1989 Era
2014-2016
It is important to contextualize just how big 1989 was at the time it was released. It sold 1.28 million copies in the US during the first week of release and debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Taylor the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening release week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. A week before 1989 was released there was a glitch on iTunes Canada where a Taylor track labeled “Track 3” with just eight seconds of static was accidentally made available. It shot to the top of the chart within minutes. “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” are all No. 1 hits. When “Blank Space” replaced “Shake It Off” at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Taylor became the first woman in music history to ever replace herself at the top spot. In 2014, she was named Billboard‘s “Woman of the Year”, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. Also that year, she received the “Dick Clark Award for Excellence” at the American Music Awards.
Evidently, the 1989 era was a phenomenon. As Taylor was moving to New York on her own and hanging out with all her girl friends, her music reflected those changes. Very few albums have been as unifying from generation to generation, as this one was. 1989 was even compared to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, simply because there was something in there for everyone.
Table of Contents
Becoming a True Pop Star
«I woke up at four in the morning and I was like, ‘It’s called 1989. I’ve been making ’80s synth pop, I’m just gonna do that. I’m calling it a pop record. I’m not listening to anyone at my label. I’m starting tomorrow.'»
When announcing the album, Taylor mentioned she had been listening to a lot of music from the 80s decade. Wanting to place 1989 within a context, the general public largely assumed that the album was going to be heavily 80s influenced. In reality, it is not. Rather, Taylor was going for something completely contextless. The New York Times wrote in a piece called “Fairwell to Twang”: “By making pop with almost no contemporary references, Miss Swift is aiming somewhere even higher, emotive timelessness that few true pop stars even bother aspiring to.”
Taking Back the Narrative
Changing the Music Industry


1989 Secret Sessions
The 1989 World Tour
The Squad
«Never being popular as a kid was always an insecurity for me. Even as an adult, I still have recurring flashbacks sitting at lunch tables alone, or hiding in a bathroom stall or trying to make a new friend and being laughed at. In my 20s, I found myself surrounded by girls who wanted to be my friend. So I shouted it from the rooftops, posted pictures and celebrated my new found acceptance into a sisterhood without realizing that other peole might still feel the way I did when I felt so alone. It’s important to address our long-standing issues before we turn into the living embodiment of them.»


A Silent Battle
Record Label Disagreements
«When I knew the album had hit its stride, I went to Scott Borchetta and said, ‘I have to be honest with you. I did not make a country album. I did not make any semblance of a country album.’ And of course he went into a state of semi panic and went through all the stages of grief, pleading in denial, ‘Can you give me three country songs? Can we put a fiddle on ‘Shake It Off’?’ And all of my answers were a very firm ‘No’ because it felt disingenuous to try to exploit two genres when your album falls into one. Everyone, in and out of the music business, kept telling me that my opinion and my viewpoint was naïve and overly optimistic. Even my own label. But when we got those first-day numbers in, all of a sudden I didn’t look so naïve anymore.»
Making Music History
Rolling Stone wrote in 2019: “1989 was a blockbuster — hit singles after hit singles after hit videos after tabloid headlines after, ‘Damn, is it really 2016 already and this album is still going?’ Sure was, and Taylor used her second ‘Album of the Year’ win that February to trumpet her own historic accomplishments while also shading Kanye West for saying some not-nice things about her on wax — wow, what a pop star.”
Associated Album | 1989 | |||
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Beginning of Era | August 2014 | |||
End of Era | April 2016 | |||
Tour | The 1989 World Tour | |||
Aesthetic | New York City Seagulls Neon lights | |||
Style | City chic Crop tops High heels Bob haircut Red lipstick | |||
ERA CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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