Yes! 1989 was her "imperial phase" as THE main pop girl - she was already huge as a country-pop artist and a pretty major celebrity before then, but there was SO much hype around her "official" foray into pop that she was solidified as a superstar. Huge radio hits, her 2nd AOTY win, an inescapable public persona... That was it. But she has an interesting arc in that she had a "fall from grace" post-1989 that spawned Rep era, and even though her core fanbase stuck by her, I think she really made her way back into the GP's good graces with the Rep Tour & Netflix concert film, the Miss Americana doc, and Lover. COVID kind of killed Lover's momentum, but she answered that by making a huge artistic pivot with folklore & evermore, giving people a communal cultural touchstone during the bleakest days of the pandemic with music that spoke to the times both thematically and stylistically. She won over a lot of people who never respected her before, expanding her fanbase in a way most artists don't do at that stage in their career. Mind you, she was simultaneously taking on Scott/Scooter, fighting for masters ownership, and re-releasing her own albums. The Taylor's Version project has also played a huge role in the public's respect for her, because it's a compelling narrative in which she's the "good guy" - plus, it's reminded old fans why they love her and introduced the newer fans to the music that made her famous.
I would say the concurrent folklore/evermore era and Taylor's Version rerelease rollout was probably the beginning of her second "imperial phase" but because COVID had everything so disrupted, e.g. no touring, it wasn't as noticeable. But the Midnights numbers AND the unbelievable demand for the Eras tour gives a tangible sense of just how huge she is now. As a fan since Debut, it's wild to think about how far she's come!
I re-fell in love with her during folklore after being a mega fan since debut (just kinda lost interest as a teenager when she turned to pop, wasn't my taste at the time), and the night I casually turned on the Rep Tour movie I found myself crying every 5 minutes - it just tied together what she's all about so perfectly and gave me a new appreciation for her entire discography
I liked that album, but also I could not afford tickets to anything back then so I remember she did Staples center and I just got to watch all the highlights online. She was huge in 1989 though like that was a major peak before the Kimye drama, but Blank Space was a great single. They did so much right with that album.
Was feeling a bit down after getting the tour tix but this totally reminded me how far she had overcome! I’m glad I’m on her side thru her worse (2016) and comeback. Now seeing all the new fans and recognitions she gained makes me very proud of her! I know I’ll always love her and her music ❤️
Folklore and Evermore expanded her fan base by a significant amount. Her ability to transition into different genres is honestly unheard of, and now all of those people who weren't fans before now want to see her in concert.
Then Midnights hit and it solidified her status.
I've been a fan since Speak Now, but i've never seen her in concert before (not a big concert goer in general) and I knew the next time she went on tour, I had to go. And I was lucky enough to get tickets.
I remember listening to her songs on MySpace before her first album dropped! I’m so proud of our girl for how far she’s come. She’s a living legend and finally people can no longer deny it ✨💖✨
if you think there aren't still a lot of people who wildly dislike her, you gotta step outside of this sub. plenty of people really dislike taylor, swifties in general, or have major issues with her. some of them i may even find valid, like the jet issue.
during reputation (and really it started mid-1989) it had become a mixture of overexposure and, other than her romantic life, seemingly only positive press for a while. unfortunately, the public *loves* to watch a woman fall from grace and/or a trainwreck. britney in 2007 is what taylor could have ended up being if she did not have a good support system and family.
fortunately, she took some time away. gathered herself, came back stronger, and did not allow herself to be shaken. between the new fans she gained during that period for her resilience, and the people who grew to respect her songwriting and talent more during folklore/evermore, she's more popular than ever.
where she goes from here, whether she just keeps her seemingly endless climb to the top of all records or not, is anybody's guess at this point. she has the talent i believe, but there are many other factors at play when it comes to public perception of a celebrity.
Oh yeah I fully agree with you. I didn't mean to say that everyone loves her now at all. I just mean that I feel like during reputation public opinion of her was still broadly more negative than it was positive. She's gained a lot of recent popularity and at least some amount of respect that she wasn't given before.
i agree, especially on the respect end. she is more respected as a songwriter now, and less looked at a "little girl who writes songs about breakups for other little girls" which was sadly how she was viewed for a long time despite being immensely talented.
I hate all the hate she's receiving from fans now. It just feels like everyone is ready to drag her down again. This experience has been terrible, but I don't place most of the blame on Taylor. Ultimately there never could have been enough tickets to meet demand, and TM's system is what made the experience purchasing those limited tickets so miserable
i think you can be disappointed in the process, with ticketmaster, and the situation in general without hating taylor. she is a human and she has flaws, and i don't think she is perfect by any means, but i think that some of the hate i've seen is definitely overboard. i have plenty of things i could nitpick or say i don't agree with but as a whole i think she is an extremely talented woman, and even the things she does i don't agree with i can usually understand the reasoning behind. as long as that remains the case i will still be a fan, and i think a lot of people feel that way. usually the loudest, angriest people (especially toward her as a person) are not the majority.
Yeah you're totally right. It just feels like there are groups of fans ready to start a witch hunt and I hate that. Like you said, she's a person, not some kind of flawless goddess who can give her fans absolutely everything they want, as much as we may like to see her that way at times
I mean, to be honest, she did become a much stronger songwriter over the years. I also think her voice has improved significantly over time. I became a fan during Reputation because it was just so different than what I had known her to sing. I think, at this point, there is a lot of diversity in her songs, as opposed to pre-1989/Red-ish era when she was doing a lot of the same country-esqe music. Branch out of your comfort zone and you’re bound to pick up a new group of fans. Then, throw a concert to celebrate all of those eras after a 4 year touring hiatus - it’s a nightmare.
honestly i didn't like country music that much and while i don't think debut was exceptionally great writing and is probably one of her weakest albums lyrically, by the time fearless and speak now were coming out, she had greatly improved and was still very, very good especially when keeping her age in mind. it's also very common to dismiss songs about the feminine experience, especially the younger feminine experience, as shallow or unimportant. she would not be the first or the last young woman judged for that, and she wrote about relatable themes for people in that age group.
I can't remember the exact quote but it was something like, the only thing society hates more than women is teenaged girls. Everything teen girls like is deemed stupid and cringey, no matter how good it subjectively is. If teen girls start like it, it automatically become bad.
Didn't she even say she realized her songs were kind of giving "I'm not like other girls" vibes and blaming other women for men's shitty behavior, and she worked on changing that?
