What Taylor Swift Copycats Just Can't Get Right
- Rachel Pienkosz
- Aug 8
- 4 min read
Taylor Swift is a name synonymous with pop music. Her songwriting and artistic instinct have led her to become a global sensation, reaching a level where her only peers are Michael Jackson and The Beatles. You couldn't escape her music if you tried. Since her debut in 2006, Swift has sent shock waves through the music industry, inspiring hundreds of artists to come to life. Yet, not every teenage girl with teardrops on her guitar has what it takes to become Taylor Swift. The difference is Swift’s cutting lyricism, her integration into her fans’ lives, and her innovative nature, making her a dominating force no one can replicate.
Many recent breakout artists have cited Taylor Swift as an influence for their work. Take Gracie Abrams, Maisie Peters, or Holly Humberstone, who all opened for Swift on her recent Eras Tour (2023-2024). Spilled diary entries with piano backdrops have become a saturated market. Each artist shares a genericism that makes them indistinguishable to the typical fan. If you pulled a ballad off an album by Abrams or Humberstone and took the name away, you may not be able to distinguish which is which. Their lyrics lack the specificity that makes Swift’s songwriting so compelling. Additionally, Swift has made herself endlessly fascinating by writing about her highly publicized relationships. However, deep “lore-driven” music isn’t the exact key to success. Ask country singer and Swift fan Kelsea Ballerini, whose divorce EP “Rolling Up The Welcome Mat” barely cracked the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 200 in 2023. The music of her admirers simply isn’t interesting enough to keep potential fans invested in a full album or the artist's life. You can play only so many chords in a piano ballad before every song sounds the same.
Where Swift has always excelled is her diversity of sound. Not only are her lyrics strong, but the production itself is interesting. Her legendary genre shift from country to pop catapulted her into another level of stardom in 2014, earning her a second Album of the Year at the GRAMMY Awards the following year. Even after her full shift to pop music, she released albums, Folklore and Evermore. This dive into the indie/folk genres garnering her hundreds of new fans. Every album has experimentation. Take the slinky saxophone-led song “False God” from Lover or the pop-punk inspired head banging of “Better Than Revenge” from Speak Now. Swift even tries her hand at rapping on Reputation in the song, “…Ready for it?” It’s impossible to say two songs from her catalog sound exactly alike, something her mimics can’t say about their own discographies.
Even artists like Phoebe Bridgers, who stand way above others influenced by Swift in terms of talent, aren’t able to reach the same level of success. Swift’s secret is her desire. Friend Lana Del Rey told BBC, “She wants it more than anyone.” Not only is Swift musically inclined, but she also has a knack for business. There’s a universal feeling to her music that, coupled with its mass market appeal, makes her songs big and her hits even bigger. Even the biggest critics of Swift’s music can’t help but bob their head when "Love Story" or "You Belong with Me" plays at a wedding or a school dance. Swift was everywhere on her come-up. You couldn’t watch an award show in the early 2000s without seeing her perform, or get in a taxi in New York City without hearing the song “Welcome to New York" in 2014. Meanwhile, you won’t find anyone over 30 humming a chorus to “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridgers or knowing an album track by Griff.
The way Taylor Swift turns fans into disciples is unlike any modern artist. Even chart-topping pop successes like Sabrina Carpenter (who also cites Swift as an inspiration) aren’t shifting economies just because her tour is in town. In a room of millions, Taylor Swift makes you feel like her best friend. She’s been cultivating a culture of obsession long before social media. In 2010, Swift held a 13-hour meet & greet (an ode to her lucky number) to show appreciation to her fans. She even invited fans to her house in 2014 for a secret listening party of 1989 before it was released to the public. Some of the best organic buzz to come from the Eras Tour (2023-2024) was Swift’s surprise song section, where she played two (or more when she started doing mashups on the European leg of the tour) songs not on the setlist acoustically on piano and guitar. It became headline fodder for the entirety of the tour and was even joked about in an SNL sketch. This tradition dates back way before “Eras” to the Speak Now World Tour (2011-2012), when Swift would play a different cover every night of one of her favorite songs. Then and now, she gives fans something special with each performance, something to cite as uniquely theirs. This type of “boots on the ground” work and her genuine earnestness have earned her a place in the hearts of her fans forever.
Even when Swift doesn’t have an album out, you can’t help but hear her influence - on the radio, over supermarket speakers, and in festivals around the world. Her legacy lives on through pop dominators like Olivia Rodrigo, indie legends like Clairo, and country cowgirls like Megan Moroney, who make notes on their own heartbreaks. Only time will tell if in 20 years we’ll be attending any of these artists' Eras Tour, but for now, Taylor Swift is unsurpassable.
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