About Shelly:

Shelly Nicholas is a Lecturer in the Jean and David W. Wallace Department of Business and Economics at Salve Regina University, where she teaches marketing and entrepreneurship with an emphasis on real-world application, creativity, and strategic thinking. She brings extensive professional experience into the classroom as the founder and president of Pretty Knotty LLC, a consumer products brand known for its patented performance hair accessories. Her background includes work in economic development and small business support, mentoring entrepreneurs at various stages of growth. Shelly created the special topics course Taylor Swift: Marketing Mastermind, exploring the artist’s marketing strategies and cultural influence. Her business case, Strategic Genius or Ethical Blindspot? Album Versioning in the Tortured Poets Department Era, was published in January 2026 by SAGE Publishing’s Music Industry Series.

About the Lecture:

Taylor Swift built a multi-billion-dollar brand driven by extraordinary consumer demand for her products, exerting such a powerful influence on consumer spending that it inspired the creation of an academic field of study known as ‘Swiftnomics.’ As first seen with the release of her Lover album in 2019, Swift began creating multiple versions of the same album featuring different album artwork, exclusive songs as bonus tracks, unique color vinyl, or a combination of all of these elements, across various digital and analog formats. This product development and release strategy, often referred to as ‘versioning,’ has increased her revenue and contributed to her consistently high sales and streaming numbers, charting position, and lengthened album lifecycle. While there are benefits of strategic album versioning, extreme versioning can raise ethical concerns. We'll explore the ethical implications of extreme album versioning as seen with Taylor Swift’s 34 versions of her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, exploring the strategy’s effects on the environment, consumers, fellow artists, and the broader music industry.