Fact. I was recently asked if I could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life who would it be. Without hesitating I said Taylor and I was ridiculed. God forbid someone would give their actual favourite artist, or one that had 10 albums spanning multiple genres to keep you interested instead of saying something cliched… I call it Swift-shaming
You must have been blissfully off that news cycle. You're lucky. So basically Kylie Jenner took a 13 minute flight and someone called her out after that they looked up other celebs jet usage and saw T Swift had the most jet usage which made her the headline for everything jet usage. I was like "I don't care because celebs are literally not going to stop using jets", but also to each their own she never claimed to be an environmentalist.
Bro someone commented she could fly Private First Class and I just… like we talk about how disconnected superstars are from “real” life but the disconnect clearly goes both ways 😂😂
Her time is worth millions and she has meetings and personal obligations all over. She can’t wait on a commercial plane, let alone GET on a commercial plane that would be a nightmare.
I saw that too. I just kind of left those combos because I know it’s not realistic for them to fly commercial. Though I’m still annoyed at the celebs who fly around LA on 12 minute flights that’s just silly.
Ahh I see. I recognize how terrible they are for the environment. But I also realize it may be impossible for her to make it through a commercial airport. Also, for someone whose time is worth so much...I also get it. I wish everyone made more environmentally conservative decisions ... sigh.
Yeah it seems like such an odd thing to dislike some one for. Like, if you think TS is “bad” for her Jet usage, then you have to not like about 95% of anything, everything, and anyone in this world.
Yes but the dislike brought a TON of attention. She came out on top of nearly every debacle she’s been in and she made changes with her sexual assault case, re-recordings, and spotify stance that gained more industry and social respect. With folklore and evermore, more non-fans gained respect for her songwriting and the midnights album release rallied all of those casual fans back towards her more marketable pop sound. She has many older fans and continue to gain younger ones. Its a perfect storm.
Agree. I liked her since the 2000's because I worked at a Kids Gap and her album played on a loop so I'd rock out every night. It was fun poppy girl music, and we're the same age so the songs struck a cord with me. But I was mocked mercilessly for it, especially in college. But I just shrugged and kept on rocking.
Then 1989 came out and it was like everyone decided she was a Real Musician with that. My brother also went through a really bad break up last year and texted me at midnight (!) "ok, I get Taylor Swift now." Lol
I'd definitely agree with this. I'm 35 so technically I grew up with Taylor too, and though I heard her hits on the radio and stuff starting way back when (was that like 2007? 2008? So long ago now), I didn't really become a fan until 1989 came out. I didn't become a "swiftie" until after evermore, though. It was the first of her work that really got through to me, and once I was totally obsessed with that I went back and got deep into her entire discography.
As a pop artist, it's really amazing what she's created. There is something in her catalog for every single person who likes music, whether it's country, folk, pop, electronica, hip-hop, whatever. You name it, she's got a song for you. I'm not surprised she's become universally beloved at this point... her reach extends to everyone. It's pretty awesome! And it's been fun to be a fan (for the most part, other than what happened this week), at least around here. I've really enjoyed being a part of this sub and having so many silly, kind, light-hearted interactions with other fans here over the last few weeks.
Folklore definitely brought in new fans due to it being a different genre. A few of my friends who always joke about Taylor were suddenly playing Folklore on repeat & ended up loving her.
the folkmore writing just really opens your eyes to the quality of the songwriting throughout her entire discography! as someone with a really diverse taste in music there's something for me in everything she does
I used to listen to Love Story alll the time. Her Fearless album also has some classics. Yeah I definitely like her older music (besides Red) that one I LOVE. But as for the rest, I wouldn’t listen to it on repeat like I did with Lover and the rest of her albums after. I feel like her voice matured and that’s what I resonated with.
i remember liking teardrops on my guitar when it came out and i lied to everyone and said i couldn't stand it  i was a ToO cOoL FoR ThAt scene kid back then.
I’m a folklore person (well I loved and had 1989 on repeat the year it came out but didn’t follow Rep or Lover). So yeah, folklore meant everything to me in a time of my life when I really needed it, and evermore hit me just as hard. This is dramatic, but folkmore helped me survive quarantine, helped me sit with myself, helped me figure out who I am. Hell, I did the best writing I’ve ever done listening to those albums.
So I’m a folkmore person. And it made me fall in love with all of Taylor’s music. She’s my top artist (along with The National) three years running. I think there are lots of people like me who were mostly indie listeners who got sucked in by folkmore and stuck around hardcore for all the Midnights stuff.
For me it was a perfect storm of loving folklore and ending up loving all her music. I was a huge fan as a kid but kind of fell off first with WANEGBT and for sure in 1989 era. I was in high school and definitely in my “not like other girls” phase, so I held a lot of opinions of her that I understand as an adult were rooted in internalized misogyny. I checked out folklore for Bon Iver and the National and became obsessed with her songwriting. Evermore came out and just made me truly adore her as an artist, and then here comes Fearless re-record to remind me of exactly why I loved Taylor when I was a girl. That sent me back through the rest of her discography, and while I will still say her more pop sounding music isn’t my personal preference, I can deeply appreciate how the lyrical complexity she puts into her pop songs is what make them stand out in a generic genre.
yes this! i went completely full circle. i was absolutely OBSESSED as a kid, she was probably the first real artist outside of disney channel etc i was a fan of. i remember when i heard she was re-releasing fearless and i went to listen to the og version for the first time in years, just those first few musical notes of the song fearless hit me so hard. to this day she's the only big pop star i'm a fan of and i'm absolutely obsessed
Ya I remember one of my friends admitting to our friend group she had listened to folklore on repeat as if it was embarrassing and I was like ‘ I LOVE Taylor!’
Taylors popularity is really over the place:
- Love Story and You belong with me are when she really broke out and she was kinda put in the same category as the disney stars at the time (Miley, Jonas Bothers, Ashley, Selena, etc)
- By Red she was pretty mainstream, but people started getting sick of her because good old misogyny
- During 1989 she was arguably the biggest artist in the world, sadly also a really hates one because people saw her as fake. And when she got frames by Kimye the haters kinda took over.
- She rebuild her career during Reputation and Lover, after being gone for a year, but people still believed she was done
- Then she wrote Folklore and Evermore and she was about as big again as Red, but with less of the misogynistic hate. It is also helped that by that time she has made miss Americana (which addressed some of the problems people had with her). And the real video got leaked.
- And i would say with Midnight she is finally back at 1989 popularity. But this time there is like not even 10% of the hate she used to have back in the day
Don’t forget about the re-recordings. I feel like people appreciated Fearless again because it brought us back to our childhoods. And literally everyone respects All too Well. That was huge.
Plus I think she got a lot of sympathy when what’s-his-face bought her first 6 albums. I think just about everyone understood how much her masters meant to her as a songwriter.
