She made the NFL relevant.
Music Taylor Swift
- Thread starter ha_rooney
- Start date
She made the NFL relevant.
For sure. I didn't even know they played on Saturdays before I saw this.
Exactly this. Granted TS operates in a time where everybody and their nan is pursuing a few minutes of fame but in some ways that drives home the point. I also know several people who never heard of her. In some ways the real test of that fame comes when she is no longer in her prime.
She became relevant in like 2009 and hasn't let up since. She's arguably bigger than ever right now too and shows no signs of stopping. She will go down as the greatest female pop star of all time no doubt!
Boomers aren't her target audience. My grandparents likely have no clue who she is either other than the odd headline.
Millennials know of her. Gen Z knows of her. The children of these generations will know of her.
She will be remembered.
Who still knows Elvis? I doubt many under 25 right now would know anything about him or listened to any of his songs. Let alone those a bit younger.
All time is also the future and unless you time travel you can't say noone will be bigger than Swift in the future.
Why do people insist on dating greatest off all time when that's impossible to state?
Her music won’t. Because it’s forgettable shite.
“Remember that wasp-y chick who dated the NFL player. She was MASSIVE in the naughties. What was that song? You know the one? Kind of catchy? My bad, it’ll come back to me…”
My English isn't perfect, but I think there's clear difference between being greatest and most famous(at certain time in history). And I doubt she'll end up anywhere near greatest at anything except stuff like statistics.
she's quite forgettable compared to the other top selling female artists like Madonna, Whitney, Beyonce etc... just doesn't have the stage presence or charisma
the only reason I remember the one song is because the Rock sang it on Jimmy Fallon
the only reason I remember the one song is because the Rock sang it on Jimmy Fallon
Or the tunes.
Come to think of it, I am not really sure how she is supposed to be more popular than the likes of Britney Spears, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, etc., let alone someone like Madonna.
Yeah, she is nowhere near relevant as some may think.
I genuinely wish she was as irrelevant as the fossils on the caf think she is, that way I could've attended several of her concerts this year 
C'mon. I'm a millennial. You've gotta admit Britney/Christina>TaylorI genuinely wish she was as irrelevant as the fossils on the caf think she is, that way I could've attended several of her concerts this year
Because all the latest pop stars have their 15 minutes and then fade into the pack. Lorde, Ariana Grande, Billy Eilish, all had sensational debuts and looked prime to dethrone Taylor but none have her staying power and ability to adapt. Taylors fans range from kids born in 2015 to 40 year old men who frequent a Manchester United message board. The GOAT for sure!
This is sooooooo funny and adorable to me
like imagine THEE Taylor Swift being your gf and she shows up to your subzero temperature football game and on top of that she’s vibing like this oh lordtWell done, she’s 22.
Wild. Lopez made a couple of popular albums at best. This thread has a lot of ‘middle aged man’ energy and you’ll probably find that guys were saying the same thing about most of the artists you mentioned.
I will also add the pretty obvious fact that music is so much more accessible now. How many of you listen to mainstream radio stations vs what people had no choice but to up till the 90s, however I guarantee if you listened to Taylor swifts most popular songs you’d know them all.
It's the rear bumper that clouds the thought.
Whether she's the GOAT or not is a bit irrelevent, but that she is a cultural phenomenon and that she will have a genuine legacy is pretty clear - arguing otherwise just highlights how disconnected from reality certain posters are, and reeks of "middle aged man energy" as @Dan_F put it.
I think a lot of the rage stems from a woman making it in this industry purely on talent and hard work. Most of the names getting thrown around in this thread gained popularity solely by playing on their sex appeal. They had a couple of sex themed hits and then vanished into thin air when people realised there wasn't any real substance to their music.
Sure, Taylor implies intimacy in some of her songs but she has been relevant for 18 years (and more relevant now than ever before) and this is the only sexual reference she has made in any of her songs: “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby and I’m a monster on the hill. Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city. Pierced through the heart, but never killed”. And she's not even actually talking about sex but her life being 'unmanageably sized'.
