Work Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2025
Department
Global Entertainment and Music Business; Berklee Valencia
Keywords
Music business; Taylor Swift; Indie music
Abstract
This chapter aims to analyse how, in the ever-changing music business, Taylor Swift has managed to disrupt the American industry while being an integral part of it, creating a phenomenon we define as the Taylor Swift Paradox. Historically structured between two distinct forms of business, major and “Indie” labels, the process of music production in the United States has forced musicians to choose between one of these two. Swift has built her own way by implementing a sophisticated organisation of music companies. This chapter describes her original approach. We describe how Swift’s career has challenged traditional notions of what constitutes a “Blockbuster” artist and the attributes of “Indie” artists, redrawing the boundaries between these two concepts. The idiosyncrasy or the replicability of this approach is discussed to examine what emerging musicians might learn from Swift’s careers.
Recommended Citation
Boulos, Miriam and Perrin, Alexandre, "The Taylor Swift Paradox: A New Form of Blockbuster Artist Redefining the Indie" (2025). Faculty Works.
https://remix.berklee.edu/faculty-works/96
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Taylor Swift: Culture, Capital, and Critique on 29 June 2025, available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003509271-25/taylor-swift-paradox-miriam-boulos-alexandre-perrin?context=ubx&refId=32ab5d91-f6ba-4214-8cbb-1aa362a89728.