The Eras tour grossed $554 million

[Cody James 1,473]

2 hours ago, LuckyAlbum7Soon said:

I'd love to agree, but actually, this is far from accurate. Money, especially in the United States, is far from an equalizer, and if anything, it tells just how problematic the "popularity" of Taylor Swift is. 

 

The reality is, if you actually search radio requesting and ad data sites like Ad Explorer, even data from Nielsen SoundScan, you can find where Taylor Swift's numbers come from. And it is, quite frankly, vastly unfair how much her numbers are primarily driven from mostly suburban areas of major wealthier American cities. Why does this suggest her concert sales are not an indicator of her actual popularity in number of people? 

Well, it's complex, but it is very likely that if you look at comparably big artists now like Bad Bunny, Drake...even someone who has moderate popularity still in the music world like Gaga with occasional jumps and dips, that Taylor probably has waaaaay more of the rich-kid market share. Alot of her strongest radio requests and actual streaming points (this comes from where a device is located when the music app is on and the song is streamed) show that a majority of Taylor Swift's supporters come from areas where the median income is triple and quadruple say someone like Latto or Cardi B or Kim Petras or Rina Sawayama's supporters are coming from. This is largely because the streams that support the latter artists are gay or trans, latino, or black kids who simply don't have access to the money to buy the technology that actually physically counts what is popular.

The wealthier kids that support Taylor Swift (who also shares alot of the conservative market) have access to the type of incomes where parents will buy them multiple devices which means multiple streams. They have access to being able to buy tickets to see their artist live, even if it is expensive, and many of the times...Taylor's team would probably not be too happy to share how many tickets go on a single credit card because parents will buy their kids tickets to multiple shows. Why? Because....again....what group is most likely to buy into the hype of Taylor Swift? The ones with devices in front of their faces more, where the hype seems more appealing than say, a young black girl from Chicago or a trans kid from Ohio who work daily jobs because they are first generation college students or maybe their parents kicked them out. They are working. They physically do not have time to stream for hours on end. Oh yeah...that's a big factor, too: TIME. The privileged kids usually have the MOST amount of free-time to enjoy/play music in their cars, on their phones, on their tablets, in the backseat of their ubers, etc. Most privileged kids do not even work a job until after they are done with school. 

And kids that don't have access to even a monthly subscription to Spotify or Apple Music, certainly aren't able to pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see their favorite artist. Money, does not represent popularity. It is not the great equalizer at all. And concert tickets are not comparable to buying a record because a record is accessible....the time, traveling, planning, and hundreds of dollars (sometimes thousands) are all factors that most poor kids, and a hefty amount of lower-middle class kids don't have the time for. 

You can actually see this data yourself if you want to. It is actual statistically fair to say that Taylor Swift has the largest white following of any artist in the world, and the wealthiest following in the world. 

I'll finish by saying that I personally witnessed this the day after the whole Eras Tour sale crash. I was working an event for doctors at the local Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (yes, the same Wexner that was friends with Epstein....weird), and they were babbling about how they were interning. I overheard them during a break time in between speakers at the event talking about how they had all snagged multiple Taylor Swift tickets the day before. One girl even said she bought Taylor Swift tickets for her aunts and uncles "just in case" they changed their mind and wanted to go. 

 

Many of the people (not all, but more than any other fanbase) that buy Taylor Swift tickets are the type of people who have enough money to buy a ticket and waste the money on it. They just do not care. And that, to me, does not actually represent what is popular. I even like some of Taylor's music. Never been a hater of her. But the reality is that her team has known this about her following for a very very long time and that is why they have carefully selected what she does or does not say. She comes from a privileged, republican family. She worked for Abercrombie & Fitch (and we know how problematic that was) and used that to get another foot in the door. Just because she seems like a nice girl now does not mean that she has not spent her entire way manipulating her way to the top in ways that are problematic and not admirable. Why else do you think her entire discography essentially centers around her victimizing herself or not being the victim or her relationships with people? Think deeper into it, folks. There is a reason you probably naturally vibe with an artist like Gaga and not Taylor. It's not just "pitting women against eachother". Sometimes there are just shady artists. 

