Taylor Swift: Language and Representations blog

Go to our Media Magazine archive (issue MM79) and read the feature All Too Well on Taylor Swift and how she controls her own narrative. Answer the following questions: 

1) Why is Taylor Swift re-recording her earlier albums? 

Swift quickly announced her intentions to re-record her Big Machine albums, which would give her complete ownership of the records and nullify Braun’s involvement. So far two re-recordings have been released, to both huge critical and commercial success – Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). The latter album is Swift’s most successful in her entire discography to date, and is a mark of her continued resurgence against those who would dictate her career.

2) Why did Taylor Swift choose to make the short film 'All Too Well'? 

All Too Well: The Short Film was released in tandem with Red (Taylor’s Version) in November 2021. Directed by Swift herself, shot on 35mm, and starring Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as its protagonists, the film makes visual the ten- minute version of ‘All Too Well,’ a song that aches from heartbreak and longing. In choosing to make the song into a short film, rather than just a music video, Swift has consciously chosen to push her professional creative boundaries for the sake of her art and her storytelling – and that’s something we can only admire her for.

3) What other examples are provided in the article of Taylor Swift using media to construct her own image? 

in 2012, Swift has been forced to control virtually every aspect of her public image. Many aspects of her follow-up album 1989 (2014) were a direct response to criticisms about her private life: the entirety of ‘Shake It Off’ is dedicated to telling Swift’s haters how little she cares for their opinions, while the video for ‘Bad Blood’ is yet another showcase of her filmmaking talents.

Whereas Swift’s former changes in image (which included forays into cottage core aesthetics with Folklore and Evermore, both 2020) came from a place of artistic experimentation, the re-recording of her old albums comes from a place of necessity and artistic control.

Taylor Swift textual analysis:

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Taylor Swift's website and social media. 

1) Go to Taylor Swift's website. What do you notice about the media language choices - text, font, images, page design, links?

• Strong sharp typography
• entire website in greyscale/without colour
• presents albums/vinyl and CDs
• Information on her eras tour
• photos of Taylor swift + directed projects
• Links to other information 

2) Now visit her Eras tour microsite. What do you notice about the construction of this site in terms of images and website conventions? 

• Very artistic as soon as you enter the site
• can click on different columns for unique designs
• clear simple and greyish colours
• YouTube video official trailer for eras tour
• merchandise
• TikTok link and link to all music
• access to purchase of tickets for tour 
• Instagram pin board of fans at tour

3) Visit Taylor Swift's Twitter feed. Analyse her use of tweets/posts - are they promoting her music, her tour, or something else? Can you find any that are socially or politically oriented? 

• Tortured poets department
• Birthday (friend)
• Tour in Lisbon
• Tour in Stockholm
• Eras tour in general
• Congratulating musicians on billboard chart
• The tortured poets department album
• Kamala Harris endorsement

4) Look at Taylor Swift's Instagram account. What do you notice about the selection and construction of images, reels and posts?  

• Use of greyscale for recent 'the tortured department' album
• promotion of albums and previously eras tour
• endorsement of democrats and kamala Harris
• all posts feature Taylor swift
• Disney + feature

5) Research Taylor Swift across any other social media accounts - e.g. Facebook. Do you notice any differences in how she represents herself on different platforms? Comment on text, images or tone/content.  

Taylor swift seems to present herself consistently across all platforms through the presentation of her as the main part of the image while also promoting her tour and album across the board however her twitter feels much more informal in terms of her tweets compared to the more professional looking eras tour website and Instagram account that feel much more professional and business like.