The New York University’s Clive Davis Institute has launched a first-of-its-kind music course on the work and cultural impact of Taylor Swift’s music on Sunday, January 26. The course is set to be taught by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos, due to go until March 9, and apparently, it already has a long waiting list.
Variety reports about the new Taylor Swift music course saying, “..the class will cover Swift’s evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters, discourses of youth and girlhood, and the politics of race in contemporary popular music”
There are many names that have caused a stir in the American music industry, but nothing like Taylor Swift re-recording her original masters so she can own them. It has been quite a cultural reset to see an artist taking such a bold step in going back to their older albums and re-recording everything so she can own her music and no one else.
But that is just one relatively recent moment, there are several more things to consider and facets to dissect within the Taylor Swift Music Universe. Swift has been making music for over two decades now and there is something about it that has hit the chords of the masses, consistently over such a time period.
The evolution and experimentation in her music style have also been a subject of wide discourse, with many critics and even more supporters standing by her side throughout her journey.
The Davis Institute is chaired by musician and songwriter Jason King, who reportedly said about the course, “To me, the class was a no-brainer when Brittany first suggested it,” as there have been several courses on the impact of famous musicians before this Taylor Swift course, led by King. He continued, “She’s a Taylor fan but she also understands how to contextualize her culturally, and get students to think more deeply about her and her music through the lens of gender, feminism, race, and class, and other categories related to identity, and that deeper thinking is what this program is all about. She’s also an NYU alum and a former student of mine and I’ve watched her rise as a journalist and as a person and I’m so excited to bring her in.”
