Mastery Research Paper on Taylor Swift

1. Mastery Research Paper
Mariya Peterson
Full Sail University
MDL501-O Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership
Dr. Dan Spellman
January 21. 2024

2. INTRODUCTION
Taylor Swift is a 34-year-old singer/songwriter from Reading, Pennsylvania. From the
age of 10 years old, Taylor knew she wanted to be a singer/songwriter. Taylor and her family
moved to Nashville at 14 so she could pursue her music career (Ward, 2023). Taylor signed a
recording contract with Republic Records (Lane, 2023). She has released ten albums and four re-
recordings (Venn, 2023). In this paper, I will tie Taylor’s successful career in the music industry
to the “Keys of Mastery, Emotional Pitfalls, and Strategies for the Creative-Active Phase”
discussed in Mastery by Robert Greene.
CREATIVE TASK
“The Primary Law of the Creative Dynamic that you must engrave deeply in your mind
and never forget: your emotional commitment to what you are doing will be translated directly
into your work” (Greene, 2013, p.180). From a young age, Taylor knew she wanted to become a
singer. She would spend countless hours writing songs and practicing her guitar. Green (2013)
states, “The task that you choose to work on must have an obsessive element. (p. 179). Taylor
possesses an obsessive element when it comes to her music. According to the “Second Law of
the Creative Dynamic, you must let go of your need for comfort and security” (Green, 2013, p.
180). Taylor and her family left the comfort of their hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, and
moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Taylor could have a career in the music industry because of the
move.
CREATIVE STRATEGIES

3. To write her chart-topping songs, Taylor spoke about her writing style. She has three
different styles of lyrics “Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics, and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics. "Quill
style if the words and phrasings are antiquated, Fountain pen style means a modern storyline or
references, with a poetic twist. Glitter if the lyrics are Frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated
perfectly to the beat” (Rahman, 2022). Taylor writes her songs from her heart. She writes about
things she knows and goes through, her heartbreaks, her life, and her career. From the start of her
career, she has always written songs about what has happened in her life because it is what she
knows. “Taylor Swift has been recognized as TIME Magazine's Person of the Year (2023) due to
Taylor’s talent as a storyteller and ability to captivate audiences” (Lansky, Dickstein, &
McCluskey, 2023). Person of the Year is not the only award Taylor has received for her
songwriting abilities, but it is her highest achievement.
EMOTIONAL PITFALL
Taylor’s emotional pitfall happened in 2016 because of the infamous lyric in Kanye
West’s song “Famous,” where he calls Taylor out by name and calls her an explicit name (Mamo
& Chan, 2023). A few months later, Kanye’s then-wife Kim Kardashian stepped in. The couple
and Taylor had a feud for a few months. In turn, Taylor starts to get a lot of hate on social media
and disappears from the public eye for a year. After her year hiatus, Taylor released Reputation,
one of her most popular albums. Before Reputation, she released 1989, her first Pop album after
changing her genre from Country. Taylor went against Conservation, “Why risk changing your
style in midstream, or adapting a new approach to your work? Better to stick to the tried and true.
You also will have a reputation to protect...” (Greene, 2013, pp. 202-203). She changed her genre

4. because she thought it was what everyone wanted. Her sound and her reputation changed. Both
changed for the better. Since the release of Reputation, her career has flourished.
CREATIVE BREAKTHROUGH
Taylor has had many creative breakthroughs throughout her career the most recent
happened when Scooter Braun bought Big Machine Label Group and ended up possessing all her
music with the deal to which he sold the rights to Taylor’s first six albums. She was quoted in the
New York Times (2019), “The $300 million deal ‘Stripped me of my life’s work’ her catalog
was now ‘In the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it’.” Taylor got the idea to re-record
her music so she would own it from Kelly Clarkson when she was on her show. Taylor was not
going to lose 17 years of music spanning 10 albums. She took Kelly’s idea and re-recorded four
of her albums already. She does have plans to re-record the other albums.
CROSS-COMPARISON
Much like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Taylor grew up surrounded by music. Taylor’s
grandmother was an opera singer who inspired Taylor from a young age (Ward, 2023). Mozart
and Taylor took piano lessons from a young age. Both are talented musicians, performers, and
composers. The only difference between the two is the way their families influenced them.
Mozart’s father conspired ways he could make up ways to make money off his children, while
Taylor’s family inspired and inspired her to make music. Both Mozart and Swift are Master’s in
their fields.
CONCLUSION

5. Having had a successful career from the start, Taylor Swift is a Master in the music
industry. She has been through emotional pitfalls and creative breakthroughs. She fell victim to
Conservation but had a successful career afterward. Taylor has worked on both sides of the
musician’s life with creativity and business aspects. Through the examples outlined in my
research, Taylor Swift demonstrates her mastery.

6. REFERENCES:
Coscarelli, J. (2019). Taylor Swift Reignites an Industry Battle. New York Times, 168(58428),
C2–C2. Retrieved from https://login.oclc.fullsail.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-
com.oclc.fullsail.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=138211347&site=ehost-live
Greene, R. (2013). Chapter 5: AWAKEN THE DIMENSIONAL MIND: THE CREATIVE-
ACTIVE. In Mastery (Kindle, pp. 168–245). Penguin Books.
Lane, L. (2023). Retrieved from https://uproxx.com/pop/who-is-taylor-swift-signed-
to/#:~:text=Swift%20is%20currently%20signed%20to,Lover%2C%20until%20today%20
with%20them.
Lansky, S., Dickstein, L., & McCluskey, M. (2023). The Poet Laureate of Pop Culture. TIME
Magazine, 202(21/22), 42–57. Retrieved from
https://login.oclc.fullsail.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-
com.oclc.fullsail.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=174230674&site=ehost-live
Mamo, H., & Chan, A. (2023). Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-
kanye-west-relationship-timeline/
Rahman, A. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-
news/taylor-swift-songwriting-process-nashville-speech-1235224700/
Venn, L. (2023). Retrieved from
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a44471722/taylor-swift-albums/
Ward, L. (2023). Retrieved from https://www.thefactsite.com/taylor-swift-facts/