Why is Taylor Swift so popular? We help explain what makes the singer so beloved

There are many fans of Taylor Swift out there and just as many who don’t care for her – but why is the pop superstar so popular?

Taylor Swift is a cultural force. Her record-breaking Eras Tour became a record-breaking Eras Tour concert film, and with her latest relationship taking up the spotlight she can be hard to escape.

For those who aren’t fans of Swift, her influence can be difficult to understand.

Is it her tightly-controlled public image? Is it her voice or music? If you’re one of the many people asking “why is Taylor Swift so popular”, we can help explain.

Taylor Swift's song writing is a huge part of her popularity

It is hard to escape Taylor Swift’s music and while “haters gonna hate”, she is widely renowned for her song writing abilities.

Since the beginning of her career, when she was a young teenager singing country music, she has been able to balance her hyper specific experiences with those which are universal.

Her debut album was released in 2006 and included songs such as Picture to Burn, Tim McGraw and Teardrops on My Guitar. More notably the album was created while Swift was still in high school with Our Song written for her school talent show.

Taylor Swift wrote some of her earliest hits for a high school talent show. Image: Getty

Her confessional style of song writing was able to capture both her adolescence while appealing to a wider audience about their own experiences, almost immediately capturing the hearts of fans; the storytelling straightforward, but not simple.

Swift’s signature style has been present from the earliest of her songs; able to capture moments of her life and translate it into something powerful and emotional, sharing her experiences with millions of people around the world.

Her focus on love and romance has helped build her career, and audience, unleashing songs which reference the inner workings of her life to fans who greedily tear each line apart for clues to her relationships.

Her capacity for song writing is a balancing act of information sharing, which taps into universal experiences of love with songs such as Enchanted, gold rush or cardigan.

Taylor Swift accepts the Artist of the Year award onstage during the 2022 American Music Awards. Image: Getty

Then there are those such as All Too Well. Her widely publicised relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal was rarely out of the spotlight and Swift's heartbreak anthem received fresh scrutiny when she released the ten minute version of the song on Red (Taylor’s Version). The song twists and turns, her lyrics capturing the depth and struggles that break-ups can present, remaining relatable while also documenting snippets of her own reality.

Her semi-autobiographical lyrics also come into play with later releases such as the last great american dynasty, which documents Swift’s ties to the late heiress Rebekah Harkness but when it came to later releases, such as folklore and evermore, Swift takes her inspiration from elsewhere.

Her talents have evolved as she honed her craft, with her fictional narratives notably on show in songs such as no body, no crime which Swift has said was born from her love of true crime podcasts telling the tale of Este, a woman who is assumed to have been killed by her cheating husband.

There are equal amounts of reality and fiction mixed into Swift’s work, and fans have plenty of material to find new meanings in.

But what makes her song writing truly special is how she makes her millions of fans feel understood, which is arguably the most important part of her success.

Swift's understands her audience and validates their experiences

Her ability to make people feel understood is key to her success, but more than that is the level of acceptance which Swift offers to her supporters.

She has never shied away from her own ambition as the record-breaking Eras Tour proves, with Swift travelling the world, single-handedly boosting economies while performing 17 years worth of hits.

With empowering feminist messages scattered across her discography, her lack of fear at sharing her emotions all while maintaining that ambition makes Swift a good role model for many younger fans.

She stands up for herself and her beliefs

The audience she has cultivated has also allowed for Swift to make several statements against the music industry.

From keeping her music off of streaming platforms such as Spotify, to re-recording her first six albums following the sale of her masters, Swift has been able to change the wider business, inspiring other artists to speak out about the treatment they receive at the hands of labels.

After being signed to Big Machine Records at such a young age, following the end of her contract and the sale of her masters – the original recordings of her first six albums – without her permission, she began to re-record and release her music. It’s a strategy that, for someone with less of a presence than Swift, could easily backfire.

Instead, she has cheerfully embraced the task, providing deeper insight into her music, scattering hints and clues as to her next project throughout music videos while also sharing “From the Vault” tracks which were missed from the original album releases.

Swifties are often rewarded for their loyalty

Since she released Taylor Swift, an album which crystallised the pop star’s youth, Swift has been including hidden messages in her work.

From scribbles in her album cover to “Easter eggs” in her music videos and songs, she has been talking with her fans beyond the music since the very beginning.

But it doesn’t end there.

Popcorn buckets are pictured during the "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" concert movie world premiere. Image: Getty

Fans of Swift likely know all about Taylor Nation, her official eyes and ears into the lives of her fans. Run by her marketing and PR team, Swifties would often be contacted by the organisation to receive anything from gifts or letters to invites to small intimate gigs, or "Secret Sessions" as they were known, which were sometimes even held in Swift's home.

She provides sneak peeks, inside looks and essentially very carefully peels back the curtain of her image for fans to look beyond, pulling them further into her sphere of influence, whether it’s on sites such as Instagram or X, formerly Twitter, or her stint on Tumblr.

And while cynics would criticise this approach, it’s been part of her toolkit since her debut album came out. Making herself vulnerable, through her music, yet accessible through social media has sparked devotion among her fans.