Why did Taylor Swift leave country music? 1989 was the singer's first official pop album

One of the most unanticipated and radical transitions in a musician's career was Taylor Swift's decision to switch from country music to pop. After releasing chart-busting country albums like Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, and Red, the Grammy winner released her first official pop album, 1989, in 2014.

In a 2015 CBS This Morning interview, Taylor explained that switching to pop felt like '"the best way to be exciting" for her then. That was especially true when I Knew You Were in Trouble spent seven weeks at #1 on the US charts, and she realized that the pop genre works for her more than country music:

"I think that on my last album, when the song I Knew You Were Trouble came out, and spent seven weeks on No. 1 of the pop charts that was kind of like a warning flair, like this is working, this comes naturally to me," she revealed.

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Taylor Swift opened up about leaving country music and embracing pop

After the success of I Knew You Were in Trouble, Taylor Swift decided to swap the banjos and the violins for electronic beats and buzzing synths. However, she isn't the first singer to switch from country to pop.

Juggernauts like Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves, and Lil Nas X have all transitioned from country to other genres. Musicologist Nate Sloan said Taylor's transition happened at the right time.

"As far as my music direction goes, I'd always like to keep people on their toes; in that regard, I think that's the best way to be exciting," explained Taylor in a 2015 interview with CBS This Morning, when asked about her switch from country music to pop.

In another 2019 interview with Billboard, Taylor explained the differences between the two forms of music from an artist's perspective. She explained that pop music didn't have a community to support her when she was a newcomer to that genre. Taylor Swift also credited Faith Hill for helping her gain a foothold in the country music genre when she had just started.

"When I first started out in pop it was very much you versus you versus you. We didn’t have a network, which is weird because we can help each other through these moments when you just feel completely isolated,” Taylor explained.

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Musicologists analyze Taylor's transition from country music to pop

2019 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for MTV)

Musicology experts have often analyzed this switch from various lenses and have credited Taylor Swift for finding the right moment in her career to make the paradigm shift. Katherine Jeng, professor of Taylor Swift Lyrical Evolution course at Rice University, refers to the transition as a torchbearer of '“newfound creative freedoms over her music and career.”'

"Taylor Swift’s departure from country has left its mark on the genre, which has led to the evolution of the country genre we see today,” she said in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment (as published in the Yahoo Entertainment blog on October 27, 2023).

Finally, the switch helped broaden Swift's fanbase. People who were already fans of her country songs migrated to listen to pop, while she made a barrage of new fans with 1989 and subsequent pop albums.

UK Vinyl Sales Highest Level For Thirty Years (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)

“Many of Swift’s country fans initially wrote her off after her pop transition, complaining that her interest in the genre must have been a commercial gambit rather than an authentic love for the style. But the lasting impact of her country music oeuvre eventually spoke for itself,” explained musicologist Nate Sloan.

Taylor Swift's strategy to collaborate with proven hitmakers such as Max Martin also helped her avoid any chances of failure post-transition. Today, Taylor is one of this generation's most celebrated pop stars and has been made even more famous by her Eras Tour success.

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