Why is Taylor Swift So Popular?

[flyaway 15,350]

I think it has to do with the appeal she has. She's been able to connect with a large and devoted audience. Her music is very easy-listening to. And she's got the talent to sustain that, she's a very good singer-songwriter. It also helps she's not a divisive figure, her work is very safe.

But mostly, it's also the connections she has on the industry that have played a major role on her success, as well as the marketing team she has. I mean, the fact that she has won 3 AOTY over some other big albums by other major artists says alot.

There's a big scheme, very calculated. 

 

[gumzy3000 7,245]

There are 2 reasons why.

#1  Songwriting - Taylor Swift is actually a great songwriter whose songs appeal to a lot of people because of simple themes (heartbreak, love). Her songwriting can be very silly and commercial, like her singles, but it can also be very complex and deep - like State of Grace, All too Well and Cardigan. Her deeper cuts usually give her the critical acclaim.

#2 Marketing - She is a genius marketer. I am a a huge fan of Taylor but she is 100% a calculated businesswoman. The way she markets her albums and makes them an event is why she is commercially so successful and Kacey Musgrave isn't. This is not a diss on Kacey but she clearly markets her music differently and she does not care to be the biggest pop star. Taylor treats her career like... a career. She is serious and ambitious and plays it very safe, as popstars go. Kacey Musgraves was singing about gay people in 2013, for example, and Taylor was already huge at that point yet, It took her 6 more years to publicly speak out on LGBT issues because again - she is very safe, and does not rock the boat much. And this is not a dig at Taylor but when I say she is the Capitalist Queen, I 100% mean it.

 

[Killa 17,442]

She Kept the momentum going. 
first starts as teenager cutie and sort of prodigy, conquers the America sweet darling spot, then is a le to form a fanbase that want to look like her and mostly females that see each other in her songs.

than she comes out more sophisticated, Grown up Dresses

i mean etc etc, every year theres a narrative.

innocent, than shes sarcastic about herself, then shes protesting for her rights, then personal music and strippped Back, fun poppy music

then drama, beef, popular it girls squad, drama with them.

She gives big life that seems someone reachable and relatavle to many. Her music has an identity and her voice as well

[RAMROD 108,924]

She is a great song writer. Well deserved fame and success tbh

[Bat 6,162]

She's also very connected to her fans in an authentic way, people like that, 1989 and Red were also very solid albums that still sound fantastic today.

[Gabi001 2,368]

40 minutes ago, weed said:

so she is super close with her fans, cultivated an amazing relationship. they're not catty and demanding so.. 

Well, she feeds them with two albums a year, no surprise they are not demanding 

[Taylucifer 5,123]

Listen I love her with all my heart and here is why I think she has been able to reach the immense levels of success that she has.  

Spoiler

1. Looks - She's white and pretty, you can't get around that fact and it doesn't hold her back in the same way it does others

2. Song writing - her lyrics are relatable, helps form a stronger bond with fans 

3. Private - Kinda goes with her song writing her life has been very private despite being in the public eye, it adds an air of mystic

4. Fan connection - she always had one of the best relationships with her fans, we know this. 

4b. Humble - Ties into her fan connection she always thanks the fans for everything she has received and I think that is important to note. It continues to grow that bond with fans 

5. Her beginnings - her started as a country artist as a teenage girl at an indie label, the label needed to push her and the fact that she was in country music was shocking to ppl, she gained a large audience very quickly of American girls who related to her and liked her sound

6. Non-sexualised image - idk if this is controversial but I think that this has helped her. Women who are sexualised and that is a core of their image is simply harder to maintain as our society is so quick to tear women down (think Katy Perry)

7. Marketing and business - She keeps it fresh and new every era, she's kinda a marketing genius, she knows what the fans want and she delivers 

8. Evolution + Era lengths - She has continued to change, it has kept the public entertained and engaged. She has done this quickly enough so people don't get bored and look away but not so fast that it doesn't seem believable. 

9. Quality - The albums as a whole are quality, she is creating bodies of work which people love and relate to, having smash hit singles can only get you so far, having the album to back it up is important and continues to make her more relatable 

 

[Chromatican 4,046]

2 minutes ago, Gabi001 said:

Well, she feeds them with two albums a year, no surprise they are not demanding 

An album of re-recorded songs from Barack Obama’s first term?  
They should demand more. 

[Versace 7,959]

10 minutes ago, gumzy3000 said:

There are 2 reasons why.

#1  Songwriting - Taylor Swift is actually a great songwriter whose songs appeal to a lot of people because of simple themes (heartbreak, love). Her songwriting can be very silly and commercial, like her singles, but it can also be very complex and deep - like State of Grace, All too Well and Cardigan. Her deeper cuts usually give her the critical acclaim.

#2 Marketing - She is a genius marketer. I am a a huge fan of Taylor but she is 100% a calculated businesswoman. The way she markets her albums and makes them an event is why she is commercially so successful and Kacey Musgrave isn't. This is not a diss on Kacey but she clearly markets her music differently and she does not care to be the biggest pop star. Taylor treats her career like... a career. She is serious and ambitious and plays it very safe, as popstars go. Kacey Musgraves was singing about gay people in 2013, for example, and Taylor was already huge at that point yet, It took her 6 more years to publicly speak out on LGBT issues because again - she is very safe, and does not rock the boat much. And this is not a dig at Taylor but when I say she is the Capitalist Queen, I 100% mean it.

 

As a Taylor fan, I agree with Songwriting and Marketing being the pillars of her success. 

I actually never intended to become a Taylor fan, I remember not being too interested in her during her first two albums. I just was never into country music. I remember picking up her album Speak Now at a grocery store, ever since then I was hooked primarily by the lyrics. How can someone be reading my thoughts so effortlessly. By the time RED was out, I think the entire music industry would agree she is arguably one of the best writers of our generation. Some people listen to music for the production but you won’t believe the large amount of people that gravitate towards good lyrics. 

