I didn’t know how much people have been exposed to the Taylor Swift phenomenon and while I’m not disputing any of the earlier comments or trying to correct them, I need to describe it further.
First, it’s not about the music. There will always be pop music performed by young performers and people coming of age will bond with the music and decide this is the best band/performer ever and probably stick with that their whole lives. The rest of us just won’t get it. The Taylor Swift Eras Tour came through Pittsburgh recently. Tickets to her show sold out so quickly they added a second show and that sold out immediately. But that’s not the phenomenon. What happened is anticipation for the shows took over the city. Restaurants (note the plural) offered Taylor Swift brunches and bars came up with Swift themed cocktails. Now I remember when arena acts became stadium acts and in all those years whatever phenomenon there was stayed limited to the stadium and parking lots. I don’t remember any act, no matter how popular, taking over the city this way. On Mon, Jul 17, 2023 at 4:11 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > I’m so far outside the demo for Swift that in one sense I have no > meaningful take on her. I know millions of people love pumpkin lattes at > Starbucks also, and while the thought sets my teeth on edge, the fact that > I despise it is irrelevant to whether that is a good product. > > OTOH, Swift is roughly the same age as Adele, another young white woman > who sings hyper personal break up songs. But I have loved Adele since I > first heard her on one of those free iTunes songs of the week, sans any ore > hype, and she has always seemed more mature and adult and genuine to me > than Swift, who comes across as a marketing confection to me. I guess I > attribute the passion and size of her fan base to the effectiveness of the > marketing. > > On Mon, 17 Jul 2023 at 12:19 AM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Swift's been putting out albums since 2006, but I can't think of any >> other pop star who came out around the same time that has stayed in the >> public consciousness without diversifying or shifting into other arenas of >> entertainment or genres of music. (I don't think she's impressed anyone, >> one way or the other, with her few non-music video acting roles.) >> >> Having a fan army on a scale comparable to BTS or other Asian pop acts >> does seem unique to Swift outside of those acts. Sure, there are other >> groups of intense fans of a musical act, but both the groups and the acts >> tend to be smaller. That could certainly be sustainable for a longer than >> average career, depending on the expectations of the artists involved. >> >> Maybe Swift has inspired her fanbase in part because her media coverage >> usually tightly links her personal life to her music. This goes beyond >> just analyzing which single is about which relationship to include tracking >> which current or potential romantic partner was seen with her or attended >> her latest show. And it's been happening for at least a decade. Even in >> this period of more intense media scrutiny, this seems the hardest part of >> her trajectory to replicate. >> >> David >> >> On Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 05:46:05 PM PDT, Tom Wolper < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> The Taylor Swift phenomenon is something I have never seen. I wonder if >> it’s a template for the future, where pop stars can rev up armies of >> obsessive fans, or if she is a one-time celebrity and after she passes from >> the pop scene record companies and publicists will be pushing each new star >> as “The next Taylor Swift” but it will be clear that’s not the case. >> >> On Sun, Jul 16, 2023 at 7:56 PM 'Bob Jersey' via TVorNotTV < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Herb Alpert and Prince also achieved the feat. She also passed Streisand >> with her twelfth career #1 longplayer... >> >> https://variety.com/2023/music/news/speak-now-chart-taylor-swift-first-woman-four-albums-top-10-1235671562/ >> (link) >> B >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/943445977.647193.1689578377709%40mail.yahoo.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/943445977.647193.1689578377709%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYK%3DpSeazGASoB%3DBZc44pawb_cDBcjS%3DYXww2JvRr%2B5XVA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYK%3DpSeazGASoB%3DBZc44pawb_cDBcjS%3DYXww2JvRr%2B5XVA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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