At the age of 14, Taylor Swift became the youngest musician officially hired by publisher Sony/ATV. During this time, while working under contract with record label RCA, Taylor had the opportunity to learn song writing experience from many veteran musicians of the country music industry . When she was 15 years old, Taylor felt ready to release her own song, but RCA wanted her to wait until she was 18 years old. Not wanting to waste time, Taylor left RCA, parted ways with manager Dan Dymtrow to find a place of freedom to fly high and she found it in producer Scott Borchetta.

Reach the top of fame

Before meeting Taylor, Scott Borchetta had heard a little about the “young musician” of Sony/ATV. Once listening to Taylor sing at a coffee shop , Borchetta realized this girl would be an important part of his plan to found a new independent record label after the DreamWorks record label he used to run closed down.

So the Big Machine record label was born not long after with Taylor as the first artist. Later, Borchetta recalled: “At that time, it was not only me but also people from several other record companies in the audience. I hoped none of them could get Taylor’s signature because she has all the elements I’m looking for in the music market: smart, hard-working, talented and serious.”

Working in an environment that allows for creativity, Taylor quickly achieved success. Taylor Swift’s debut album (2006) positioned her as a new star on the American country music map. In particular, Our song helped her become the youngest singer to self-compose and perform a song that topped the Hot Country Songs chart (the most popular country music songs).

Two years later, Taylor reached a major milestone in her career when she released the album Fearless with feverish country-pop songs, such as: Love story, You belong with me… Fearless brought home Taylor won 4 prestigious Grammy awards and she also became the youngest artist ever to win the most important award – Album of the Year.

Taylor Swift shines with 4 Grammy awards in 2010 Photo: Reuters

Looking at Taylor’s products, we can see that she works regularly and seriously when the albums are released 2 years apart and always has enough time to invest in preparing all aspects. Taylor’s next three albums: Speak now (2010), Red (2012) and 1989 (2014) also sold more than 1 million copies in the first week of release. Taylor is also the first and only singer in American music history to have 3 albums achieving this achievement.

In the three albums, the single Mean brought Taylor two more album awards, while We are never ever getting back together and I knew you were trouble are also hits that are loved around the world. Advertising contracts and image representation for famous fashion and accessory brands arrive regularly, making Taylor an international star.

Standing firm before public opinion

The glory that came so early made Taylor unable to avoid criticism. However, through each event, she always shows everyone the maturity and maturity of a professional artist.

When becoming the first country music singer in history to be named at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards with the award for Best Female Artist with a Video (song You belong with me), Taylor was in for a big shock because of rapper Kanye. West suddenly went on stage and grabbed her microphone to praise singer Beyoncé’s video! Still, Taylor said she didn’t mind anything. A few days later, Taylor said she received a sincere private apology from Kanye and she ignored everything.

“Thin voice” is also a criticism that Taylor has heard a lot, especially after a bad duet with the legendary Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammy Awards . Some analysts even predicted her career. hers soon ended. Taylor did not react but silently took vocal training courses to improve her voice.

In an interview with The New Yorker, Taylor said she sees herself more as a song writer than a singer, confiding: “I write songs and my voice is just a way to deliver the lyrics.” to the audience”. Taylor’s producer Borchetta also admitted that she “doesn’t have a great voice” but is one of the best at conveying emotions and has made constant efforts to improve her live singing ability. USA Today magazine commented that the criticism in 2010 helped Taylor sing better and better live. Her performances at the Grammy Awards and MTV over the years have proven that.

It’s not difficult to realize that Taylor Swift’s “hit” songs are all about her one-time loves, and this songwriting style has been criticized by some people. However, veteran singer Neil Young spoke up to defend Taylor: ” How many times will people make fun of her for writing a song about broken love ? That’s the job of a songwriter – to write what’s in his heart.”

For her part, Taylor responded by releasing new songs to continue the dream of “singing to tell stories” that she had cherished since her days in her hometown. If Fearless explored the difference between fairy tales and love, in later albums, Taylor talked about more “adult” issues, such as: parent-child relationships (The best day, Never grow up), friendship (Fifteen, Breathe), discord (A place in this world, Mean, Shake it off), career ambition (Change, Long live)…