TL:DR Swift found a creative way to get around the bullying men who thought they could control her. By doing so, she marketed herself into the stratospheric realm (Oprah-land?) she now inhabits. Perhaps if she had been treated with respect, she would just be a popular singer still making money for the patriarchy.
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Taylor Swift was always talented but I believe she really took off into Oprah levels because she found an innovatve way to get around the fact that someone she really disliked purchased all the masters to her previous albums (He was the manager of Kanye West who famously used a nude mannequin of Swift in bed with him in a music video as he called her a bitch. The duo’s misogyny towards her apparently started when West took the mike away from her and said Beyonce should have won an award.)

These men thought they were going to show this woman who had the real power, in a way that would warm any MAGA male’s heart - control all the creative works that made her a star.so they could prostitute them by controlling who got to sing her songs.

“He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. “

Kelly Clarkson, another smart lady who has freed herself from the record labels. suggested she re-record all the songs/albums, using new artwork and adding bonuses for the fans.

Starting in 2021, she re-recorded all of them, making them “Taylor’s versions” and finishing last year. Every one of them took off. Her fans only wanted the ‘official’ version so the library of original masters quickly dropped in value. She became the first performer in 60 years to have 4 albums rank in the top 10 - simultaneously.

And since she owns the masters of these new recordings, she can now control their licensing. She refuses to license any of the original recordings but is open to using the “Taylor’s Version”. Anyone asking knows to only ask about the “Taylor Version”; that the fans will notice.

And her fans do know the difference. They have been there as the industry tried to control her and they see the inventive way to route around that control as something to celebrate.

It was the retention of control of her own creative works that I believe really sent Swift into very rarefied air. And a lot of the re-releases coincided with her Eras tour, making it even bigger. She is a smart businesswoman and has found a win-win way to make money, control her destiny and satisfy her fans.

And made her very hated by misogynstic men. They hate it when a women outsmarts a man.