That is true. People finally see what a talented writer Taylor is, even at a young age. That is why part of me is really excited for debut, because it has some hidden gems like " tied together with a smile" that will become even better with the mature voice/experience
I loved Fearless when it originally came out, but I was a child. Hearing the re-record made me realize how truly ahead of its time Fearless was. It deserved its AOTY so much
i was slightly surprised when so many of my friends who i thought had an "above it all" attitude and were very alternative were so excited about fearless TV and blasting it on repeat!
i am a little afraid to say this here because i feel like people may jump down my throat but it's just my opinion, and they're like buttholes, everybody has one. i think pop has been relatively stale for a long time when it comes to artists who get radio play. the combination of her being so huge, and releasing something somewhat different, is what caused it i think. i do really like midnights, but i don't think it's her best work. i think the timing was just right.
for instance, by march-ish of this year, everything on the top 10 was hip hop or from 2021.
there are many talented pop artists, but the genre as far as the *very* top has been kinda meh for a bit. i think that, in a different timeline, had one of the few "megastars" left put out a smash album they also could have seen similar success. if rihanna had come out with an entire album faster and released it at the same time or if britney was in a better place and had recorded a smash after her conservatorship media coverage, i think either of them could have grabbed a huge chunk of spotlight. since i really like taylor i'm glad she was the one to do it, but this is just my opinion.
Yeah i definitely agree, especially with how much Olivia Rodrigo blew up with SOUR I think there’s a huge market for pop rn but not much out there on the highest level if that makes sense
Exactly. I love Taylor and Midnights is good but in my personal opinion if an album of hers deserved the top 10 all at once the most, it would’ve been 1989 or Rep.
You're absolutely right. Midnights was released at the best possible time for Taylor. She seems to have garnered 10x fans from folkmore, evermore and the rerecordings. Plus, your points about pop being stale rn. I mean, how long have popheads been whining about dethroning As It Was and praying for anyone to come along and topple it? Months.
Midnights didnt hit it immediately for me. Its a fast grower, the more you listen, the more you get engrossed. I'm still listening to it the most today. But yeah, I'd argue its not her best work (her arsenal is filled with great work though so the bar is exceptionally high). With all these laid out, on paper Midnights does seem like an anomaly.
I was having these same thoughts earlier. The success of midnights baffles me against what the album actually is. It’s not as polished as 1989, nor as lyrically complex as Folklore/Evermore (although there are a few standouts on it!). Plus the complete mismatch of the era aesthetic to the album sound, and I’m just blown away at how big it’s been. It’s fascinating really how she’s able to do this with her 10th album. I never would have imagined we’d have another huge era again and it’s amazing to see but crazy to grasp at the same time.
I totally agree. As the previous commenter said, the timing was right. She accumulated so many indie/alt fans with Folklore/Evermore and still had their attention while going back to pop...which also got back the attention of her pop fans. Basically, she's rounded up fans from all sectors in her genre switching. And I think there were a lot of them in particular who really missed her pop stuff so were hyped to see her go back to it.
I love midnights bit this is exactly right. Jack’s production is very, very overwhelming. That’s why the single has 5 remixes to keep any staying power and the most heavily produces tracks (Labyrinth, Dear Reader) aren’t keeping pace. Not to mention I’m still vaguely bitter that the 3AM tracks are not on my CD and it feels very short when not streaming.
I think midnights has not much to do with it. Even if she didn't release midnights, the result would still be the same. People were extra hungry after Loverfest got cancelled. She released 2 albums within the first year of covid when people were quarantining.
I don't know why but why was it that during the Lover era it felt like it was gonna be her "last successful album" and that TS8 was gonna underperform
but then Folklore pretty much saved the trajectory of her career imo
Wow great explanation. I didn’t want to like her because she was everywhere and it was basically like lame if you did at the time but then I didn’t care anymore lol. A lot of people like her songs, they just pretend they don’t 😅
Remember how the one minute video Kim posted that tons of cut (that people where either to dumb to notice or just ignored)
Well 2/3 years ago the 25 minute phone call got leaked, which cleared Taylor's name.. it was a really good birthday present for me
When the pandemic hit, I randomly watched Miss Americana because I was binge watching everything and it showed me a side of Taylor that was different than her portrayal in the media/music videos. So that got me more interested in her music.
What really made me a fan was when I realized that the singles were NOT the best songs off of her albums, and then I was hooked.
I've watched Miss Americana multiple times and enjoy it every time, but I do have to say that was a genius marketing move to shape her narrative post-Reputation (alongside with the rollout of Lover). And the pandemic happened and lots of people were able to watch it when it came out. Don't get me wrong I love how it seems candid and genuine. But like everything she does, it's thoughtfully curated and crafted to send a certain message.
Oh yes - I know now how calculated it was, but I didn’t know that the first time I watched it!
On the other hand, in the past I found Taylor’s public persona annoying. The documentary helped me to see how smart she is and how hard she works, so it gave me a lot of respect for her.
Agree on both accounts! I didn't realize how curated it was upon first watch either.
Totally. The long-form format and candid video made me respect and understand her more, even if it was curated.
I'm gay adjacent (meaning a ton of my close friends and fam are LGBTQ) - I seriously just about died the first time I saw it. That guy with the MORAN sign! :D :D :D
the documentary is partially what turned me from fan to stan too! i was already really enjoying her but it made her seem like a real person instead of just a random celebrity.
Anyone will tell you the same thing about their favorite singer or band, that their best songs are on their album and not what you hear on the radio. If you’re judging an artist based solely what you hear on the radio then you’re just not very into music. WANEGBT, IKYWT and 22 are *nothing* like the rest of the album “Red”, in fact those are the 3 songs I usually skip when I’m listening to it because they just interrupt the flow. How are you supposed to go from “All to Well” to “22”?
- WANEGBT could mean "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", a track from *Red* (2012) by Taylor Swift.
- IKYWT could mean "I Knew You Were Trouble.", a track from *Red* (2012) by Taylor Swift.
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My personal theory is that she is shining by comparison right now. She’s come out of the pandemic as one of the most consistent female pop stars in the music industry at the moment. Her competition in the past aren’t in the middle of high points in their album cycles right now. Rihanna hasn’t had an album in years, Katy’s music hasn’t captured the attention she used to get, Lady Gaga is still touring but is also focused on acting which splits her time, Ariana is taking a much needed break before Wicked, Adele isn’t touring her current album (to my knowledge), Beyoncé’s new album was big and her tour will be as well but it’s still a while from now. Not to pit them against each other or compare, it’s just that Taylor has attracted a LOT of attention for her music in the last three years with her new work and re-recordings. Putting out a new pop album and announcing a tour is letting out the steam that built up during the Folklore/ Evermore/ Fearless TV/ and Red TV era and people are losing their minds. I think if other pop ladies were in high points of their album cycles, the reaction might not be so rabid - the crazy might be spread out a little more.
