cozy. Matching folksy instrumentals, flowery lyrics and stripped-back vocals, she wore her hair in natural waves or childlike buns, and her signature bangs often fell across her forehead looking unstyled. This was a refreshing change for the popstar, a famed straight-laced perfectionist –  Taylor Swift, for the first time in her career, appeared nearly nonchalant.

The persona Swift embodied at the time is entwined with her then-boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn. Alwyn, a British actor, is notably described by Swift and her team as private, with Swift confiding in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana that the two lived a “wonderfully normal, balanced life” (Rolling Stone). The documentary, along with the promotional materials for the two sister albums including a cozy knit cardigan, which sold out overnight, inspiring a cardigan tailored for each era to follow; lyric videos for fans to sing along to; and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a feature which included a run-through of the album in full along with intimate interviews and insights into each track by Swift and her producers, all focused her narrative into the image of a humble, rare maestro. The cardigans in particular represented the era in a nutshell: Taylor Swift got cozy, warm, and real for a limited time – and the success could never be replicated. Following more recent complaints that quality declined and the colorways became less wearable, the Folklore cardigan – and the album it promoted – was lightning in a bottle.

Between 2022 and 2024, Taylor Swift was on top of the world, in terms of her album sales; in terms of the constant discussion surrounding her, her larger-than-life world tour, and her relationship with her future fiance. In August of 2022, leaving no time at all between re-releases of her previous albums (which had not belonged to her at the time), Swift announced her tenth studio album: Midnights. A concept album inspired by “13 sleepless nights” across her many years of songwriting, the visuals for Midnights were smoky and sensual, inspired by 70s colour palettes and soft-grunge aesthetics. After the singer abandoned advanced releases of lead singles after Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in 2021, fans had only this photoshoot to work from, spouting guesses online as to what Midnights might bring. Is it going to be soft-rock, Fleetwood Mac influenced? many theorised. It was quite the opposite. On 24 October when the album was released, it was a spectacle. The record was sparkling, flashy, and pure pop; the complete antithesis to the heights of her previous works. Fans were surprised, and many disappointed. For pop princess Taylor Swift’s long-awaited return to the genre she dominated in the 2010s, Swifties were on the edge of their seats. When the day finally arrived, however, Midnights was, well, middling. It had Swift’s famous catchy hooks, but the lyrics and production were lacking. This was the first record that fans were caught saying, “Not every album has to be a masterpiece. This album is fun.” For a veteran of the music industry like Taylor Swift, this was an interesting diversion. Like a corporation churning out the next innovation, the next best thing doesn’t really need to be the best – with the right brand name attached, consumers will continue to purchase. For an artist so heralded for being one of the greats in terms of her lyricism, however, to release an album with very little emphasis on this trait was disappointing. The astounding sales of the album managed to silence most negative reviews, but even chart domination was a point of tension for Swift. 

Midnights was released in many physical formats, notably as four collectible vinyl records that form to make a clock. Each variant is a different colour, sold separately, and one must also purchase a special-fit wall attachment from Swift’s merch site to hang them all. It was during this time that Swift had already been a well-known billionaire and accused of blocking smaller artists from the #1 spot on the charts via her slew of album formats available for purchase, further damaging her image. She had released her worst-received album to date, and now she was facing claims of taking advantage of fans for money and notoriety. 

The Eras Tour, announced a mere week after Midnights dropped, simultaneously did very little to mitigate criticisms of Swift, yet gave her the world. Adapted from internet slang often used to refer to different ‘eras’ as periods of time where an artist promotes a certain project, Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” dominated the media. It was impossible to purchase tickets, due to the price range and the inaccessibility of Ticketmaster; and while it ran, it was an extensive display of extravagance. Outfitted in several pairs of custom crystal-covered Louboutin heels along with costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli, Vivienne Westwood and Versace, Swift paraded her wealth to the masses each night on tour. It was, despite this, the most resounding success of a tour to date, bar Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Fans came together each night to trade friendship bracelets, secrets, and stories like children at a campfire, and the name ‘Taylor Swift’ was bound to leave the mouth of someone you spoke to on any given day. A 3-hour spectacle of nonstop music, lights, and dancing, many were in awe of how she pulled it off. Following reports of her intensive training regimen, Taylor Swift was deemed one of the hardest workers of her generation.

Over the course of The Eras Tour, Swift transitioned into a new era individually. Her team announced via several news outlets that, in April of 2023, she had broken up with Joe Alwyn. She also broke off her relationship with privacy. It was later revealed she was dating Matty Healy of The 1975 only one month later – the relationship lasting the same length of time – which brought relentless hits to her public image. Fans even wrote an open letter to Swift, expressing their concerns regarding her support of Healy, who had long stood as a controversial figure within the indie music scene. When Swift ended that relationship and began dating Travis Kelce, her PR approach turned around.

