Taylor Swift is the only woman ever to win this award multiple times after being awarded it in 2012 after the release of her album 'RED' and the opening of the Taylor Swift Education Center in Nashville. Now, only 2 years later in 2014 she is receiving it again after the release of her latest (and possibly greatest!) album '1989'. Taylor Swift delved into new territory with '1989', making it her first documented 'pop' album. Previously all her albums had been classified 'country pop' though she admits that she has always been influenced by pop. When she turned to her record label and told them that she wanted to make a pop album they tried to convince her to put a couple of 'country' songs on the album but she refused, determined to make this album on her own terms. She wanted to make this album 'sonically cohesive' and putting a fiddle in 'Shake It Off' and releasing it as a single to country radio wouldn't work.
Nobody could have anticipated the response that followed the release of '1989' on October 27th. Billboard predicted it would sell 650,000 copies in the first week, giving it the highest first week sales of the year so far, but in the first 24 hours 600,000 copies were sold. By the end of the first week it had sold over 1,387,000 copies, the highest first week sales since 2002. Taylor Swift is also the first artist ever to sell over 1 million copies in first week sales with 3 consecutive albums. '1989' is now No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 200 Chart. Taylor's latest single 'Blank Space' is No. 1 on Billboards Hot 100 Singles Chart, and she is No.1 on their 'Artist 100' chart also. These record breaking results are just one of the many reasons Taylor Swift has been named Billboard's Woman Of The Year. These achievements also lead to her winning the first ever 'Dick Clark Award For Excellence' at the AMA's. In a time where music has become widely available online for free sending album sales into decline, Swift's achievements are highly commendable.
To list all of the reasons why Taylor Swift deserves this award more than anyone else would take all day and I'm sure you're already bored, so I'll only name another few. Over the last few years Taylor has developed a unique relationship with her fans, on another level to other artists in the industry. She has been known to give advice to fans on social media such as Tumblr and Instagram, who are struggling with issues such as bullying or heartbreak. Prior to the release of '1989' she decided she wanted to do something special for the fans, she wanted them to hear it before anyone else, so she decided to host the '1989 Secret Sessions'. These were top secret listening parties where she invited 89 fans to her houses and spent the entire evening ( 8 hours!) entertaining them. They'd have food and 'mingle' before being brought inside to meet her, then they'd go into her living room and Taylor would play them the entire album and explain each song. Then they would have a dance party while Taylor spoke to and took pictures with each and every one of the guests. These took place in each of her 3 homes in the US and in her apartment in London and before long they were anything but 'secret'. She also sends fans that she follows on Tumblr hand picked Christmas presents! This unique relationship with her fans sets her apart from other women in the music industry and is another reason she has been awarded Woman of the year.
In October she was named 'New York Ambassador For Travel' after moving to the city back in March. She donated all of the proceeds of her promotional single 'Welcome To New York' to New York public schools. She spends many of her days off visiting sick fans in hospitals across America. She attended a fan's bridal shower with a car load of presents over the summer. She speaks openly and proudly about feminism and her dislike for the sexism in the media. She encourages people to follow their dreams and she is is proof that hard work and determination pay off. She moved to Nashville to work as a songwriter for Sony Publishing when she was 14, getting turned down by several large record labels before being signed as the very first artist on Big Machine Records when she was 16. Now she has made her dreams come true, moved to New York, is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, has 7 Grammy Awards, has progressed from country music and is now dominating the pop world.
I think it is safe to say, Taylor Swift is undoubtedly the right person to win Billboard's Woman Of The Year award.
-Orla McDermott