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?

It's all PR. Marketing teams telling us she's amazing so if we don't find her amazing, well...we must suck right? I don't get the appeal either, the music is mediocre and her voice is basically just her talking. Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, even good old Madonna have way more talent.

Ha! Nice. Also true.

All this stuff about the Super Bowl, its not really her doing is it? She just turned up to support her boyfriend and had a bit of fun while she was there. If she'd have stayed away she'd have been slagged off for not supporting her man. If she'd have sat their like she was watching Shindler's list she'd have been slagged off for being po faced. If the press and TV channels want to make a deal out of it, that's on them letting the game be overshadowed.

I think she's great. Catchy, fun. relatable lyrics. She sounds intelligent and comes across well in interviews. I'm not sure I'd take a climate change lecture from her given her extensive use of her private jet, but I think there is a lot to like about her, and not much to dislike.

Emperor's New Clothes

Another one here who doesn't get the hype but accept that I am not her demographic.

I have 3 girls who did like her for a time but thankfully were not mad swifties begging me to spend hundreds on her concert tickets. They seem to have moved on now. They did have her music on a family playslist when we did a lot of driving last year so got to hear her music a lot and I just found it uninspiring and boring so fair play to her getting such a following. I also find her incredibly immature for her age, she is 34 but imo behaves like a teenager, but that may be intentional to stay relevant to her fans, who lets face it are at a very fickle age.

I like Taylor swift - as a mum of a pre teen Taylor swift fan I am glad she has a positive role model to look up to.
she went to watch her boyfriend - it’s not her fault if she gets attention.

She is incredibly smart and surrounds herself with incredibly smart people. She writes songs that connect with people and their lives. She comes across as a supportive girls girl. She mostly stays out of controversy but will put her head above the parapet if it's something she really believes in. She has been publicly bullied and shamed for a lot of her teen years and adult life but has dealt with it creatively and incredibly intelligently. She is generous with her time and money. She understands her fandom and gives them what they want. You don't have to like her or get her but I do question those who can't seem to muster up even a little bit of respect.

Well she can't win there - she's also frequently criticised for not speaking out more and using her platform more etc. But when she does, then it's who the hell does she think she is talking about politics. She's actually not spoken about politics that much. She encouraged her fans to register to vote, and did come out publicly for a democrat candidate in her home state (not sure if it was a governor, senator or congress election). But she gets a lot of flack for not speaking out more.

Simply by dating a footballer, she was part of a political conspiracy theory. A former republican presidential candidate said the Super Bowl was rigged so that Taylor and Travis would be an even more famous popular couple, who would then publicly endorse Biden.

Ronan's mum is also listed as a writer (her blog about Ronan influenced the song) so she gets money from it too.

Ronan is a song I can't listen to, it makes me sob. It's worse now as I have a 2 year old boy and I can't bear the thought of losing him.

Oh come on, @lingo1234 Use your imagination a little.

People like different things from you and that's ok.

To be honest people that think she is just pop fluffy don't know her back catalogue. Her country phase had some pretty deep songs, especially considering her age. She also doesn't constrict herself to writing about romantic love. The Best Day is about the love of a parent and child, with the reprise release about that child growing up. Marjorie is a haunting song about grief. She writes about friendship (Dorothea) and lost love (back to December).

I'm probably a bit old to be her key demographic but I have an appreciation for a lot of her songs. I don't idolise her as such, as this is something I've grown out of since I realised all people are shades of grey. But she's not really controversial or crime committing like many people stars.

So what if she was only lightweight pop?

We need a bit of that in the world.

That's fantastic that she speaks about climate change, especially with so many young fans. She's moved up in my estimation.

She's the female equivalent to Ed Sheeran IMO.

@beguilingeyes thing is- he's probably well aware of it happening too. In TS case it may not be the case- but it certainly does happen.

I'm late 50s. For me she is an intelligent powerful business woman who doesn't take any misogynistic crap from the music industry which is full of it. For that alone I think she is amazing. What a role model for young women today.

Listening to her music I dont think she has an amazing voice but what she has she uses it very well. I first liked her version of Vance Joy's Riptide and it developed from there. Yes some of her music is pop and not masterpieces but some of it definitely is fantastic lyrics and for most of her audience very relatable, and isn't that what music and song is about.