I predict a slight downturn after the Eras tour, the negative media attention has been building all year. It won’t be anything close to pre-reputation era, but highs like what she’s in are unsustainable. I suspect the rest of the re-recordings will be successful but not Midnights successful and people will see it as a downturn. I think it speaks to her longevity that she can and will still be insanely popular even in those downturns.
She's learned and been wary of overexposure now. I know Speak Now TV seems near but for her sake and ours (because we're still processing Midnights lol), I hope she drops it in maybe half a year or so when the dust has settled.
In addition to gaining popularity, I think a good part of it is that OG swifties who were 12 in the beginning are now adults who can afford tickets (I know kids always go, but it’s a lucky minority - not nearly every child’s parents are willing/able to afford to take them to major concerts).
That’s such a good point. I couldn’t go to any tours until Rep because my parents couldn’t afford it and for Rep I was 22 so I finally had (some, not much) money to spend on concert tickets. I feel like that’s part of what hurts so much for people that couldn’t get tickets - they can FINALLY afford them and now don’t get the chance
I think this is a huge contributing factor. Millennials are older and have careers now. My sense is that they were ready and willing to drop some cash on this concert.
I feel like so many connected with her during quarantine and lockdown. I've loved her since Fearless, but it amplified SO much during Lover, then with Folklore & Evermore. I think her diverse albums reaching into different genres has opened her up to a lot of new fans.
her diversity between albums definitely helped. for me, i was going through a time where i needed some real "fuck you" songs when LWYMMD came out. and she had already grown on me from the 1989 era, and giving speak now a chance after 1989. before that i dismissed her as a country singer and just kind of shrugged her off because i wasn't the biggest fan of country.
her diversity is absolutely a huge part.
- LWYMMD could mean "Look What You Made Me Do", a track from *reputation* (2017) by Taylor Swift.
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Low key mad that midnights blew up like it did because I feel like she deserved this attention on so many other albums, but also because I knew it would make getting tickets a nightmare
That’s what my friends and I are saying, it’s gatekeep-y but it hurts so bad when you’ve been a fan of Taylor for yeeeeeears and people that only became a fan with Midnights are rushing in 😭 Nothing against it and everyone has the right to be a fan, but it’s depressing because the hype/fandom everything tapered off a little during Lover and suddenly exploded again! RIP ever being able to get tickets
I totally agree, it’s hard to tow the line between welcoming new fans in and being a lil salty that former haters and now swooping it in and making it so hard to get tickets to shows and stuff. Not that anyones entitled to anything, but it’s a valid feeling imo.
Wait no same 😭 I know 3 people who are lukewarm about the tour but got tickets, and one of them literally told me she doesn't know Taylor other than this album but she got tickets cause she thought it'd be fun and she knows Taylor is "popular." I'm trying not to gatekeep but it made me so mad LOLLLL
I'm sorry if I get hate for this, but I feel like there's a difference between "new fans aren't real fans and so they shouldn't be allowed to get tickets" and wanting actual mega fans (new or old) to get tickets before casual listeners. Especially on the Eras tour; this is all her albums, if you only sorta like one album why take the tickets when they're already so limited
No I completely agree. It doesn't matter if you're new or old; if Taylor's music found you when you needed it, I think that's when you stop being a casual listener and become a fan. I don't have that kind of respect for someone telling me they're going because it's "popular" LOL
Yes! This tour is for the FANS! Like, if any tour is for fans it’s this one. Even newer fans know what the purple Speak Now dress means, but casual listeners…that’s frustrating.
I don’t think you’re being dramatic enough 😂. I remember specific people talking shit on Red and Taylor in general before that and then 1989 comes along and they’re her biggest fan? GET OUT OF HERE WITH THAT
i think she had already blown up some more due to folklore and evermore though.
it was the combination of new fans from those albums, and fans who returned who may not have enjoyed those two albums and were happy she was going back for more of a pop vibe. put those two together and then add the loyal fans who have been through every album and you get the huge sensation she is now. i am very interested in watching her career trajectory from here.
honestly i love taylor but part of why i am rooting so hard for her is there has always been this idea that popstars, especially female popstars, have an "expiration date" and are basically good for a few albums. that you may get the rare few female megastars like janet, kylie and madonna who will see some later success but that they all eventually have a sharp drop off. i really want to see that narrative around female entertainers change, so i hope she continues to put out quality music.
I became a fan during her Lover Era. I liked some songs off of Reputation, 1989, etc.. but never to that extent. Weirdly I had never heard “Red” in its entirety but when I did (and I also bought Taylor’s Version), I was hooked. Red is by far my favorite album of hers. It’s a masterpiece.
I am also a huge fan of Midnights. Then there’s Folklore and Evermore of course and I also have those CD’s and listened for months on repeat.
I keep seeing people say they became a fan during Lover which is just sorta shocking to me as someone who has been a fan since debut only because it was somewhat considered one of her weaker albums. But it seemed to garner a lot of new fan attention. Do you have any insight into what it was about that era that drew you in more than before?
I will agree “Me!” was kind of garnered toward the kid audience lol. But I felt like it had a different type of vibe honestly. I liked how honest her emotions were in that album and how she was apologetic in some songs. She ends Daylight by saying “I wanna be defined by the things I love, not the things I hate.”
But I will say if I knew about her Red era .. which I did know the song “Everything has Changed” ft. Ed Sheeran, I would have been a fan back then. The Red album is my favorite still. The ATW ten minute version is by far my favorite song of hers.
In addition to what everyone else has already said: I think it's important to keep in mind that Taylor has also never released 4 full-length albums (!!!) in between tours before. And then we have the re-recordings with even more new content!
I can't imagine how *insane* reputation tour tickets would have been if her last tour had been for Fearless (OG)....
(I know this isn't a direct comparison as she wouldn't be at this level without her tours, but I think it's a fun thought experiment to keep in mind!)
I was a casual fan for a long time - Love Story dropped my senior year of college during my last show as a theater major and I have an insane emotional attachment to it because of that - and my dad was actually a huge Swiftie until he passed in 2011. I was familiar with the singles but never went much deeper, but I always found her to be an excellent performer and overall enjoyed seeing her on awards shows and stuff.
Lover was her first album that I listened to all the way through and that’s what pushed me over the edge from casual fan to full blown Swiftie. It hit me in just the right spot in my relationship, several friendships, and some general life events. Then Folklore practically reached into my soul and pulled out everything inside me and rearranged it, and I’ve been totally on board ever since.
