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I don't get it? Tonight I looked at some of her videos on youtube, and now I REALLY don't got it. Why is this person so popular? I know music, and have seen just about everyone in concert. The Allman Brothers Band, Alice Cooper, Joan Baez, Dylan, B.B. King, Irma Thomas, Mahalia Jackson, Heart, Moody Blues, James Brown, you name it. My father was a musician and owned a small label record company.
She has this 13 year old voice and looks like a young teen in her videos. Her singing is not at all special. The media raves about her songwriting ability. It's pop! Help me out here. There are sooooooo many more talented people in music, even the street musicians in New Orleans are way better.
Taylor writes and sings her own songs. Her songs are very relatable to her demographic and younger ages 7+. She's pretty yet wholesome. She's not raunchy, not on drugs, and not a drunk. Nor does her music glorify those types of lifestyles. Taylor is not aiming to outshine strippers and she doesn't engage in shocking, vulgar or obscene antics to keep her name in the public domain.
She appears to be humble and often seen smiling and laughing. She's the antithesis to every other Pop artist out there with name recognition, especially female Pop artists. Yet she's one of the biggest, most successful artists of our time.
I understand her appeal to the adolescent and young teenaged girl crowd. I don't get the middle aged women and men tagging along and singing along to all the songs. If I were a young person and my parent was with me at one of these concerts doing the "sing along" with Taylor thing I would be absolutely mortified. Get a life grown-ups.
Yes, she has been a professional since age 14, and of course, was a big hit with the pre-teens and teens, who she could identify with. Those kids that grew up with her are now in their 30s, so the ages of her fans has spread from the current 12 year-olds to about age 35. Most of the adults at her concerts are just there as chaperones for their kids, and of course "have to" go along with the cheering.
As for us older folks, I switched back from Hits 1 on Sirius to 70s on 7 and the Bridge because I got sick of hearing Taylor Swift every 3rd song. OK, that's exaggeration, but it seems like it. I still listen to what I grew up with but if I go to a Jethro Tull, Eagles, or Rod Stewart concert I clap politely, no jumping around and screaming. Of course, we didn't do that even back then, being more sensible, it was sit and listen quietly while passing around a joint.
I'm 67, and have been to a few concerts in my time. Not in a one of them did we "sit and listen quietly". I never smoked pot, so maybe you folks were just too stoned to jump around and holler.
I believe it's more the staging, theatrics and marketing than the singing that creates all the buzz.
I would agree that those are factors, and I think Taylor herself, as well as her fans, would not deny it. I think expression through stage design, props and acting is just as valid as through singing. Taylor was a theatre kid before becoming a singer-songwriter, and it shows.
Pretty much every album she released was marketed as an "era". A period of her life and career where she channels a certain vibe. This goes for the sounds and lyrics of her music, as well as the visuals of her music videos, stage sets, even her day to day outfits. All this I do think strengthens the branding for each of her albums.
I don't think she necessarily does this entirely for marketing purposes though, I think she gets drawn to certain themes and it comes out through her work. An example of that would be Speak Now (2010), which had a magical, whimsical fairytale theme, possibly due to some unpleasant romantic experiences that caused her 19-20 year old self to retreat into these fantasy worlds. The fact that it was not just the parts of her artistic work meant for public consumption but also the design of the penthouse she bought at this time (which was her first home), suggests to me it's not just marketing but a reflection of how she was feeling and what she was drawn to at the time.
She's also said that if she didn't become a singer, she might enjoy working in marketing and coming up with slogans. Which actually makes sense, because a big part of the appeal of her music is how she's able to condense certain romantic feelings into just a few words, using metaphors, imagery and wordplay. Ex her song Mine I was a flight risk with a fear of fallin You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
She definitely has long had commercial ambitions, and a business sense. Her parents were both from the business/finance world, and it seems she was already dreaming of having her name on billboards when she was 11-12. Her and her family, and later, her manager, developed a plan for how to try to make it as a singer beginning around that age. After a few years, she had her first single out, but she was on a boutique label, which gave her more flexibility to do things how she wanted, but also meant she had relatively little money backing her and had to do much of the promotion herself (at least compared to other singers that would eventually become A-listers). If you compare to other teen stars like Justin Bieber, Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift's interviews from her early days come of as much better prepared, with a clear message of what she wants to put out to listeners, and showed that she knew how to charm her interviewers - usually hosts at country radio stations - she visited basically every radio station in the country when her first album came out to promote herself, giving interviews, behind the scenes tours, live performances, as well as handwritten cards and home baked cookies for the personal touch.
