Earlier this month, when asked about why her friend and collaborator Taylor Swift is so popular, Lana Del Rey didn’t mince words: “She wants it. She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone,” she told the BBC. “And how amazing – she’s getting exactly what she wants. She’s driven, and I think it’s really paid off.”
To a casual observer, the remark might seem unremarkable, even obvious – but for her nearly 20 years in the music business, Swift has painstakingly made sure onlookers never see her sweat. As she’s broken sales and touring records, Swift has maintained a veneer of unflappable benevolence that obfuscates her admirable business savvy and clear understanding of what her fans, and the music business at large, want. Del Rey was saying the quiet part out loud: Swift’s success may, at its core, come down to her preternatural musical ability, but her maintenance of that success was aided by intense ambition.