In February of 2024, Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department, a 31-track ‘anthology’ that chronicled her most recent relationships, including her current one with Kelce. The album was announced at the Grammy Awards when she won “Album of the Year” for Midnights – a surprise to many for what seemed like one of Swift’s lesser works. She added a set to the end of her tour for the record, again releasing several limited-edition vinyl variants, and again receiving the same criticisms. While the visuals did match the theme of the album, many questioned once more the quality of craftsmanship. Black and white images of Swift cradling her own head along with shots of her sprawled across her bed in poetic disarray led fans to believe this would be an album to rival Folklore and Evermore’s lyrical power; however, it did not live up to its predecessors. Where lyrics were lacking, so were the melodies and production. Swifties heralded a small few of the tracklist as her best work, and discarded much of it as her worst. Unable to bring home a Grammy Award that season, a rare occurrence for the singer, Taylor Swift’s image as a creative artist needed to be workshopped.

Her image as an individual was also under fire. During the American football season, fans of the NFL complained of constant camera pans to Swift at the games, and Swifties who had left-leaning politics were put off by her associations with Travis Kelce’s Republican family and friends. Kelce and Swift got engaged two years later, seemingly as a part of her album rollout for The Life of a Showgirl (2025) and his upcoming season with the Kansas City Chiefs. The optimally-placed announcement appeared a mutually-beneficial marketing pawn rather than a moment of celebration, and added fuel to an ongoing conversation that had recently begun: Is Taylor Swift a person, or a brand?

After two of her worst-received albums to date, The Life of a Showgirl, released October of 2025, managed to beat them both for the title. Defenders of the work defaulted yet again to their statement that “Not every album has to be a masterpiece,” and disappointed onlookers had various critiques. The album itself was widely considered lackluster, even sparking a new debate: Can billionaires make good art? And the branding was not any better. Curated around hard-to-swallow colours of teal and orange, many did not find the main cover aesthetically pleasing; moreover, the entire concept of the album was misleading. Featuring moody images of Swift dolled up in burlesque costumes, the imagery was provocative, glamorous, and bordering on sleazy. Conceptually, the album’s content couldn’t have been further from these ideas. The lyrics were explicit, but not sensual (see the infamous track ‘Wood’); the instrumentation and melodies were innocent and repetitive, referential of both her past work and of other artists’; and many wondered if Swift was even a ‘showgirl’ at all. Mirroring Midnights’s gap between the branding and the content in 2022, The Life of a Showgirl’s promotion was mismatched.

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The merch was another issue. The famous cardigan, kept alive for every era due to its tendency to sell out since the first Folklore iteration, received criticisms of the teal-and-orange colour scheme, cheap material composition, and glitter woven throughout the garment that would make wearing it unpleasant. Swift herself sported this cardigan – the first she was seen to wear since Folklore – in a promotional video, leading many to ‘add to cart,’ and others to wonder if sales had been lower than usual. Perhaps to restore the glory of an item that used to be of high acclaim and had now begun to rust, the strategy was a microcosm of the rehabilitation Swift’s image was in need of.

Amid the same chart-blocking, money-hungry allegations due to over 30 album variants dropped during its release week and theories that Swift bought a five-star review from Rolling Stone, her reputation was arguably at an all-time low. Despite being involved in controversies before, her artistic integrity was rarely the topic of them. It appears her PR and marketing team is not matching pace with her fall from grace enough to catch her. But will she ever hit rock bottom?

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Swift remarked, “The rule of show business is: If it’s the first week of my album release, and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping.” But helping what, exactly? Helping the expression of her art, meant to be discussed, shared, and beloved; or helping her garner as much monetary value from it as possible? For an artist so universally renowned for her integrity, both artistic and personally, her statement proves the opposite. Is Taylor Swift really just a brand? Her intimate interviews discussing her engagement and new releases can’t manage to hide that she might be.

While Taylor Swift is undoubtedly one of the leading pop artists of today, her public image does not live up to the level of fame she possesses. The ‘All publicity is good publicity’ stance cannot possibly apply to creative pursuits, when the goal is to share and appreciate art – not to fill one’s pockets. 

Many feel oversaturated with news of Swift, and long for the days when her fame was more related to the quality of music she released. Perhaps we are yet to see this time again with the artist, with a different marketing strategy; and perhaps the Taylor Swift brand will represent different values.