Pair her skills with the fact that she markets herself better than most labels (remember she was under an indie label of sorts). Taylor interacts with her fans, which keeps people excited and coming back. It’s all about interactivity and creating an experience around your craft (from the secret sessions, Easter eggs, fan contests, her liking fans posts repeatedly). It makes people invested in her. Most artists now a days release a single and call it a day. Artists aren’t bothered, whereas Taylor is dedicated. It’s simple really. If people want her level of success they need to put the effort she puts in. 

[InTheCloset 19,433]

59 minutes ago, Chromatican said:

After all these years Taylor is still able to sell anything with her name on it. She popped up in the same crop of pop girls that included Gaga, Kesha and Katy and yet is leagues above them today. The only comparable female star is Adele. I’m so baffled by this anomaly. What is it? It’s not just talent because Kacey Musgraves is just as talented in my opinion, as is Carly Rae Jepsen, who are the closest pop stars to Taylor in terms of sound and appeal in my eyes. 

Taylor was the first woman to win as many album of the year awards as she has and yet Gaga hasn’t? Beyonce hasn’t? Bjork hasn’t? Madonna hasn’t? Can someone explain to me why Taylor has such unprecedented appeal? 

I think its because of her image. Im not from the states and to an outsider taylor feels like the american blonde sweetheart. And her music also specifically uses this image and though she has had some backlash she still has maintained that image

[Andreu 37,216]

She always stayed neutral in order for everyone to like her (until it was super safe to do so), makes music that is very easily digerible and caters to the demographic that's the most likely to spend the most money on music.

[Ivy 12,432]

She has extremely good marketing, and  her music is I think multigenerational like Adele. Both young children and grandparents can easily be fans along with her core fanbase. She has a "likeable" image - I mean she's not controversial or shocking in any way. And she has kept a good connection with her fans as well.

Add in talent and good looks and there you go 

[salty like sodium 1,802]

simple.

a) good "branding" skills (cute little blonde country singer-songwriter, authentic, writes her own songs, etc.) =
b) loyal, die-hard, devoted fanbase (become a swiftie for life, basically), which leads to
c) girl-next-door image, "i'm your best friend and i don't use swear words in my songs on my first 7 albums" = universal mass appeal, squeaky clean image, perfect role model. Teens like her, adults like her, parents buy her stuff for their kids = higher audience.
d) luck and privilege. For the longest time, she was at a label that basically worshipped the ground she walked on and probably devoted the majority of their resources into promoting her music (BMG/BMR). Obviously that relationship did not end well but the point is that when a label only has one major pop artist, it's easier for that artist to get the funding and resources they need for publicity, promo, etc.
e) talent is of course a factor, let's not forget that
f) but also marketing is probably her main talent, with deluxe edition on top of deluxe edition, 8 different variants of the exact same cd ... she pretty much invented bundling digital albums with merchandise and she's one of the main reasons the chart rules have changed last year
g) consistency. for most of her career, she released an album every 2 years, almost to the exact month. it was like a guarantee that there would be an album and then a tour, and that really does build loyalty. and then obviously that leads to the next
h) quantity. she has made more albums in the last four years alone than some of those other artists you mentioned have in their entire career
i) also, YOUTH! Taylor started at like 16 and is now just in her thirties. She is still considered "young" by audiences and the industry in a way that 35+ female artists are unfortunately not anymore. So that has definitely played a big part. This is her peak, and I'm expecting that things will probably slow down for her by the time she hits 40 (which is unfair, but unfortunately that's the world we live in)
j) also, moving back to the beyoncé thing, the only reason she has never won album of the year is because of racism. Literally the fact that the most nominated performer in history has never once won the most important award of the ceremony, despite being nominated for that award three times, is quite telling.

But also for the awards, the "singer-songwriter" thing definitely plays a big role in how people perceive her. And then obviously he music has a strong universal appeal, as someone else said above, it's generally catchy, well-written ...

Also, does any of this really matter? They're all super rich and successful, does it really matter which artist is more successful than which other artist ... ?

[enissa11 2,984]

I think she's so popular because she's a product of the culture we live in at every moment, she just knows how adapt perfectly and that's it, first the stereotypical 2000's relatable teenager for girls,  then the jump to the generic electropopstar at its peak when it was cool, then feeding off the cultural obsession with celebrities on social media and gossip by clapping back to her feud with Kanye West in her art, then when social issues, politics and the queer community is finally taking over mainstream, she jumps right to it, then the pandemic hits, and she uses it to relate to the troubled quarantined millennial etc etc, it's like she's never ahead of her time, she just profit off what is hot in the moment, instead of really think through it, look at the whole picture and make a difference, even though it might not be the most profitable or understandable way for the public, you get what i'm saying? Her methodology really works, Taylor swifts knows how to do it perfectly and always get away with it, the public always gets what she does, all her moves are very smart, she's very intelligent and knows how to handle stuff, her marketing team is also is insanely good.
When you compare her with what lady gaga was, for example, at her peak nobody really understood what she was doing, people never really get what her music videos were all about, her fame was because she shocked, intrigued and confused people in confortable spaces, the mystery around her was the thing that kept ppl wondering what she would do next. They often referred to her as a marketing genius, but she's not, she never was, she just knew how to perfectly mirroring society and how to be an artist in pop culture and make a difference.
 

[DoremonLove 8,147]

No hate some of her music is amazing and i myself enjoy but shes very very basic for my liking. Maybe thats y ppl like her shes very safe n basic to listen to.  I mean my gf is a huge fan n she culdnt explain y she liked her lmao