Practice Radio Assignment

HOST INTRO: Taylor Swift is a highly accomplished and well-established singer-songwriter whose discography spans multiple genres, from Country to Alternative to Pop. She’s won 34 American music awards and is a few weeks away from releasing her tenth studio album. Swift’s success has allowed her to reach and impact millions of fans worldwide. Charlene Figueroa speaks to one of many devoted supporters about Swift’s influence on her life.

AMBI: Shuffling from students silently chatting and typing in the background.

TRACK: I’m joined by Samantha Sollito who, unsure of where to start with her love for Swift, decides to begin with when and why she became a huge fan. She explains to us how although she knew of her for a long-time it wasn’t until 2 years ago that she became interested in Swift’s music.

ACT: SAMANTHA: I really didn’t get into her music that much until 2020 when she surprised dropped folklore randomly in July. I’ve never hated her I genuinely liked her music I just never was such a huge fan like I am now. I feel like her lyricism and almost all of the stuff she puts out is genuinely some of the best music. And that’s not me being biased I genuinely think she has such a nac for song-writing.

TRACK: That nac Sollito tells us about has allowed Swift to truly relate to her audience. While many of her songs are from the perspective of a girl dealing with heartbreak or unrequited love, in no way does it mean others can’t appreciate her music.

ACT:SAMANTHA: Her songs also speak to people. I feel like a lot of the stuff she’s put out is so relevant to my current situation or like anybody’s current situations. It really helps girls feel seen. Not even just girls, I feel like men can enjoy it to if you want. Anyone can really enjoy that’s the beauty of her music.

TRACK: But Swift has done more than inspire her fans through music. She’s taught them to stand up for themselves through her recent actions in the industry

ACT:SAMANTHA: She actually released two re-recorded versions of her old albums last year. She released red(Taylors version) in November and fearless(Taylors version) in April because of a situation involving her former record label with Scott Borchetta. Where they sold all her masters to Scooter Brawn.Someone she specifically asked them not to because of the way he’s treated her in the past

TRACK: For Swift, re-recording her albums is a way of taking back her power, one of her main goals as an artist was to own her masters and Scooter Brawn attempted to take that away from her. Despite the albums having been released years prior, the re-releases have been a huge success and garnered massive amounts of support from fans. A testament to her reputation as one of the most influential artists of our time.

For all your pop-culture news, I’m Charlene Figueroa.