Taylor Swift Urges Artists to Protect Their Craft, Warns the Internet 'Will Attempt to Kill It' | Video

Taylor Swift offered some sage advice to fellow creators while accepting the Artist of the Year award at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards. While onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. Thursday evening, Swift recalled how her hobby of songwriting as a child evolved into a full blown artistic craft. "I didn't think I was an artist when I first started doing it," she shared. "It was a hobby . . . and then it was my favorite hobby. And then it was what I would like, rush home from school to do. It was like, I can't wait to get back to my guitar in my room and write a song." . . .