To ask what the appeal is for Taylor Swift?

[lingo1234]

Maybe it's just me, but I find her music really average and I don't think she's anything special.

The Chief's Super Bowl win seems overshadowed by her and I don't understand why. I watch a lot of sports and I don't recall a team's final win ever being mostly about one of the players' spouse/partner.

AIBU to just not understand the appeal?

Yep !
I have a 17 year old DD and she loves TS. I could think of 100 worse role models she could have.
I got tickets to see her in August and DD is over the moon. Ideally I'd like to go too but they were so hard to get that her friends are having the other tickets.

I have heard of TS but have never listened to her music, I dont think I have ever even heard her speak

I obviously don’t know what generation you come from but how is this different from the reaction to bands such as the Beatles and stones, Elvis, Take That, The spice girls? Since media began Every generation has had its Taylor Swift.
She’s a decent human being and a good role model. Rather her than the bloody Kardashians.

You Need to Calm Down, OP.

(See what I did?)

Arf @SquirrelsAssemble. I reckon OP needs to shake it off too.

I actually really like her and a lot of her songs but I do sometimes think I'm not sure people will still be listening to them in 20 or 30 years' time (unless she's still in the spotlight and producing new music). What I mean by that is they're not standout or innovative enough to become classics in their own right, they have appeal as part of the Taylor brand (not to say they're not very listenable). I think folklore might be an exception to this

I was...joking. But yes, your point is the point I was making, so we are in agreement. There is a disproportionate anger towards pop stars from older people, partly as a (subconscious?) reaction to the realisation that, as we age, the music they make is no longer aimed at us.

I hoped the phrase "there was a proportionate response in the media to their fame, they were only exactly as famous as my assessment of their talent deemed them to deserve" made it clear I wasn't being serious :D

I will say though, it's harmless and she's inoffensive and probably a decent role model- and yep this type of music really isn't aimed at me.

I’ve been to a few of her concerts with DD and enjoyed them but don’t really understand why the Eras tour has become such a massive thing. She is a talented woman who puts on a good show so good luck to her but the hype does seem a bit much.

I like them too. They're a stunning live band, but it's cool to not like them. I suspect TS is headed the same way.
You don't like her OP. No one cares.

Damon 'I say stuff to be controversial' Albarn said this recently and had to publicly apologise.

It's funny how there are threads about "what's the appeal of Taylor Swift" but I haven't seen threads like "Why do people like Ed Sheeran? He's just a floppy haired, posh boy singing boring ballads that all sound the same" or "Why does U2 endure? I mean sure, they have some good songs, but at the end of the day it's just a bunch of men on stage wearing ridiculous sun glasses and a couple of good songs?" or "Bloody hell, Justin Bieber - he's average and boring but everyone loves him, what's that about."

There have been literally hundreds of artists over the years that I have felt nothing for, had zero interest in their performance or their music etc but I've never once being outraged or upset that other people like them. But Taylor? hahaha. She dares to stand up, to say what she thinks, to dance around revelling in having millions and millions of fans and suddenly it's an issue?

The double standards are outrageous.

You are not wrong. Totally average music, totally average singer.

I am also probably too told to be in the target market but I am friends with some die hard Swifties who have loved her since Tim McGraw, when they were in the target demographic, so I guess it's the kind of thing that sticks with you.

I have never really been a fan, albeit I'd heard some of her stuff on the radio, but then I was convinced to listen to evermore and really enjoyed it. I didn't like Midnights though!

Apparently she tries to make each album a different style/genre and so fans say that everyone has their favourite 'era,' and that's why the Eras tour was a hit - because fans were choosing to identify with one era and dressing up in the outfits she wore at that time, or doing their hair as she did when she released that specific album etc.

And really, isn't that what we all did with the Spice Girls - every little girl had 'their' Spice Girl, dressed up like them, etc!

I don't understand why there are constant threads about Taylor Swift and not getting the appeal, or hype. This could be true of many many people, why does she always get singled out? You don't like it or don't get the appeal? Move on!

My ds loves Taylor swift....I took her to see the cinema showing of the concert.

I will say she's really good...she has good songs and is clearly talented. The concert was good to watch. But I still don't get the hype.

Dd

I don't especially like her music, but as others have said, I think she is a better role model for young women than many others. The ones whose popularity I really don't understand are the Kardashians, who do nothing of note and are mostly famous for their awful surgery and tacky overconsumption.

As previous posters have mentioned it is usually a female celebrity that brings post like these, not just TS.

I can’t even count how many threads someone has posted moaning about a female celebrity’s popularity, voice, demeanour, private lives (whether if there is some truth to it or just plain rumours) etc. Don’t expect fawning of any celebrity but the need to say how much one doesn’t get it, understand, and/or don’t like or care about them is weird to me.

She's awesome. I would rather my kids listen to her music than some other artists around who are all about money and guns and drugs. And at least she doesn't have her ass out all the time!
She seems like a hard worker too. And like someone who has positive female relationships - rather than cattiness.

It's called 'personal taste' - everybody has it, TS clearly isn't yours, but she is others.

And the Superbowl is just a vehicle for adverts.

Doesn’t she also like getting involved in left wing politics and lecturing people on social justice and climate issues. Maybe someone should help her calculate her publicity private jet air miles from Melbourne to Vegas. What is she supposed to have sung that’s so famous anyway. Could not name a single song.

Love all the armchairs experts here declaring her mediocre and talentless.

Just say her music is not to your taste. You don’t have to denigrate her talent or personality. She obviously has talent and works hard. Why do women do this to each other so much?

I always roll my eyes when people declare they ‘hate’ a famous person. How can you ‘hate’ a person you’ve never even met and know only what you see portrayed by the media? It’s pathetic.

There's already a thread on this topic.

This is what I said yesterday on that thread:

I think she's popular because she's the right balance between relatable and aspirational for teenage girls. She writes about heartbreak, flings, dreams, friendships and self belief in a way that really speaks to how those things feel at 13-17 years, which I think are her target demographic. 15 years ago the female singers were either entirely aspirational or really cool and creative, but not capturing emotions and experiences the way teenagers feel them.

I think that a good portion of people who don't like her, don't like her because they don't like not being the target demographic, and anyway there is a long history of things aimed at teenage girls being ridiculed as vacuous or low in quality, like they're too stupid to tell. Teenage girls are not stupid, they just experience thongs differently to adults. It's nice there's music to reflect some of it.

Teenage girls are not stupid, they just experience thongs differently to adults.

That made me titter.