Whether you’re a casual radio listener or a diehard fan, there is no denying the musical and pop culture influence of 14-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift.
At midnight this Friday, Oct. 3, Swift will drop her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (TLSG). The album has already broken Spotify records, becoming the most pre-saved album on the platform with five million pre-saves. I chatted with longtime Swift fans in the UW community, fourth-year biochemistry student Shreya Patel and UW math alumnus Abhiraj Lamba (former executive of UW’s Taylor Swift Society and reporter at Imprint), to hear their takes on the album’s cultural impact and what Swift’s music means to them.
You Belong with Me: What makes Swift’s music meaningful?
When asked why she’s a fan of Swift’s discography, Patel highlights how, for her, liking Swift’s music is “rooted in nostalgia.” Patel’s older cousins introduced her to Swift and frequently shared Swift’s new songs with her. This connection, she emphasizes, “made [Swift’s] music meaningful to me.” She describes Swift’s early music as possessing a “fun narrative style” the pop queen has become so well-known for.
As for Lamba, his work in journalism has led him to reporting on Swift for over two years, even attending her Eras Tour and writing a piece on it for the Toronto Star. Lamba has been a fan of Swift’s music since he was 13 when he “fell in love with [her] songwriting,” specifically her strong lyricism. He believes Swift’s 12th album will provide insight into the behind-the-scenes aspect of her life in the spotlight and on tour. He will be attending one of Swift’s album release parties in Cineplex theatres on Oct. 3, where fans can learn more about the inspirations behind the new songs. He described his excitement for the event given the album is “coming at such an exciting time in her personal and professional life.” After wrapping up a record-smashing tour and recently getting engaged to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Lamba is eager to see how The Life of a Showgirl plays into her ongoing personal and professional success. He found the countdown to the release of The Life of a Showgirl effective in attracting attention and notes that, in today’s age of social media, even non-Swift fans are aware of the album, emphasizing how her global reach, as well as brand involvement, have all contributed to her fame and played into the advertising of her twelfth album.
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Critiques on Swift’s album rollouts
Like every major global artist, Swift has a massive team supporting everything from music production and marketing to public relations and business advising. So, it came as little surprise that she would release many variants of the same album. For her latest album, 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, Swift released a staggering 36 variants (including vinyls, CDs, and cassettes). Thus far, her 12th studio album has 12 variants.
The environmental impact of overconsumerism that “gamifying” vinyl editions encourages is becoming more notable to music fans. Patel stated that she feels the rollout of The Life of a Showgirl “has been very material-focused” and that “the only news [fans] hear about it is monetarily motivated, rather than focusing on the craft.” She said she preferred to hear about a pre-release single or promotion “for the work itself.”
Lamba hasn’t personally bought physical copies of media, including Swift’s vinyls, due to frequent travel but believes some fans use them as unique decorative pieces.
While speaking about the album release on the New Heights podcast, Swift described the album as reflective of her feelings during her global Eras Tour: “exuberant and electric and vibrant.” When asked to describe what they envision The Life of a Showgirl to be like in three words, Patel chose “sparkly,” “melancholy,” and “kind of superficial,” while Lamba went for “upbeat,” “poetic,” and “culturally relevant.”
“She’s one of the most prolifically relevant songwriters of our time, but she’s also one of the most culturally-aware ones,” Lamba said. Though whether Swift’s latest release is well-received by fans and critics remains to be seen, her capacity to continually reinvent herself and strong connection with her fanbase plays in her favour. As she sings in the pop album 1989, she never goes “out of style.”