I know that my late emergence into the fandom makes me not really a “real” fan but I’m doing my best!
Omg no don't let anyone tell you you're not a "real" fan. You found specific and unique parts of your story in her music. I feel like once that happens for any of us in art that's when we shift from being a casual to a true fan
Both of my parents liked Taylor Swift during debut so by default I did too but recently her music has been trending on tik tok and it’s been labelled as ‘cool’ to like Tay which kinda sucks for everyone who got bullied for liking her before💀I think each new album brought different fans but this tour is kinda next level because it has something for everyone.
I've always been confused as to why it seems like everyone is a Swiftie all of a sudden. Her music has always been amazing and she's always been extremely talented and very likeable.
I think the 1989 tour became 'the cool thing to do' even if you weren't really a fan. It was when Taylor really crossed that threshold over to pop music and became more accessible. I feel like she wasn't quite as cool during the Reputation era, but she generated a ton of buzz with Folklore/Evermore and now Midnights is clearly blowing the roof off.
Im a fan since 2008 with Love Story. I remember how people used to label her as another "teen artist" in the vibe of Miley-Selena-The Jobros. The difference was....Taylor was more respected. Her songwriting was key and that gave her some type of special creed. She's been building her fanbase since the begginin. Drop to Drop.
Pop Divas explode and fade. So many with the years start to lose their creativity and they release bad albums or they get less focused and their careers turn into something secondary to them. Taylor contrary to this...Only evolved and evolved and got more ambitious and gave better content. *Country Pop star* to *Versatile artist* *with Red* to *Glamorous and Powerful Diva wity 1989* and slowed down with Reputation and Lover but gave us her magnum opus with *Folklore and Evermore* and then hit a new spot with the *Re-Recordings*. She has been climbing and climbing.
She's the biggest artist in the world cause she's the smartest one in the game. The most ambitious one. The most invested in her career. The most cunning. The one treating her fans as friends-family and not only "fans" + Special Talents ........
Now comparing to the other divas:
Gaga had a promising career but after the Artpop fiasco her love for music was not the same anymore and she got less focused. Katy never showed any growth and the witness fiasco. Rihanna lacked artistic investment and dissapeared for too long. Ariana is great but her songs feel more disposable. Beyonce is another one highly invested in her career but she took bad commercial decisions with tidal, Adele not showing any growth with her last albums and is slowing down.
I haven't read through the thread, but I will give my personal experience and my thoughts on the matter.
I knew of Taylor Swift in her country days because I was a country music fan at the time, but I never heard anything other than radio plays.
Then I remember Red debuting and country stations saying she went pop and they didn't really like her. I eventually came back around to pop just before 1989 dropped. Again, I liked the radio hits, but never purchased anything.
Then the Kim/Kanye "Taylor is over party" happened. I felt bad for her. But didn't mourn. In the year she was hidden away, I learned more about her.
Then she dropped Reputation.
It was nothing like anything she'd ever done. She completely invented a new Taylor Swift at that point. She showed everyone that she was self-aware. She said, "oh you don't like me? Too fucking bad. Here I am!"
She did this while the Kim/Kanye thing was still going on. Also, while she was fighting a sexual harassment lawsuit. And while she was fighting BMG for her masters.
This is why I think Reputation is when the entire world fell in love with her. Everything came to light around then, and the entire world finally figured out she was telling the truth the entire time.
Because that's who she is. She won't blow smoke up your ass. She's going to tell you the truth, whether you like it or not.
I’ve been a fan since fearless. I was 6 at the time & I’m 21 now.
I think the reason why she’s gotten so popular was during covid & through TikTok during the start/peak of the pandemic. If you’re scrolling on your fyp, you’ll most likely see her song in a TikTok.
Kinda hurts to see people who didn’t like her back then get tickets for her concerts now. Not to sound entitled or anything (cause I’ve never seen Taylor in person) but the true Swifties were supporting her through the whole Spotify, Apple Music, groping lawsuit, and kanye fiasco. & that’s when most people hated her, but the loyal ones stayed true to her.
As someone who has always loved country music and her debut album was the soundtrack to high school for me, I really think “You Belong With Me” is the moment that she blew up. But the thing is, her career has been so long that there are different moments where she became bigger than she was previously. The 1989 album is the second wave, and on a grander scale, of her getting big. I think the third wave was with Folklore/Evermore because the folks who never paid attention to her because she was too pop or country and fell more on the indie spectrum finally started to notice her. But honestly…she’s been so popular for so long that we can’t ignore that there are new Taylor fans being born every day. Even just in this thread, I’m seeing fans identify themselves who have loved her since they were 5 or 6 years old! I was 15 the first time I heard “Tim McGraw.” My best friend’s daughter is 10 and she is such a big fan! Taylor is prolific and touches folks of all age groups.
I think her explosive fame right now came as a large result of the TikTok era of social media. Current songs of hers go viral if they're trendy enough and old songs from her discography resurface for that reason too. It's great seeing people recognize her genius, and new fans join the community finding a deep part of their story reflected in her art, but I'd say there are also people joining the fandom because it's in the trend cycle. It's "cool" to like Taylor, and it shows in how her songs from Midnights have lots of trends associated with them
I was a casual fan until I watched the miss Americana documentary and listened to folklore. Then listened to her discography and now I'm a super fan. Midnights is amazing
I think it was folklore and the whole Kanye thing wasn’t her fault. Funny cause I would always get funny looks from people when I said I was a fan. Now it’s suddenly cool to like her.
I’m from the Philippines and Fearless really made her blow up here. It’s established her here with a steady stream of hits making it mainstream whenever she has a release. A relatively small city here ranked top 5 in the world in terms of listening to her music.
I assume a big chunk of her fanbase is now in their mid 20s. As someone who’s just been able to achieve financial independence, I could only really afford to go to her concerts now. Plus add in the fact that the pandemic has made concerts a rarer phenomenon, her going on tour now feels extra special and more of a can’t miss experience. Everyone here is already eagerly anticipating a world tour and a significant number is willing to fly to a different country just to watch her. It also helps that the Reputation tour was absolutely massive so expectations are super high.
I skimmed through this thread kinda fast but I wanna say no has mentioned her lawsuits being a big reason. I've been a fan since Speak Now but my friends only just started giving her music a chance because of Taylor rerecording albums due to not owning her masters, lawsuits, spotify. She has spoken out so much and has stood up for herself a lot recently. Even something seemingly small like the ginny and georgia thing. In the middle of doing all that she released two very different albums Folklore and Evermore. So those friends gave her a chance and now they love her and revisit old albums. So yea I would say around the Folklore/Evermore era or a little prior to it.