 

I know a lot of people want to believe that Taylor is a "strong female" that just played the game right...but like....what does that say about actual music? Think about what that really says about the current state of music? And art? Question whether or not that resonates with someone who is a fan of Gaga and what she fought for on ARTPOP? Is this really admirable? How can we support a "strong female" when her strength comes off the back of the same ideas of success (charts success, shitting on other artists behind close doors, victim shaming, gaslighting, hogging the spotlight) created by white privileged men she claims to be a victim of? It's just funny to me how many times Taylor Swift has gotten in a little mess like this and somehow, we believe her every single time that she was the moral one in all of this. 

An artist like Gaga literally spent her own money to throw a fabulous tour at one point.

Taylor Swift literally creates a ridiculously hyped tour, charges higher for it, and then says "oopsies" after when the whole thing crashes and people don't have access to it. 

It's actually an old trick. Kohl's does it all the time. Jack a price up, then tell it's customers that it is 30% off. Taylor Swift is the Kohl's of Pop. 

Ye is that you?

Why do I feel like you went to a Taylor concert with the expectation of being hand picked for a surprise meet and greet backstage that never happened that started a manifesto of anti-Taylor rhetoric? This novel would make sense if we were talking about human rights issues, but given you have one point on your profile, I feel as if there is a personal vendetta here…

[Bat 6,162]

1 hour ago, Esmerald said:

you are culturally the essence of "whiteness"

What does her being white has to do with this 

[Cody James 1,473]

5 hours ago, Esmerald said:

I can understand that for US, Canada, UK or Australia, even if at different intensity and level,  Taylor Swift  is a kind of magic. It is not so everywhere even if everyone Is constantly  trying  with statistics or charts of any kind  to prove the contrary, that she is so popular everywhere.  Just come to Europe and you will feel that she is just one popular singer as many others. In USA she Is THE SINGER. No one is overthere at the same level as she is.  I can understand that her numbers are really big in those countries, in particolar USA. It is a fact. Anyway I do not understand why everyone here is of the opinion that her cultural impact or commercial success is as big as those of Madonna or Michael Jackson. These people are perhaps younger than 30 and could not test the fever for Madge or Michael in the old days worldwide.  She is too " white" in a cultural sense, too boring in any sense. Even her beauty or looks are boring. A typical blond all american girl with typical US american behavior, attitudes, dreams, ideas. I understand her charisma in USA. There is no one that incorporates more US culture in pop music than Taylor Swift. I just read the boring lyrics of Midnights and I only perceive the boring attitude of someone white and rich  who is suffering or complaining because she is famous or rich or popular. In interviews she is 100 percent hypocrisy, giving always the idea that she is suffering her commercial success. Girl stop complaining and moaning and depressing. Go out and enjoy real life. Stop making music  for the charts. Music is a therapy. Just do It for yourself and disappear. Of course these are just my opinions but believe me I am not the only one saying she is definitively overestimated. Even her cinematographic skills are overestimated. In her award nominated  10 minute film I just see the replication of the standard film sequence where two lovers fight or go separate ways. It Is considered as something better than Scorsese or Woody Allen or Cameron or .... There is nothing more standard than that TS short film but of course it is the all american girl TS and it is a master piece. 

Ye is that you again?

[Cody James 1,473]

Taylor has done many things over her career. Spoke up against being gropped and only sued for $1 to show it wasnt about the money, it was the principle. She had went through many stages of growth, both aesthetically and politically. I was born in the country and when I moved to the city, my views and perspectives changed just like she did. Not to mention the crusade from the media and shady celebrities to take her down, in which she took that experience and put it in music. Queen of relatability. Sure, maybe she doesn’t wear a meat dress or a cone bra, but she puts her real life experiences in words to relate to the listener. Of course some of us may not relate to the love songs or songs about being taken advantage of, but most of us do. 

[JuanitoKasicki 34]

 

2 hours ago, LuckyAlbum7Soon said:

The wealthier kids that support Taylor Swift (who also shares alot of the conservative market) have access to the type of incomes where parents will buy them multiple devices which means multiple streams. They have access to being able to buy tickets to see their artist live, even if it is expensive, and many of the times...Taylor's team would probably not be too happy to share how many tickets go on a single credit card because parents will buy their kids tickets to multiple shows.

this would be true if she was doing fewer shows and just barely sold them out,  but the fact is:

