"I didn’t want to just be another girl singer"- When Taylor Swift opened up about walking away from her first label

Taylor Swift is no ordinary singer-songwriter, which was quite evident from a young age. Apart from her songwriting capabilities, which began before her teenage years, Swift also boasted the confidence and decision-making that make an artist successful.

She is perhaps the most popular singer in the world, with every move of Taylor Swift being a source of media scrutiny. But she showed these signs of success from as early as 13 years old when she received her first label offer. Not only did Taylor already know the direction she wanted to go in, but she also boasted the skill to segregate the labels she wanted to associate with.

In a dated interview with Entertainment Weekly, which dates back to when Taylor Swift was only 17, she revealed about this first offer and why she walked away from it. She said:

"I didn’t want to just be another girl singer. I wanted there to be something that set me apart. And I knew that had to be my writing. Also, it was a big, big record label with big superstars, and I felt like I needed my own direction and the kind of attention that a little label will give you. I just did not want it to happen with the method of ”Let’s throw this up against the wall and see if it sticks, and if it doesn’t, we’ll just walk away.” I wanted a record label that needed me, that absolutely was counting on me to succeed. I love that pressure."

The 33-year-old singer also elaborated on the circumstances that led her to walk away from the label.

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"It’s not a really popular thing to do in Nashville, to walk away from a major record deal"- Taylor Swift on choosing to walk away from her first record label

As most people know, Taylor Swift began her career in country music and displayed exceptional talent from a very young age. With numerous solo compositions and a handful of songs written by the age of 14, Taylor was always a remarkable force in the industry.

This talent garnered her attention and a record deal while she was still just a child. However, she still walked away from this exceptional achievement because it did not align with her vision for herself. She elaborated:

"After a year of development, we just decided that we wanted to look around, so we walked. And it’s not a really popular thing to do in Nashville, to walk away from a major record deal. But that’s what I did, because I wanted to find some place that would really put a lot of time and care into this. And it ended up being a record label that wasn’t even in existence yet: Big Machine Records happened, and then got major-label distribution with Universal, and things have gone pretty well since then."

She continued:

"Actually, I’ve been writing since I was 12, so I had so many songs I wanted people to hear. It was a combination of things, why I left, [but mostly] just because I did not want to be on a record label that wanted me to cut other people’s stuff. That wasn’t where I wanted to be."

So Taylor Swift did not bend down to the needs of the industry and over time, it's safe to say she became a significant chunk of the industry itself. Currently the most streamed female artist on Spotify, Swift continues to amaze her fans.

Taylor Swift's upcoming album 1989 (Taylor's Version) will be released via Republic Records on October 27, 2023.