In 16 tracks, and 15 more in its downloadable version, Taylor Swift has cemented her legend even further. On April 19, in the midst of her world tour, America's most famous pop star released The Tortured Poets Department, her 11th studio album. This new work, which was listened to over 300 million times on Spotify in a single day – a new record – is a reminder of the iconic status of the 34-year-old singer, who recently became a billionaire. Fifteen years earlier, Swift was described as "a young 'country pop' singer" in a brief article in Le Monde on December 21, 2009, that listed the most searched-for subjects online by young Americans that year.
In Le Monde, the rise of the artist, who first became famous in Nashville, the country music capital in Tennessee, originally appeared only in snippets. In February 2010, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) wire article stated that the Fearless artist had won the Best Album award at the Grammy Awards; the same year, in November, in a lengthy portrait of Kanye West, journalist Véronique Mortaigne recalled how, a year earlier, the rapper had snatched a microphone from Swift's hands in the middle of the MTV Video Awards ceremony. The "boss" of American hip-hop was reportedly frustrated that Beyoncé wasn't being honored, unlike the "blonde country singer."
As a symbol of her popularity, Swift was spotted among other celebrities in the front row of Madison Square Garden, New York, before a basketball game in 2014. "Younger fans appreciate Taylor Swift, who has just bought herself a New York identity with a $20 million penthouse and a promise to donate profits from her latest record to the city's public schools," Guillemette Faure wrote at the time.
At the same time, the singer became the one who could "single-handedly save the record industry." In a short portrait published in Le Monde's M Magazine, Pierre Jaxel-Truer listed the figures behind her success: 1989, her fifth album, sold over a million copies in one week, becoming the best debut for a record in 12 years. And, with an income of $51 million, Swift ranked second in the world's highest-paid female singers that year, just behind Beyoncé.
Spotted at the age of 14 and already famous by 17, the young artist withdrew her tracks from streaming platforms Spotify and Deezer in order to protest against the very low remuneration of online artists. The following year, in this "streaming battle," the star even made Apple yield. Before changing its mind, the American giant had planned not to pay artists during the three-month free trial of its new Apple Music platform. "The young woman also wants to be the spokesperson for all artists in the face of the rise of streaming offers," said Jérôme Marin, from San Francisco. According to Michel Guerrin, in a June 2015 column recalling this commercial tug-of-war, "Saint Taylor Swift" seemed unstoppable. In one tweet, rocker Elvis Costello agreed: "A word from our future President. Right on. You tell 'em, Girl!"addressed to Swift.
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