Blank Space

"Blank Space" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her fifth studio album, 1989. Swift wrote the song with its producers Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swift's love life that affected her girl-next-door reputation, "Blank Space" portrays a satirized image of a flirtatious woman with multiple romantic attachments. It is an electropop track with a minimal arrangement consisting of synthesizers, hip hop-influenced beats, and layered vocals. Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records released "Blank Space" to US radio on November 10, 2014. One of the best-selling singles of 2015, it topped charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, and South Africa. In the United States, it spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Music critics praised the production and Swift's songwriting; some picked it as 1989 highlight. The song earned three nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including two general categories: Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It featured on decade-end lists by such publications as Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Slant Magazine. Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Blank Space", which depicts Swift as a jealous woman who acts erratically when she suspects her boyfriend's infidelity. The video won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift included "Blank Space" in the set lists for three of her world tours: the 1989 World Tour (2015), Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023). Rock musicians such as I Prevail and Ryan Adams adapted "Blank Space" into cover versions of different genres. Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" for her 2023 re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor's Version). Background Inspired by 1980s synth-pop with synthesizers, drum pads, and overlapped vocals, Taylor Swift decided to move away from the signature country styles of her previous releases and incorporate a straightforward pop production for her fifth studio album, 1989, which was released in 2014. The recording process began in mid-2013 concurrently with the start of Swift's headlining world tour in support of her fourth studio album Red. On 1989, Swift and Swedish producer Max Martin served as executive producers.