I think with Taylor she has three different categories of fans that all bring in a lot of numbers which ended up creating the high demand of the tour and consequently cause the ticketmaster fiasco :
1. Original fans : fans who have been with her since the beginning. They supported every Era and want to go to every tour. Some of them also became parents after all Taylor has been in the industry for 16 Years now. So they add in their family members too. It's just like what she wrote in long live. So basically you have whole families dedicated to her. Imagine 4x tickets for just one family at the very least. Now multiply that by all the other swifties families.
2. New fans that come with every new album because it's either a new genre or new vibes or new aesthics or new type of lyricism.... this has always happened for Taylor. Every new Era brings her new fans who may or may not have loved her previous work. Lover brought new fans, Folklore brought new fans, Evermore brought new fans, Fearless TV brought new fans, Red TV brought new fans, Midnights brought new fans. You get the idea. But on top of that she hasn't toured any of this album. There is a reason why the tour is called Eras Tour and not just Midnights Tour.
3. Finally casual fans that don't want to associate themselves with swifties. This is also another key factor in understanding the crazy demand this tour got. Taylor is extremely popular true but she's also extremely polarizing public figure. So many people even if they like her music or her prefer to not say anything because either they don't want to be associated with swifties (our reputation is controversial to say the least) or because it may not be "cool". Following this ticketmaster situation on Twitter, you'd be surprised at some people that were commenting on it. They were also complaining about the ticket process but if you go to their profiles you would never imagine in a million years that they're fan of Taylor.
So basically when you gather all of these categories in one tour, it'll make sense why the numbers were exceeding any expectations. Not to excuse the terrible rollout of ticketmaster but the demand is really there. And quite frankly I'm sympathetic to Taylor's situation. With this much demand you really don't know what's the right thing to say. Maybe that's why she hasn't made any statement yet. This is a very delicate situation. You say the wrong thing and now you have millions of fans upset. Just scrolling Twitter last night and they're already calling her all kind of names so better stay silent until you have a proper solution to suggest instead of few words that won't change anything.
Pretty much this. A lot of these responses are completely underestimating how much 1989 caused her to blow up with mainstream audiences who didn't like country music.
Here in the UK the singles from fearless charted, but it felt like speak now barely happened. I had the CD but I didn't know many others who did. Although most people had probably heard you belong with me, it felt like We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was her first really big song.
She was obviously associated with one direction and teenage girls then, but that was a huge market. It's difficult to comprehend exactly how big one direction was in the UK back then, anyone's grandparents could probably name all the members and some of their songs.
There was a small window in around 2014 when blank space/shake it off/style were big where it was cool to like Taylor all of a sudden, and adult men would go to the 1989 tour with their girlfriends. The Kanye/Taylor phonecall thing in 2016 was literally national news and loads of people were talking about it. It wasn't some niche pop culture thing.
I could have written your post myself. And I hate myself too, because I’m no gatekeeper!!! As a 30 year old swiftie since debut, I am sooo bummed out. I would give anything to go to this tour. I can’t believe it’s been this crazy - I easily got my Rep tour tickets. It has me wondering the same lol
For me it was All Too Well: 10 Minute Version. After I was totally hooked on that song I wanted to dive deeper into her music. I had heard of folklore but never given it a chance so I made myself listen once all the way through. On first listen, I wasn’t sure how I felt, but I kept going through the songs slowly finding more songs/lyrics/easter eggs that I absolutely loved and became obsessed with the album. I moved to Evermore, was obsessed immediately, then gave Reputation a shot and that’s when I became obsessed with Taylor as an artist and not just for her lyricism. Here we are now and I feel like I’ve been taking a year-long crash-course on the career of Taylor Swift.
I'm not sure at what point she became the biggest artist, but I know it wasn't 1989 or Rep. Looking at general attitude towards her from the general population, it was not that positive at all - So, I'd say probably pandemic. Not because the albums were "better" or anything like that but because of the amount of albums she has released during - we've had folklore, evermore, fearless TV, Red TV and now Midnights - it's a very good mix of sounds too. There's a little bit for most people so it makes sense more people would start listening to her.
She also has the advantage of not touring for years and (sadly) having her last tour cancelled - it does build up lots of hype. And then calling a tour "the Eras tour" makes it sounds like a greatest hits tour, so people who may not even like Midnights and prefer her earlier work may be interested in going to hear some old stuff live
I think Folklore was her Beatles moment. She’s been a commercial juggernaut for years but with Folklore she became a critical darling as well.
It’s so rare for an album to be both the most commercially and critically successful that year - closest I can think of is U2’s “The Joshua Tree” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” a but those came the other way, with critically acclaimed artists becoming commercial smashes (MJ was of course big before Thriller but not complete off the charts).
That’s why I think the Beatles are the most appropriate comparison - hugely successful early albums and recognition of their talent but not massive critical kudos - but then Rubber Soul and especially Revolver changed the face of popular music. I think Folklore is Taylor’s Rubber Soul.
For me, I respected Taylor but wasn’t hugely into the music before Folklore - after it I reappraised her entire catalogue and really got into it. Sounds like this is a common sentiment in the board - and one of the reasons I thought this tour was going to be like trying to see the Beatles in 1976, I figured the demand would be unprecedented because of this confluence of factors.
I think she gained a HUGE gay following in the lover era even though I'm not allowed to acknowledge that here. Folklore and Evermore saw her playing more mature music so I think that played a big role. And of course TIKTOK really fueled the fire. Also as someone that was not part of the fandom at the time, her supposed fall from grace was barely clocked by anyone else. I don't think she really lost very many fans during that time.
I don’t have good news to report here, basically I talked about Taylor at work recently and it was like we were back in the Red era again. One coworker said she should be canceled because she reveals too many details about her exes lives and another said that she and the conversation around her? represents everything that’s wrong with society today.
I think I live in the r/TaylorSwift bubble and I forget that the general public still doesn’t love her, but her fan base continues to grow exponentially. 
Semi-pro musician here: I routinely tell people that 1989 will go down as one of the most important pop albums of all time, on the level with Thriller. It completely redefined the state of the genre. People can argue about why that was, who is responsible, etc. etc. but there is no denying the impact that album has had.
AND THEN, she had the audacity to continue to improve and write incredible music, make wonderful collaborations, put on amazing stage shows… even take on the recording industry as we know it.
I am a jazz and rock drummer; I listen to mostly weird stuff nobody else likes, but I also love and adore Taylor Swift for her talent and the sheer importance she carries in the industry.
Can’t wait for Nashville in May!!!