1. all 52 of her shows were sold out before even reaching the general sales. the amount of non-taylor fans/regular concert-goers who went out of their way to register as a "taylor fan" in order to get into the fan-presale queue a week prior to the sale was record-breaking, and ticketmaster's CEO himself said that on the first day of sales, 14 million people was in line trying to get tickets - breaking the previous record of 10.5m people by adele (during the general sale stage). most of taylor's own die hard fans was actually disappointed/mad that they, who had purchased her albums/merch/previous tour tickets wasnt given opportunities over a random person who recently just registered. you go on her reddit, twitter or instagram, it was thousands of comments flaming taylor for not giving them aspecial spot. taylor actually had ticketmaster cancel the general sale and give out the remaining few hundred thousand seats to her diehard fans via email. the public's demand for her is simply ridiculous. her audience being richer doesnt change that. ticketmaster's CEO said she could fill 900 stadiums. let that sink in.

 

2. you are obviously insinuating that taylor doesnt actually have as much listeners as bad bunny or drake, and that her being neck and neck with them on streaming platforms is due to her fans streaming her across multiple devices, which is patently false.

you can actually see the technical break-down of an artist's listeners on spotify. taylor has more unique listeners than bad bunny, at ~16million, #1 in the world.  meaning, about 16 million people streeam her 3.3 songs per day to give her the 53m, whereas bad bunny's 13million listeners play 4 songs a day give him that 53m. bad bunny is the one who is streamed extra hard by fewer people, not taylor.

(also, how absurd of an idea it is to think that millions of her fans just fire her songs up across multiple devices to boost her numbers EVERYDAY? maybe a handful of a thousand swifties do that, but most people are just regular listeners, for Christ's sake.)

 

[Chromatography 10,144]

2 hours ago, LuckyAlbum7Soon said:

Because Beyonce's music actually make young black girls and gay kids feel good about themselves in a way their real lives couldn't. That is a magic that Taylor Swift can only create for a very small, privileged group of people. Taylor will never have the actual IMPACT that artists like Gaga, Beyonce, Madonna, Whitney, Rihanna, Janet have because Taylor's music ultimately only talks about her own tiny bubble of self. The others mentioned talked about themselves that was speaking to everyone, to humanity, to the soul. 

When Lady Gaga or Beyonce make an album they are thinking about the world and what they are putting into it. It's a selfless act. 

All of Taylor's albums still feel very....inward. That can be good sometimes. But not all the time. 

I never have thought about putting a Taylor Swift song on to make an entire room feel good about themselves. Her music just doesn't do that for everyone. I think it mostly gets popular because she has the best team that has ever existed and she is relentless like Madonna was. But even Madonna is better because she came from nothing and had the cahoonas to put her career on the line for communities that were not privileged. 

Even when Taylor finally kinda did a "queer anthem" (took her 7 albums), it felt very.....almost kind of like she didn't take gay people serious and thought we were all just for "fun". The video eeeeeeks of a bachelorette party walking into a gay bar type of straight girl. 

beyonce is one of the ultimate capitalist machines out there, but that’s beside the point. 

people don’t need to make queer, black, etc anthems to be a good musician. and you’re assuming a lot about how she makes other people feel with her music. i at least know she makes a lot of women feel good and empowered and seen. does that not matter or

[Crescent Bloom 1,067]

The think pieces in this thread are kinda pointless. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's overrated.

Many people clearly enjoy her as an artist, which can be seen in the consumption of art (whether it be her first week album sales, her streaming power, her concerts, etc.).

[Esmerald 92]

1 hour ago, Bat said:

What does her being white has to do with this 

When I see her or listen to her music , in particular her  lyrics I have the perception  ( i admit...It Is my perception... perhaps I am wrong ) that  everything she does is for a white wealthy audience, to please a white audience.   Is this strategy wrong or bad? Not at all.  She tries to relate as much as  possibile to a white, wealthy, conservative audience and that is ok.   I am not telling that she Is doing this on purpose just to get more money. She is really a  true artist even if there is nothing I can relate to in her music. Perhaps It Is only me but when i see or listen to her i have this unbearable impression of a typical, white, rich american girl with a mentality so far away from any possibile relation to minorities of any kind. Just a rich business woman with an artistic side. I do not give a **** if she fights back to get her music rights back. This Is Just Money. This Is Just business. It Is her problem. Not mine. 

[Esmerald 92]

6 minutes ago, Crescent Bloom said:

The think pieces in this thread are kinda pointless. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's overrated.

