CSP - Taylor Swift - Language + Representations

Narrative

Go to our Media Magazine archive (issue MM79) and read the feature All Too Well on Taylor Swift and how she controls her own narrative. Answer the following questions: 

1) Why is Taylor Swift re-recording her earlier albums? 

Taylor Swift is re-recording her earlier albums due to the massively unfortunate fact that Scooter Braun, who bought her albums, made sure that Taylor Swift did not have any ownership of her own music anymore which has made her re-record her music so that she owns it by herself and Scooter Braun doesn't own her new music

2) Why did Taylor Swift choose to make the short film 'All Too Well'? 

Taylor Swift chose to make the short film 'All too well' because she wanted it for storytelling. She clearly likes to storytell and tell stories as her other music is like storytelling aswell and she's quite expressive so it fits her genre of music and personality so she made the short film to storytell

3) What other examples are provided in the article of Taylor Swift using media to construct her own image? 

Some other examples provided in the article of Taylor Swift using media to construct her own image includes things such as her albums and eras, for example 1989, the year she was born which clearly highlights herself and presents herself as the main character in her music as she is the artist. Another example is her music like her song 'shake it off'. It is a classical white girl banger and it represents her goofy self

Taylor Swift textual analysis

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Taylor Swift's website and social media. 

1) Go to Taylor Swift's website. What do you notice about the media language choices - text, font, images, page design, links?

-I notice that the design is very bold, pink and sparkly. This connotes girliness and the ideas of a stereotypical girl and her fanbase is a lot of girls so it matches that too 

-The photo looks like a mirror that has been shattered which can make ideas like bad luck for 7 years or a broken heart there is lots of ideas 

2) Now visit her Eras tour microsite. What do you notice about the construction of this site in terms of images and website conventions? 

I notice that in the construction of this site in terms of images and website conventions that theres a collage of her eras which highly contrast her previous life (eras) and shows herself in the spotlight which shows she is the main character on the wesbite and she is the artist herself so it makes a big light on her and promotes herself

3) Visit Taylor Swift's Twitter feed. Analyse her use of tweets/posts - are they promoting her music, her tour, or something else? Can you find any that are socially or politically oriented? 

My analysis of her posts is that o twitter, she has spoken in the past about politics and not liking Trump which shows she is politically aware. In my opinion her posts are quite politically oriented and very aware of global issues nowadays.

4) Look at Taylor Swift's Instagram account. What do you notice about the selection and construction of images, reels and posts?  

The selection and construction of images, reels and posts shows she uses her colour scheme, posts, and branding to promote her album. This creates lots on fan interaction and spotlight on herself.

5) Research Taylor Swift across any other social media accounts - e.g. Facebook. Do you notice any differences in how she represents herself on different platforms? Comment on text, images or tone/content. 

I notice no differences in all her accounts across all platforms as they have same colour schemes and branding styles. However, her twitter is quite political whereas tiktok is quite relaxed which shows a contrast of the apps and what they're used for