As for her relationships, she is treated like every female celebrity who isn't married, birthed and settled by 30....but if she were a man mid 30s and doing his thing well we know the story. I suspect due to her tremendous success and unusual life it isn't easy to have a relationship with her but despite this she seems like a fairly decent human being and as already noted not based on flashing her boobs, butt and undercarriage to do it. That maybe sounds a bit old fashioned but it says something that so many young females are loving her without that.

Someone earlier in the thread got a bit of pushback for saying she thought TS is a bit immature at times, and I can see where they might think that, but if that's the worst we can say about her then she isn't doing too bad.

Anyway I have a ticket for her concert later this year and i'm really looking forward to it. Good luck to her, for me she really deserves her success.

Read the other long thread.

The problem is she's too successful now and we can't have that. As soon as a woman becomes too successful we must beat them down and put them in their place. We don't want them taking over the world now do we?

Women really are our own worst enemies. We're sp ingrained to think like this that we barely need men to treat us like shit anymore. We do a great job by ourselves.

Who else is overrated? Rosa Parks? She just sat on a bus. Emmeline Pankhurt? Vandal. Can you see the pattern?

She’s massive right now as she’s on tour. Her fan group the “Swifties” are borderline a cult. Swifties spend their entire lives writing/posting about their Leader and getting into fights with anyone who dare criticise her.

Taylor encourages this parasocial relationship as she is constantly referencing her private life.

Happy to turn a blind eye to Taylor’s 15 minute plane rides.

I'm 25 and I love her music. I've grown up with it, and her music inspired me to teach myself how to play guitar. Her songs inspire a lot of my writing, my dissertation piece for my creative writing degree got a first and it was inspired by All Too Well.

She does seem to care a lot about her fans. From her being stunned by the reactions from fans during the eras tour, and the listening parties she used to hold in her home when she was releasing a new album. I've never heard of anyone having a bad interaction with her as a fan.

She also writes all of her songs, and I love how relatable they are (especially as I was growing up). From falling in love, to heartbreak, not feeling like you fit in, friendship, what it's like being a woman etc.

She may not be to everyone's taste, but there's no denying that she is very clever and talented. She wrote a whole album by herself when she was 19 (Speak Now), she's the only writer credited on all the songs.

Those plane rides aren't actually hers. She sold that plane and it's the new owner taking the small trips in it

Because this was clearly her plan all along

It's a shame that any public figure gets tarnished by the worst of their fans, and that we (naturally) mostly notice the most visible parts of their lives. Most of us probably only know the TS songs that get played on the radio/SM clips over and over again, but some of her album tracks have absolutely devastating lyrics and complex music (like Tolerate It or Peace) and aren't just radio friendly bops.

You can't really win as a woman! She's successful because loads of people do find something in her music, but there's a tendency for those women who do succeed so hugely to be put under even more of a microscope and the non-fans to say 'what's so good about her anyway?'. I totally don't get K-Pop, but it doesn't mean I think there's nothing good about it, it's just that it doesn't speak to me.

I do think it's worth considering what message we send to girls when we try to question the success or worth of a performer like Taylor Swift, though.

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?
It is so bizarre. WOMEN falling all over themselves to perpetuate the hate without delving into WHY it exists in the first place. And claiming to simply 'not like her music'
The older I get, the more I appreciate just what she has achieved. To take on the misogynistic industry and stand her ground for a start. She is intelligent and works hard. From all accounts she has a strong core friendship group. She is a far far better role model for girls and young women than pretty much any of the others that get similar exposure.
I don't like plenty of music out there but there don't seem to be other bandwagons for me to jump on. Why is that? It's ok to not like someone's music, or say you don't. But why are people so much more vocal over a strong, successful woman who seems to be able to withstand the sexism, the hate and the dismissal of her clearly, very sharp acumen?
The fact that the MAGA nuts hate her so much reassures me that I'm on the right side of this bizzaro phenomenon 🤣

Taylor only sold her second plane at the beginning of this month. The 13 minute plane ride recently was likely not her. Sure. But Taylor has still flown 19,400 miles in under 2 weeks on the private jet she still owns.

And she’s taking legal action against a college student who holds her accountable via a twitter account.

I don't like her ,I find her boring
She has zero charisma,I just don't get the hype.
I like different genres of music but I find her whiny songs about ex boyfriends a bit juvenile.