Many people clearly enjoy her as an artist, which can be seen in the consumption of art (whether it be her first week album sales, her streaming power, her concerts, etc.).

I do not agree about THE CONNECTION YOU MAKE BETWEEn "DISLIKE" AND "BEING overrated". ... For example I did not like grunge music at the beginning of the nineties when it was very successful. Anyway I never said that grunge music  was overrated. Now to TS....I do not like HER and It Is my right ti tell this and for me...Just for me... SHE IS Overrated...It Is Just my opinion and i do not change It...Anyway i can understand and accept that for YOU She Is not overrated... Just different opinions

[Crescent Bloom 1,067]

19 minutes ago, Esmerald said:

I do not agree about THE CONNECTION YOU MAKE BETWEEn "DISLIKE" AND "BEING overrated". ... For example I did not like grunge music at the beginning of the nineties when it was very successful. Anyway I never said that grunge music  was overrated. Now to TS....I do not like HER and It Is my right ti tell this and for me...Just for me... SHE IS Overrated...It Is Just my opinion and i do not change It...Anyway i can understand and accept that for YOU She Is not overrated... Just different opinions

Overrated to you. Clearly not overrated to the masses. No one is asking you to like her, but I think you have a pre-conceived notion of her and went into that when listening to her music.

Objectively, none of the songs on Midnights references or skews towards "conservative" ideals. If that was the case, I (and many others), wouldn't listen to it. I don't know where you got that from. Maybe you're aware she comes from a country background (which can be tied to conservative ideals), but for the most part, she never partook in that.

Her music and image pre-reputation was built to be generally inoffensive (which she admitted in her documentary due to the fear *which was imposed on her by higher label heads* of being blacklisted by country music fans i.e. what happened to The Dixie Chicks).

You are allowed to like and dislike whatever you want, but some of the arguments you gave about her are factually incorrect. There's not a single song on Midnights that complains about her fame nor her money.

[badfaith 5,676]

This is insane! I still absolutely loathe the name of the tour though 

[CheapGin 558]

This doesn’t make sense to me because no one I know who loves Taylor got tickets? Who are all these “sales?” Going to? 
 

I feel like this is a marketing scheme and the ticket embargo actually hasn’t lifted and closer to the dates it will be easier to get them reasonably.

[Esmerald 92]

28 minutes ago, Crescent Bloom said:

Overrated to you. Clearly not overrated to the masses. No one is asking you to like her, but I think you have a pre-conceived notion of her and went into that when listening to her music.

Objectively, none of the songs on Midnights references or skews towards "conservative" ideals. If that was the case, I (and many others), wouldn't listen to it. I don't know where you got that from. Maybe you're aware she comes from a country background (which can be tied to conservative ideals), but for the most part, she never partook in that.

Her music and image pre-reputation was built to be generally inoffensive (which she admitted in her documentary due to the fear *which was imposed on her by higher label heads* of being blacklisted by country music fans i.e. what happened to The Dixie Chicks).

You are allowed to like and dislike whatever you want, but some of the arguments you gave about her are factually incorrect. There's not a single song on Midnights that complains about her fame nor her money.

I can understand your point to a certain degree and I even admit I could have a pre-conceived notion of her. Yes, perhaps  .But you know what? Probably not for everyone  but for me music is something emotional. It Is not Just a matter of analysing the lyrics or the music production. It Is something more than that: the way you put out your music, the visuals, the way you perform, the body language you use when you speak about your art or your Life in interwiews. There is evidently something disturbing for me in her that prevent me from getting into her music. It Is evident that is overrated for me and not for the masses as you correctly stated. This Is anyway not important for me. What masses like should not please me as well.

[Bat 6,162]

1 hour ago, Esmerald said:

Just a rich business woman with an artistic side. 

Same can be said regarding other white female popstars that go into make-up just to make money. Taylor only focusses on music 

[Esmerald 92]

20 minutes ago, Bat said:

Same can be said regarding other white female popstars that go into make-up just to make money. Taylor only focusses on music 

Absolutely true what you Say. Only One point...other white or black  artists making money with makeup or pants at least have  an artistic side I can connect to. In Taylor I ( ...just me ) do not find neither  music I can connect to nor pants for my ass or lipstick for my lips ..It could not be worse the CONNECTION BETWEEn me and her.