Taylor Swift donates $4 million to country hall of fame

Taylor Swift has become the most generous star to donate to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum by giving $4 million to the institute, based in Nashville, Tennessee.

The generous sum is the largest charitable gift handed to the operation by an artist and will go towards the creation of the Taylor Swift Education Center, an exhibit and classroom complex set to open in 2014.

Museum director Kyle Young tells the Associated Press, "In terms of what it will allow us to do, we do education very well now. It will allow us to do what we do better, serve more people, develop new programs and I'm happy to say that as we talked through this opportunity with Taylor, she very much wants to be involved in an advisory capacity in what we do.

"Is there a better person out there who's in touch with a young audience? I think not. I was joking we should be paying her to do that. I was only joking."

Swift has a long history of ties with the institute - she gave one of the earliest performances of her career in the building's plaza and signed her record contract at the site.