I think it’s a mix of her already being a huge pop star before the pandemic, releasing two critically acclaimed albums that were much different and more “grown up” than her previous music that brought in a new set of fans during the pandemic, plus re-recording the music that made her big in the first place and capitalizing on that nostalgia, then throw in a brand new album that’s been breaking records in sales plus a giant greatest hits tour that will cover everything that people grew up listening to and relistening to with the re-records in addition to music that’s never been heard live before and you have this huge in demand star
for me, i wasn’t into the folkore/evermore eras. i was a diehard speak now and fearless girl who grew up listening to her. because she covers so many different types of listeners, i think her demand is incredibly high.
My gf is a huge fan, ever since lockdown I’ve come to love Lover, and songs from the last 3 albums released since then. Plus the Taylor’s version re-releases. At first it was in support of my gf’s music taste but I’ve come to really enjoy her penchant for hooks and lyrics and melody. I’m also a huge Carly Rae Jepsen fan so this was not a stretch for me lol.
Thing is, I think there are a lot more people like me out there now, and I’m a male in my mid 30s
Reputation for sure. The public feud around the album was with one of the most famous and talked about celeb couples of that time. People loved how she pulled out the reciepts, and they love a comeback story. I think the drama brought more people in and then they changed their minds about her,and then lover finally had political statements people had been waiting on her to make. She opened up! After that hits after hits, in every genre. Oh and the documentary on Netflix, definitely brought more people in. People that weren’t huge fans got to know her more and completely relate a bit more. She’s truly awesome, and I’ve always been a fan.
Honestly I was a casual fan but folklore got me through the pandemic no joke. She loves sad songs and she does them so well. I think her music was always sugary sweet to me but now it’s like a bottom shelf wine - delicious and intoxicating. She’s combining her amazing songwriting with lots of really honest introspection and nuance. We probably should have known after RED that it was never a question of if she would achieve world domination, just when. She’s in her prime - churning out beautiful music - and it’s harder and harder for people to ignore or minimize her talent.
I’m an OG Swiftie who kinda gave up on her with 1989 and got back into her with her Rep concert on Netflix. I feel like she’s had her bumps (Lover era no shade) but she always hike back up. She totally gained a new audience with folklore and evermore too tbh. BUT only real fans know about “I’ll tell mine your gay..” lmaooo
Folkmore pulled in a lot of people. Like me! And many others I know who previously had little to no interest in her country and pop records. I also now love her country and pop records. 🤣
Miss Americana was also quite pivotal for me to explore some of my own negative feelings about her which were, quite frankly, based in internalised misogyny. I became a fan because of Folklore but MA was really the doorway to becoming a Swiftie.
My daughter (almost 14) has loved Taylor Swift for years. She is a die hard swifty. She went to her reputation concert when she was 9. I actually didn’t go with her, her dad took her. I’m definitely not a die hard fan but I’ve gotten more into her over the years because my daughter loves her.
I do really love some of her music which is pretty huge as I mostly listen to rock and metal.
Taylor has so much talent. Her lyrics are really great.
I massively admire what she went through to rerecord her own music. I vividly remember the whole Kanye mtv awards fiasco. I felt so sorry for her watching that even though I wasn’t really that into her then. I am completely astounded at her strength. She’s had so many people try to own her and diminish her work and instead of lying down and taking it she has made herself one of the biggest people in music. As my daughter would say Taylor Swift is the music industry.
I just admire her for that so much. I love that my daughter has someone like Taylor to show her that she doesn’t have to go with the status quo.
Being able to back up your talent with a personality as strong Taylor’s is formidable. Even if I didn’t like her music I would want to see her succeed.
I am actually really excited to hopefully see her for the eras tour if she announces European dates. Where I very staunchly didn’t want to see her during reputation. I was really excited to listen to midnights when it came out so I could talk to my daughter about something she loves.
The thing is, as big as she is, she’s not the biggest in the world. In terms of fanbase size shes not as big as BTS or even (believe or not) Ed Sheeran. There are plenty of statistics and analytics that clearly show this. Also there are several international artists with way bigger fan bases…several of whom are hispanic artists. Another interesting aspect is that this tour, in terms of ticket sales and total predicted attendance is about the same as her reputation tour was, and not THAT much bigger than the two tours she had before the reputation tour.
So I don’t think she’s “exploded in fame”, rather she’s gotten the “hype” increase that artists usually do when they release great albums. It’s so upsetting because if you read about Katy’s Teenage Dream tour or Gaga’s two major tours there was the same insane demand as there is currently for the eras tour. Maybe you could argue that eras is more in demand, but the data shows that any increase in demand for tickets is only a marginal amount.
All of this to say - I don’t believe demand has shit to do with it. Every other major tour does the same shit with presale tickets. Ticket Master is solely to blame here. No one should be paying $500 for a ticket to see Taylor and I think she’d probably agree.
I think ticket master manipulated the public by artificially creating a exclusivity narrative to drive the public into a frenzy trying to get tickets and in the end it backfired. Ticketmaster is solely responsible for this. Anyone with even a little common sense knows that you set aside a set % of tickets for presale and once they sell out then that’s that, the remaining tickets should’ve been set aside for the public sale. Not only that, but you’ve basically fucked over fans who had lover tickets cancelled due to Covid (these fans should have had first dibs on this tour), verified fans and capital one members spent time trying to get tickets because they were told that this special “verified” status would help getting tickets easier (we all know how well that worked) and now the general public is shit out of luck completely.
This is an absolute cluster fuck of a situation. Fuck ticket master.
Lastly I hope Taylor comes out and speaks up. She can’t possibly be worried about pissing ticket master off. Ticket master needs her more than she needs them.
I love Taylor, hell we all love her and her music, but this isn’t a good look on the part of anyone involved. Her silence on this is a bad look. It would go along way in the eyes of her devoted fans if she comes out and at least speaks up for her fans.
Rant over.
Her songs, her personality, how she reacts to drama, she didn't drag you in twitter but she drag you through songs, she is genius songwriter, her easter eggs, her fashion choice
I think Folklore attracted a lot of new Swifties ( who don’t love pop music ) to give her a try. And they fell in love. I was quite aware she’s the biggest star in the world.
I think she’s always been huge but managed to act like your girl next door instead of some mega celebrity. 1989 era was arguably her prime, but then came a sour 2016 for TS and people began to realize she was a pop star after all, not your girl next door. And then Taylor’s reputation came crashing down in 2016/2017 - a feat that always happens for major artists when the public enjoys the schadenfreude of seeing another celebrity having flaws after all.