I think initially, she developed a new niche - back then country music was mainly geared towards soccer moms - but soccer moms are called that for a reason. When the moms were listening to country radio while driving their 14 year old girl to soccer practice, Taylor's songs stood out as the only ones that appealed to the person in the passenger seat... speaking about high school experiences in a youthful voice and with a poppy sound. That relatability became the primary part of her initial appeal - a teenage girl singing songs about typical experiences of teen crushes and heartbreaks, and they had the authenticity of being *her* experiences because she wrote her own songs, which was quite rare for teen stars back then. Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus didn't write their own songs.
With her third album (Speak Now), I think her songwriting abilities also began to significantly stand out from her peers on radio. Mainly because of her ability to express her feelings through immersive storytelling and unique punchy lyrics. Ex from Last Kiss: So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep
And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe
For the teen girls struggling to grapple with how to make sense of their feelings towards crushes and exes, and how to express these feelings, I think Taylor's words were helpful, even empowering.
Taylor was also like a heroic figure, for teen girls, and later, for young women. For boys, that role was filled by athletes, superheroes, rock stars, rappers and more (ex Steve Irwin). But for girls, I think there weren't as many female figures they could look up to who strived for success, overcame their struggles and stood up for themselves. Even the female pop stars often felt more marketed towards males with the way they were sexualized.
There's perhaps a parallel to the Barbie movie, here. Mass appeal in art that ignores the male 18-35 demographic is not all that commonplace, and it seems to attract detractors for that reason.
Like the first Lord of the Rings was pretty much a boys flick? These things are out there.
As far as music, that's out there, too. One of the reasons why I turned off SheDaisy for so long was I realized their music was promoting take the law into one's own hands. Sure, vengeance from a scorn woman is very prevalent out there, like Dixie Chicks of why Earl had to die......but it goes against my ethics to glorify crime.
Be that as it may, perhaps Swift's music appeals to a certain group of people for the feelings the population is currently experiencing. Me, for what I am hearing, it appeals to my Sorceress aspects......I can make the bad guys good for a weekend........Because darling I am a nightmare dressed like a day dream.
Taylor Swift has found her niche. Whether today's fans will follow her in the future is the question or, as she and her music mature, they'll drop away and not be replaced.
Went to a Chicago concert here a few years ago. Even though Mrs. NBP and I were (or at least appeared to be) among the youngest people there I was astounded at the number of people there who had walkers. I told the organizers that they could have gotten another thousand people into the (outdoor) venue if they hadn't had to account for all the mobility aids. And they didn't play any new stuff, it was all from the 70s and early 80s.
Now, Chicago was the ending act this year at A Capitol Fourth in DC and I was somewhat surprised at the number of younger people that were shown who were, or appeared to be, excited to hear them play.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Originally Posted by North Beach Person
Taylor Swift has found her niche. Whether today's fans will follow her in the future is the question or, as she and her music mature, they'll drop away and not be replaced.
Went to a Chicago concert here a few years ago. Even though Mrs. NBP and I were (or at least appeared to be) among the youngest people there I was astounded at the number of people there who had walkers. I told the organizers that they could have gotten another thousand people into the (outdoor) venue if they hadn't had to account for all the mobility aids. And they didn't play any new stuff, it was all from the 70s and early 80s.
Now, Chicago was the ending act this year at A Capitol Fourth in DC and I was somewhat surprised at the number of younger people that were shown who were, or appeared to be, excited to hear them play.
When we went to a Jethro Tull concert in Seattle about 1999 one of my female employees, just 24 asked that I get her tickets for her and her boyfriend. I was surprised to see that only about half were our age, the others were hers. We hadn't been to one of their concerts since the 1970s, and it was odd to see Ian Anderson with a bald head instead of those wild and crazy long locks.
The wife and I like to go to small venues anytime we can.
I would see Jethro Tull.
I think that Taylor Swift would put on a good show (preferably a small venue).
Some times on occasion it’s best not to meet or see your hero’s.
Stevie Nicks with mostly her own new music was not worth the money for fuel.
Thank god she had Chrissie Hynde and the pretenders as a warm up act.
I am now a pretender fan .
I understand her appeal to the adolescent and young teenaged girl crowd. I don't get the middle aged women and men tagging along and singing along to all the songs. If I were a young person and my parent was with me at one of these concerts doing the "sing along" with Taylor thing I would be absolutely mortified. Get a life grown-ups.
Seriously? What on earth is wrong with a grown person having a great time at a concert? Maybe you need to loosen up. TS's music is beautiful, clever, and smart. She has a terrific voice. I love listening to it and I had a fantastic time at her concert. And I'm middle-aged. Sorry you'd be mortified to be me. Sorry for you, that is.
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