There is no doubt that Taylor Swift is a worldwide phenomenon, an extremely smart businesswoman and adored by fans the world over. She is also admired by young and old and keeps herself approachable and hugely respected.
I’m impressed by the amount of research done to show readers how savvy and personable Taylor Swift is. The business and creative decisions continue to be extraordinary, that transformed Taylor Swift from a teenage country singer into an international superstar, undeniably.
The author has dissected the details of Taylor Swift’s genius, her creative abilities are unstoppable and her fans can’t wait for more.

Huge thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Many consider the Beatles to have been the most remarkable singing phenomenon of the rock and roll era. Their rise from a Liverpool club band to a historic performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” is legendary. However, the Beatles were men in their 20s with considerable nightclub experience and a talented manager, Brian Epstein. Decades later, a teenager named Taylor Swift eclipsed the Beatles’ rise, and she did it with no manager at the time. Furthermore, the Beatles were gone just six years after their “Sullivan” performance. Swift’s prowess and fame have grown for over 15 years and continue to thrive, culminating in the most extended and most successful concert tour in history. How did she do it? That’s the question that “Harvard Business Review” editor Kevin Evers tries to answer in “There’s Nothing Like This”. The book occasionally reads like a college marketing text, but it’s still an enlightening look at how Swift made it to the top and stayed there when so many other acts did not.

Many books have been written about Swift over the years, but most have been fan biographies or analyses of her music. “There’s Nothing Like This” is neither. The book contains little information about Swift’s personal life except for those incidents that directly affected her reputation and development. In “There’s Nothing Like This,” Evers views Swift as a brand. The key to her success has been effective marketing and management. Other singers arguably had more talent than Swift, but lacked her unique set of songwriting skills, people skills, and marketing savvy. (She figured out many of the successful strategies she employed on her own without formal marketing training.)

The author arranges “There’s Nothing Like This” chronologically by album, showing how Swift approached each album and changed her style and repertoire over time. Two things remained constant throughout Swift’s career. The first was her songwriting, with listeners feeling that the lyrics were authentic and spoke to them. The second was her personal touch with her fans. She has always believed in connecting with her fans in person or, later, on social media, leading to a growing number of dedicated Swifties. Those fans worldwide eventually fueled the success of her Eras tour.

Swift started her career with two strikes against her as a teenage female country singer when there was virtually no traditional market for them. She discovered an untapped market: teenage girls who weren’t typical country music fans but who felt that Swift understood them and spoke to them. Also, Swift’s career began when the music industry as a whole was undergoing a significant shift in the early 2000s internet era. She recognized the shift away from promoting through schmoozing influential disc jockeys to secure airplay on radio stations. Instead, she used the then-social media giant Myspace to promote herself. She joined industry outsider Scott Borchetta’s fledgling Big Machine label after getting the cold shoulder in other places. (All this before she could vote or drink.) As each album rose higher and higher on the charts, Swift’s stature grew, and she fine-tuned her career, shifting from country to pop to rock without alienating her fan base.

Swift’s career had its difficulties, like any brand. The author discusses the low points in Swift’s career, such as her feud with Kanye West and his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, which damaged Swift’s reputation. (Kardashian circulated a doctored recording of Swift in which the singer appeared to give West approval to use the lyric “I made that bitch famous” in one of his songs.) Swift was also involved in a lengthy dispute with Borchetta over ownership of her masters once her contract with Big Machine ended. The author treats these incidents, which could have been disastrous for many artists, as lessons on how to overcome unfavorable publicity.

Throughout “There’s Nothing Like This,” the author compares Swift’s brand to others, including Marvel Entertainment, highlighting the similarities in the strategies they adopted. He goes further afield to mention such non-entertainment brands as IKEA, Porsche, and Domino’s Pizza. However, the book isn’t just a paean to pop culture. The author acquaints readers with business school concepts, such as “entertained uncertainty,” “reputation-reality gap,” and “premium-position captivity.” In discussing Swift’s dispute with Scott Borchetta over the masters, the author references a 1967 Harvard Business Review (plugging his own “product”) about brinkmanship. This material can be dry and may lose some readers, although the author pitches his explanations to general audiences instead of graduate business students.

The biggest problem I had with “There’s Nothing Like This” is the rather cursory treatment of Swift’s historic Eras tour in the book. The author painstakingly details Swift’s career from a business perspective through ten albums, culminating in 2022. (Swift also released re-recordings of four of her early albums in 2023.) He then devotes a mere eight pages to the Eras tour, much of it a recitation of facts and figures. Admittedly, the Eras Tour doesn’t fit into the author’s stated theme of examining Swift’s career through her albums. However, it’s an event of unprecedented scale (and success) that merits the same type of careful analysis of the decisions along the way. The reason for the cursory treatment of the Eras Tour may be the fact that the author began his detailed research for the book in 2022, following the release of Swift’s tenth album, “Midnights.” He may have decided to press forward with the research and content he had and fit the Eras material in later. His decision was a disservice to readers, though.

Author Kevin Evers tries to walk a tightrope with “There’s Nothing Like This” and mostly succeeds. The author admits he’s a Swift fan, saying in the book’s Preface: “I found myself craving something more, something that did more than capture the magic and grandeur of her career to date, something that helped explain it… [T]he more I tried to find the explanation for Swift’s seemingly uncanny ability to continually win, the more my fascination and enthusiasm with her career and business grew.” For that reason, this book avoids excessive discussion of the aspects of Taylor Swift’s life that readers come to expect in celebrity biographies. The author even limits the treatment of relevant topics, such as the Kanye West feud, to the bare minimum necessary to understand the problems Swift faced. Some ardent Swift fans may be disappointed with the author’s editorial decisions. Similarly, discussions of relatively advanced business school topics will not impress readers who are eager for the author to get back to the “good stuff.” However, he succeeds in what he sets out to do in a book that’s mostly quite readable by lay audiences. Although I’m disappointed that the Eras Tour didn’t merit further discussion, I still recommend the book. There’s nothing like Taylor Swift and nothing quite like this book, either.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There’s Nothing Like This is a Love Letter to Taylor’s Brilliance

Reading *There’s Nothing Like This* felt like someone finally put into words everything I’ve always admired about Taylor Swift—but never quite knew how to express. This book doesn’t just tell her story; it honors the genius behind every move, from reclaiming her music to redefining what it means to be a woman in control of her own narrative. It truly is a love letter to Taylor Swift—the brand, the brains, and the undeniable talent.

What I loved most was how the book offers an emotional, empowering, and eye-opening look at what Taylor has done with her career, her music, and her identity as a cultural force. I found myself tearing up at times (no joke!)—not because anything was sad, but because it all rang so true. Taylor isn’t just talented; she’s a strategist, a storyteller, a force of nature. And this book captures that with so much respect and clarity.

If you’re a fan, you’ll be deeply moved. If you’ve ever doubted her, this book *will* change your mind.

Super fascinating read about the business decisions of Taylor Swift and how she and her team were basically revolutionary in the way they approached her music career. I love Taylor Swift and think she's a genius, but having someone from the Harvard Business Review write a whole book about this really legitimized her awesomeness. Great for Swifties and the business-minded alike.

The one star review is not for the contents of the book.. I only managed to read a few chapters but had to give up for the below reasons.

Unfortunately I cannot rate this book as it is impossible to read it on the Netgalley app. It should have been made available as a send to kindle. I nearly went blind attempting to read this on my iPhone using Netgalley’s app. The fonts were MINISCULE! Zooming in was a headache of scrolling up and down and sideways. A real pain!

Please either improve the app or make it a send to kindle ebook.
I really was very keen to read this but not anymore.

I’m a pretty picky Swiftie, and I absolutely loved this book. It’s a fun, engaging read that stays true to Taylor while also giving real insight into her career. Thankfully, it’s written like a story—not a dry list of business jargon or textbook lessons. I especially enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at the decisions she’s made in every era, and how those choices shaped the global icon she’s become. You can tell the author respects Taylor deeply and did the work—this is well-researched and thoughtfully written. I honestly learned more than I expected, and it gave me a fresh appreciation for how intentional and strategic Taylor has been all along. Whether you’re a longtime fan or just curious about how this whole phenomenon came to be, this is worth a read.

This is an interesting and entertaining read about a once in a generation entertainer. I've been a fan since 'Love Story' was released and found this really interesting. The pacing is really great and I learned things about Taylor's career I didn't know before. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Taylor or is interested in the entertainment business. Special Thank You to Kevin Evers,Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

There’s Nothing Like This brought me right back to my NYU business of entertainment classes (complimentary).

Kevin Evers’ exhaustive account of the business moves and strategies behind Taylor Swift’s career thus far will no doubt quickly find its way into many college curricula. Outside of the obvious academic appeal, though, I think this is a great addition to the body of Swift-adjacent works. Like many authors who have written on Swift, Evers is clearly a devoted Swiftie. But as a Senior Editor at the Harvard Business Review, he distinguishes himself from authors ‘chasing that fame’ by actually having the credentials and perspective to justify writing a book on Swift.

Imagine the typical HBR style of being a smidge overexplained and overcited, but spliced with the deep storytelling of a fandom-circulated lore powerpoint. The resulting book is a thorough, accessible, and educational exploration of Swift’s fame that successfully threads the difficult needle of being interesting to HBR readers and Swifties alike. 5*.

Thank you to Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley for providing this e-arc.

This is a book for people who are not fans of Taylor Swift who do like strategy/management. I am a fan and I do like strat.
I really liked the first half of the book- there was a nice balance of lore and really cool business science. There is a bit of a hindsight for a lot of those things, but that's absolutely okay.
The second half however reads a bit like a chart-obsessed stan account, if that makes sense. The business/strat aspect of it was totally gone, it was all very surface-level lore, and there was a lot of talk about records broken and basically just numbers. It read like at this point a lot of the decisions were basically just reactions (which the author claims is not). On the other hand, I thought that there were some very intriguing things that weren't talked about at all. The boundaries made when you pitch a person as a product, a start-up, and as a CEO was clearer in the first half of the book but very very fuzzy in the second half. Basically, it really trails off once you get to around 2017, which is a bummer, because so many interesting things happen after that which I would have loved to understand!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publish for the opportunity to read this book.

First and foremost I am a Swiftie, so I was always going to enjoy this book.

What I didn't expect was how much I would love the analytical look at the business side of Taylor Swifts success story. This book really is a look at the brand of Taylor Swift and the strategic, innovative and trailblazing way in which she has defined and shaped her career. I was initially worried that the business aspect would go over my head or be a little bit like a snooze fest but honestly It was written in a way that was so accessible that I would recommend it to any Swiftie and non Swifties who wanted to learn and understand a little bit more about TS rise to fame and overcoming missteps and miscalculations along the way.

I would normally never pick up a book on business but I was very pleasantly surprised. This is a compelling and well researched discussion of Swift's career that introduces the reader to some key business terms. It sometimes feels a bit limiting to discuss art as brand management or that type of thing, but in this case I think it provides a useful counterbalance to discussions that ignore the financial and business aspect of Swift's work entirely. This is also a handsome, well designed book.

There's Nothing Like This by Kevin Evers is a book that explores the creative genius of Taylor Swift, pop superstar. The author is an editor of the Harvard Business Review Press, so having this book written by him, showcasing her absolute genius in the business world was a great new perspective that I really enjoyed reading. This book told the story of her uprising from a very different lens than your "normal" Taylor Swift book, highlighting her business acumen, the innovation of true fan engagement, and the unyielding strategy that made her into the icon she is today. Overall, this was a great read and one that I would recommend to anyone who wants to see a fresh perspective of Taylors rise to stardom.

**Thank you to Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

This was an interesting look at Taylor's life and musical career. Not exactly what I was expecting, but that's okay. The author had done his research.

Thank you Harvard Business Review Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Since seeing Taylor Swift in concert and listening to her music thanks to the now teens in our home I have become intrigued by her.

Kevin Evers has provided an incredibly interesting, informative book into the life of Taylor, particularly from the business perspective. I immensely enjoyed this book and learned so much, about the brand, Taylor as a person and the drive, the huge huge drive she has.

For all fans, wishing to learn more and for those of us who are in awe of this incredibly talented artist, poet, daughter and so so much more.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

As someone who grew up with Taylor’s albums but wasn’t necessarily a diehard Swifty, I really enjoyed reading the behind the scenes of her career beyond just the albums we love and hear.

✨ The Vibes ✨
Taylor Swift 101 for business bros

📖 Read if…
✨ You want to learn more about Taylor Swift’s career
✨ You’re interested in celebrity brand management
✨ Your favorite nonfiction genre is business and finance

It’s been well-documented that I love books about celebrities and the entertainment industry. So a book about Taylor Swift’s career feels perfectly aligned with my interests.

But to be honest, There’s Nothing Like This was a bit of a letdown for me. Based on the summary, I was expecting a reflection on Swift’s career and how strategies she’s used or developed can be beneficial to other public figures (a topic that intersects with my work and is of great interest to me). Instead, the book focused more on recapping Swift’s career while occasionally referencing business articles that were tangentially related.

Reflecting on my experience with this book, I think the reason it was a miss was because I wasn’t the target audience. For any reader who doesn’t know much about Swift’s career, this is a great intro, and I can see business leaders who don’t identify as Swifites finding this book really helpful. But, as someone who’s been a fan since her debut album hit shelves, most of this information was nothing new.

There’s Nothing Like This is out now. Thanks to Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This book is billed as being the business side of Taylor Swift's success. In practice it seemed to me to be an overview of publicly available information without much more depth or a different perspective than other books I've read about her. I found the writing to be competent, and the occasional references to "Taylor the startup" were interesting, but it didn't go far enough in that direction to make it differentiated from anything else I have read about her. I recommend this to someone who hasn't read a bunch of books on Swift, and I enjoyed the writing more than many similar publications, but don't think it fulfilled the promise of being a business-oriented book.

Thank you to Harvard Business Review Press for giving me an advance reading copy for unbiased review..

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THIS is a fascinating breakdown of Taylor Swift’s career from a business and marketing standpoint, from being a teenage girl breaking into a male-dominated country genre to switching genres altogether and becoming one of the world’s biggest pop stars.

Author Kevin Evers draws parallels between Swift’s career moves with those of major corporations or tech startups, and he does not shy away from mentioning Swift’s biggest critiques and missteps in her career. Swift is truly a strategic genius when it comes to marketing herself, including personal fan interactions online and Easter eggs for fans to decipher; she’s in a league of her own.

For those wondering how recent the writing is, the last chapter discusses Midnights and the Eras Tour, while the epilogue mentions TTPD came out during the finalization of the book.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Harvard Business Review Press for an advanced reader copy of #TheresNothingLikeThis.

I thought that I already knew a lot about Taylor, but this showed me some new sides to her, and especially her songs and songwriting. The book covered the most interesting aspects of not just her songwriting, but also her marketing strategies. In the beginning, I was a bit scared that the book would be difficult to read, but it really only took me a short time to get into the book. The writing style was captivating and was able to make me interest in topics I normally don't really care about.

I also think that this book is not just for Swifties. The book is more than just a book about Taylor Swift. This is especially interesting for people who want to learn more business and wants a biography that's a bit different.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harvard Business Review Press for this EARC!

Not a fan of the writing style. Fans who know Swift's career well and are interested in a comprehensive overview will likely love this. It felt very formulaic, and it lacked emotional depth. I was hopeful about starting this, but it fell flat for me. The formatting was also very difficult to navigate in the NetGalley app.