God forbid a musician references sex in one of their songs....
Although that level of prudishness in her songwriting would explain why she blew up in an incredibly conservative country like America.
Although that level of prudishness in her songwriting would explain why she blew up in an incredibly conservative country like America.
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It probably stems from her making it big despite lack of obvious talent. It makes for a good case study for marking and image managment that’s for sure.
what are you even talking aboutshe's obviously very talented, comparing her to J-Lo is a bit much
She’s not a great singer. She’s not a great songwriter. Her songs don’t take any risks with production. She’s not a great musician. She’s not even an iconic star like Jackson was or an incredible looker like some others were.
She sums up mainstream music of these past 20 years well and the popularity of someone so generic but palatable to a larger and growing music listening base sums up mainstream music during this period equally well.
I don’t think see the rage tbh. It’s just a lot of adoration and bemusement respectively from people who rate and don’t rate her.rage?
I absolutely love this thread
Unashamed Swifties vs. Miserable Old Boomers. Fight!
Unashamed Swifties vs. Miserable Old Boomers. Fight!
rage?
I know, right? If you think her music is crap you’re either consumed with anger or giving off middle aged man energy, apparently. Who knew that having on opinion on a musician came with this much baggage?!
I have nothing against Taylor but I actually can't figure out how she is so famous. She seems to be famous just for being her. I don't know anybody any age who listens to her music yet I know a few people who go "Oh my god, actually love her".
How and why is she so famous? She's quite attractive but her music is shit and she seems fairly nice personality wise but not massively engaging or anything. I don't get it.
How and why is she so famous? She's quite attractive but her music is shit and she seems fairly nice personality wise but not massively engaging or anything. I don't get it.
What? You don’t think producing utterly vanilla, sexless pop music helps in getting across the board appeal in a conservative country like the US? Obviously also helps that she’s white/blonde/conventionally attractive.
yeah it's quite interesting. Like I get why she's famous but why is it so cultish?
makes you wonder what it would be like for Jackson in this day because the hype around him was insane in pre-internet/mobile days
Yea, what would it be like now for actually talented people like Jackson or Freddie. The world wouldn't cope.
And both of those are before my time really.
What’s wrong with middle age energy by the way? I’m not there yet but are all critics in the music industry in their 20s/30s? Great music is timeless and can appeal to all ages.
I think One Direction were maybe the first band to have this whole cult-like online fandom thing? Although it’s a bit chicken and egg. Definitely possible that obsessive fans are nothing new and all that social media has done is exposed more people to their extreme opinions.
Did you see that insane article in the NYT where some gay lad tried to claim Taylor Swift as one of their own? Proper mental.
I think it’s less the not liking her part and more the desperately trying to convince those who do otherwise.
Kind of sums up 90% of posts on redcafe, on any topic.
That would make a modicum of sense if she wasn't absolutely massive beyond the US.
As a casual Taylor Swift observer, I will give this a shot.
1. Her music is not actually bad - some of it is quite good. The generic stuff is well-crafted and catchy pop music, and some of the newer stuff is at least decent. She's not some sort of generational musician, but she's also not making awful music. If you think that, you are not really trying to understand her popularity.
2. She's been very good at engaging with her fans, and maintaining a perception of being approachable, normal and down-to-earth. This has been enhanced by a strong social media game. She doesn't give off the diva vibe, and many of these fans can imagine her as being kind of a friend (I'm not saying this is true for Samid, necessarily).
3. She grown with her fans from a young age. The fifteen year old girls that listened to her earliest pop music are now 30-somethings listening to her folk/alternative stuff, so she has managed to stay relevant for almost two decades.
4. There has been this mutually beneficial relationship between her and the tabloid media - especially around her dating life. She writes a song with some implications about a breakup or whatever, and she gets tons of attention for it. Then she writes a song about the attention. Endless coverage.
5. She has delved into a few social activism topics that play well with her fanbase and gain her even more attention. And when Fox News runs a story about her being a CIA asset, because of her voting initiative it only underscores how massive she is.