TCU professor Andrew Ledbetter’s journey as a Swiftie began when he heard “Love Story” on his car radio.
“I like this a lot,” he thought. “I think I could be a Taylor Swift fan.”
About a decade and a half later, Ledbetter’s interest in Swift goes beyond that of just a fan. The communication studies department chair’s scholarly work on the popular artist’s music draws the attention of Texas Christian University students as well as other academics.
Ledbetter’s research stemmed from an observation that Swift’s songs and albums seemed to connect to each other.
“It’s kind of like she’s creating this Taylorverse that people have talked about with lots of images, ideas, recurring characters, themes,” he said.
He ran her lyrics through a computer program that used semantic network analysis to draw connections. The computer noted words repeated in lyrics and placed songs into four groups from which Ledbetter identified common themes.
The professor found that the more shared words a song had, the more likely it was to be popular, a result he said is in line with communication theory.
“You might think that there are some really central songs that kind of hang that Taylorverse together, and that is indeed what the analysis showed,” he said.
In an interesting coincidence, his analysis also found that in order for songs to be deemed connected, they had to share at least 13 words — a number fans will recognize as the artist’s favorite.
Ledbetter is not the only academic to take an interest in Swift. Last November, he was on a panel with other “Swiftie scholars” at the National Communication Association’s annual convention.
Universities across the country — including TCU, UTA and Houston’s Rice University — have offered classes studying Taylor Swift and her work through a range of academic subjects, drawing high interest from students.
Ledbetter’s analysis did not include the 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department” or “The Life of a Showgirl,” which was released Oct. 3. He is interested in analyzing them at some point.
Leading TCU’s communications department and other commitments keep him busy for now. In the meantime, his past research helps him connect with his students, he said.
When Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce announced their engagement, Ledbetter was teaching his class about social media and personal relationships.
A student raised her hand to break the news, acknowledging that it was interrupting.
Ledbetter did not mind.
“Yes, thank you,” he said. “That is worthy.”
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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