“We can’t talk about Taylor Swift’s success without acknowledging her preternatural ability to write songs that are familiar yet distinctive, accessible but not trite,” Associate Professor and Chair of Popular Music, Toby Koenigsberg, says. “It’s important to emphasize that it’s incredibly difficult to write a song like the songs Taylor writes,” he adds. “It's difficult to do even one time. To do it across an entire album is much harder still, and she has been doing it on album after album for close to two decades now.”
To better understand the Swift phenomenon, the Gazette asked some Harvard and Berklee College of Music faculty to assess her artistry, fan base, the tour’s economic impact, and her place in the industry. Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.
