With the release of her latest and first officially documented pop record “1989,” Taylor Swift is shaking up, and off, the industry.
After all 1.287 million copies were sold in the first week alone, making "1989" the second album to sell more than 1 million copies. The other was the soundtrack to "Frozen," and that album released in 2013.
Although never one to stay inside genre borderlines, Swift officially going pop shows she is ready to truly take over the world. Every song on the record could be a single, every single is poised to be a hit. As with anything she does, Swift's official transition into pop could not be more thorough.
Using the likes of Max Martin and Shellback, two producers behind some of today’s biggest hits, as well as OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder and fun.'s guitarist Jack Antonoff, shows she is committed to this new sound and aiming for the top of the charts.
Swift has also implemented what can be described as a unique grassroots campaign. Her activity on social media has skyrocketed with her use of Instagram and Tumblr to connect to her fans, which also led to what Swift called the 1989 Secret Sessions.
During these were four sessions, held in her various houses across the country, Swift hand-picked 89 fans to join in an exclusive listen of the album. The fans would then blow up social media with comments on how incredible her new sound was, therefore creating hype like nothing else could.
This genius marketing strategy could have predicted her selling a million copies in the first week for a third straight time, a feat unaccomplished by any other artist in chart history. Swift could be single-handedly saving the record industry.
Gone are the days of Swift racking up every country award possible with music slightly outside the genre. She will now be directly competing with the likes of Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Adele, and P!nk. This could offer a huge shake up because she brings in a lot of star power to an already overcrowded category.
