Maps of Music

Reputation (2017)

Where the lyrics of Reputation take you, and where it was really made.

Before the album came out, Swift deleted her website and social media accounts, and that move drew widespread media attention.

Key places

Los Angeles studio on the recording list (2017)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles is listed as a recording place for the album. The point marks the studio at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Atlanta studio tied to the sessions (2017)

Recording site Tree Studios — Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta is listed as a recording place for the album. The point marks the studio at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Brooklyn recording place (2017)

Recording site Rough Customer — Rough Customer in Brooklyn is listed as a recording place for the album. The point uses the city center of Brooklyn, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Reputation (stylized in all lowercase): sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift
• Released November 10, 2017, through Big Machine Records
• Primarily an electropop and synth-pop record that incorporates R&B, trap-pop, and EDM
• Produced by Swift, Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, and Shellback
• Autobiographical songwriting that references romantic relationships and celebrity disputes
• Songs form a linear narrative of a narrator seeking vengeance, ending in a blossoming love

Background

• Swift's fifth album 1989 (October 2014) turned her into a pop icon
• Her 'America's Sweetheart' image was blemished by controversies in 2015-2016
• Feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian over West's song 'Famous' was the culmination point
• Swift withdrew from social media and press interviews and went into a hiatus in 2016-2017
• She wrote the album during seclusion as a 'defense mechanism' against media scrutiny
• Inspired in part by Game of Thrones, the album is split into two sides

Recording

• Two production teams: Antonoff, and Martin with Shellback; Swift had worked with all three on 1989
• Swift executive produced the album and co-wrote all 15 tracks
• Martin and Shellback co-wrote and produced nine tracks; Antonoff co-wrote and co-produced six
• Antonoff's sessions mostly took place at his home studio in Brooklyn
• Several trips to Atlanta and California let him include ideas from other producers
• Antonoff kept his studio computer offline to prevent a possible internet leak

Cover

• Black-and-white photograph by Mert and Marcus showing an expressionless Swift
• Her name is printed multiple times over one side of her face in a newspaper-like typeface
• Media outlets read the design as a mockery of media scrutiny

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania.
• Named after singer-songwriter James Taylor.
• Moved to Nashville area at 14 to pursue a country music career.
• Signed with Big Machine Records in 2005.

Career

• Debut album Taylor Swift (2006) peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200.
• Fearless (2008) spent eleven weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the best-selling album of 2009 in the US.
• Shifted from country to pop with 1989 (2014), which spent eleven weeks at number one.
• Released Folklore and Evermore (2020), indie folk albums that debuted at number one.
• Re-recorded her first six albums after a dispute over her master recordings.
• The Eras Tour (2023–2024) became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.
• Holds 14 Grammy Awards, including a record four Album of the Year wins.
• Named Time Person of the Year in 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Reception was positive but often polarized, with critics praising intimate songwriting about love
• Metacritic weighted average of 71 out of 100 from 28 reviews
• Critics criticized the production and the references to fame and celebrity, which were seen as harsh and derivative
• Consequence's Geoff Nelson gave the album a D+ and called it a 'bloated, moving disaster'
• Pitchfork's Jamieson Cox lamented that the lyrical craftsmanship was overshadowed by a conventional production
• Variety's Chris Willman hailed it as an outstanding pop album
• Some media publications deemed the album disappointing given the context of Swift's celebrity

Reappraisal

• Retrospective reviews said the initial reception was affected by the negative press
• Billboard's Andrew Unterberger wrote in August 2019 that it was 'a very good pop album that was very successful'
• Consequence later said its initial review was influenced by Swift's negative press and should have scored higher
• Caramanica in 2024 described Reputation as 'once-scorned, now revered' in the words of Powers
• When ranking Swift's 11 albums for The New York Times in 2024, Caramanica put Reputation at number one

Records

• Opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 1.238 million first-week album-equivalent units
• Spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200
• Fourth consecutive Swift album to sell one million first-week copies in the United States
• Certified seven-times platinum by the RIAA in September 2025
• Sold 4.5 million copies worldwide in 2017, second-best-selling album of the year
• Won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and a Billboard Music Award for Top Selling Album
• Nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Swift blanked out all of her social media accounts on August 18, 2017, which prompted media speculation about new music
• She then uploaded silent short videos of CGI snakes, which drew widespread press attention and became a key motif of the campaign
• Instead of a press campaign, she held secret listening sessions for 500 fans in total, hosted at her homes
• Billboard and Exclaim! listed the cover among the worst album covers of 2017
• Swift began re-recording her first six albums, including Reputation, in November 2020; the re-recorded Reputation was not completed by the 2025 masters deal

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact