I struggled with my rating for this book because I found the book to be more about author Sinéad O'Sullivan than about Taylor Swift. Each chapter introduces a lesson in life or business that O'Sullivan has learned through her own career and life and then quickly ties it back to Taylor Swift at the end. I think the book would have been more successful if the author primarily focused on her life (she is incredibly accomplished, having worked for NASA and Michael Porter!) and the lessons she has learned instead of trying to bridge it all back to Taylor Swift.
A few of the lessons did tie back nicely, like O'Sullivan's take on how Swift may be disrupted by a smaller artist, written through the lens of Clayton Christensen's disruption theory. However, many of the connections felt generic and were not supported with concrete evidence from Swift's actions, lyrics, or interviews. There were notably very few quotes from Swift or her team in the book, which I felt could have bolstered O'Sullivan's arguments. I also found it strange that O'Sullivan noted she has "never discussed Taylor's strategy with her or anybody on her team who may be working on it. So anything [O'Sullivan] write[s] here around [Swift's] strategy is purely conjecture."
I also found it odd that O'Sullivan did not cite or use quotes for some of the business statistics she referenced. There were no footnotes or sources in my copy of the book. That said, I received an advanced copy (ARC) so it is possible these will be added in a later edition.
This book would have also benefited from a "Swiftie" editor. As a Swift fan myself, I caught two misreferences to Taylor's work. The first is that she misattributes Swift's song about "revenge fantasy in which two women —both scorned lovers—plot the downfall of the same man" to "Vigilante Sh*t" instead of "no body, no crime." The second is when O'Sullivan writes, "As Taylor says in her lyric, 'toss it out, reject it, and resist it.'" As far as I can tell from my own Swiftie knowledge and some Google searching, this is not a Taylor Swift lyric. Instead, it is a quote from Swift from her documentary, "Miss Americana."
I am hoping some of these elements, namely the sources and misattributions, can be revised before the publishing date.
Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Copy (ARC).