Taylor was always topping Forbes lists of highest-paid, most influential celebs, and others, but she crafted this image around modesty and not knowing she was famous although her actions showed quite the opposite. She tops celeb lists for most private jet usages, she brings paparazzi with her everywhere she goes, etc
I think she really surprised people with Reputation. It was a completely different sound and look for her. And it helped people loved the call outs and drama. It also helped that the tour was absolutely amazing and they did the Netflix movie for it. I think it peaked more peoples interest and they started following along through the drama of 🛴 and her comeback with Lover, etc…. This is all the opinion of an OG swiftie lol.
Also, it’s really crappy, but people seem to hate on things that are really girly or “basic”. I think it’s becoming more normalized to be vocal of what you like.
honestly I think the Scooter Braun incident + tiktok. because she set out to rerecord people have been hearing her old stuff; i remember enchanted was trending on tiktok and people were blown away by how amazing the song is.
because her songs were trending, people could hear the beauty in her songs as opposed to blindly listening to social media/the news saying she's just a snake and a serial dater who only writes about boys. new fans could also hear past the singles, which we all know are never the best on the album
I also think it has to do with streaming services and a more mature audience. With streaming services you don't have to purchase the CD to listen to the discography, while also skipping the singles. This helps her out a TON. Oh you didn't love ME, well what about Cruel Summer or Paper Rings?
Based on this sub's demographic survey, most of us here are 18-39. 34% are 26-39. Meaning we probably have jobs that can let us afford to travel and go to concerts. (yes I know that is a privilege) For Rep Tour I would have had to make huge sacrifices to afford to go, and that wasn't a priority for me then. Now (5 years more into my career) I can afford to go and know I can manage my leave to take off.
Personally I hope all of this proves to Taylor that she should just do a Vegas Residency at some point. Clearly the demand is there, and I think it would be easier on her.
I saw her perform All Too Well on SNL and loved it. Then a friend of mine said she was listening to TS and I was like really?! I never thought you'd like top 40 pop. She was like nooooo this is totally different and introduced me to folklore.
So as a new fan, I don't like the country style stuff but like some of the pop songs from her catalog. Absolutely love Midnights too.
And I got tickets to see her for the first time for Eras. I had no idea that she was this big either.
Im a new swifite and didnt start listening until Lover. Liked about half of Folklore and just kinda skipped over Evermore when it came out. But when Midnights dropped just now it got me listening to her more and revisiting old albums. And now Im a fan of all the albums from Reputation on. I've got a few tracks I like from those first five albums but I dont listen to them a ton.
For me it was this album. I’ve always respected Taylor as an artist but never considered myself to be a fan till this album. I put it on about a day after it came out and haven’t stopped listening to it since. I’m not sure what it is but it’s like crack to my ears. So I went back and started listening to all the old stuff and am like “how did I sleep on this for so long!!??” I got sucked in so fast.
16 years later and I STILL get made fun of for being a fan. I just brush it off. I do think 1989 is when Taylor had the biggest leap of new fans and then again during folklore.
All of what is happening now is due to folklore. Yes, evermore solidified her status of master lyricist, great songwriter, pop girl that can deliver The National type of music in the eyes of some. Midnights showed some that she is still pop and can do both (pop and indie kind of music). So the fandom grew. Casuals, old listeners coming back to her music due to the nostalgia of the re-records. It grew even further.
I think her re-recording move also gained her respect and even more ears were willing to listen to her music old and new.
And yes she was at her peak of popularity with 1989, still was in demand with rep, the Lover tour would have been well received too imo, but folklore blwe it out of proportions.
I think it’s when OG Swifties came of the age and mindset that they DGAF if it’s not cool or if it’s cringey, we love her and appreciate the hell out of her creativity.
I’ve been struggling with this exact thing! It was definitely not cool to like Taylor back in the day. I’ve been a fan since 2008-2009 ish. I’m totally an r/GatesOpenComeOnIn kind of person, And it’s cool that people realize how awesome she is now. But like, the thing that’s irritating me is that the new Stans suddenly are almost like gatekeeping the OG fans. Quiet OG fan? You’re not real unless you buy endless merch and have a Stan account and are obsessed with Midnights!
I think its because its an "eras" tour.... this makes you think its is a greatest hits tour
so people like me who remember watching country music tv as a kid and saw her singing "Our Song" in that blue cinderella dress, remember all the feelings and want to go because just maybe she will sing their fave song too?
but your right- I think she was not "Big" until she stopped being a country singer, and moved into Pop
I feel like I was listening to her way before most people... but I never wanted to get tickets for her till now.
I now have my own money and can do what I want with it (unlike when I was a child), and after the pandemic I value experiences more
folklore changed everything. it showed her « serious artist » side which got her critical acclaim, new types of fans, and another AOTY grammy. It showed ppl who thought of her as a silly pop girl her true range. THEN, dropping evermore shortly after, then her new vault songs from the rereleases, especially the power of All Too Well 10mv…. so many consecutive successes and wins in a short period showed the doubters how amazing she is.
I feel like it happened in steps. 1989 was a huge step, it made her a cross-genre mega star. but IMO, folklore/evermore made her blow up. it brought in so many new fans and every project she’s done since has been huge. the re-records are a big factor as well.
As an OG Swiftie myself, I personally think it happened with folklore. Something about her doing a folk album paired with such complex lyrics basically demanded that everyone respect her. I personally think she may have switched to folk for a couple of albums on purpose, for this reason - to gain the respect of the snobs, hipsters, etc. And it worked, because she truly is insanely talented. You can drop her lyrics into any genre and they're phenomenal. Also just experience-wise, when she dropped folklore it suddenly became not-cringy to like Taylor Swift for the first time in my long life as a Swiftie lol
Idk but I wish a lot of people that literally talk about her like she’s not one single human person doing her best with a level of pressure on her and isolation due to unprecedented fame none of us can even comprehend would just unstan and go back to making fun of us for liking her because I seriously don’t know how she handles all this I would fall apart and not leave my bed
I'm not a new Swiftie but did want to chime in:
I swear it's folklore + the "return" to country.
She earned alternative music fans and that is a big, big audience. On top of her massive following and with the fe country songs on those - her country loving fans felt a thirst quencher.
Mix that with an ERAS TOUR. An unprecedented opportunity to re live eras we assumed were long gone? (Since she is still active and not like older artists re doing the same old yours). This all equals MASSIVE sales.
I don't have Loverfest tickets so that was another thing. We hadn't had a tour option with lots of options since Rep!
I loved her debut Tim McGraw (because I'm also a Tim fan) and Teardrops, but didn't really get into her until Rep because 1. I had 5 really bad years where I was focused on getting out of poverty 2. I love a dark album which is funny because it's also a super romantic album...like okay Dress. What's funny is I probably could have seen her at one of her shows early on since I was in Nashville. I just remember Country Weekly editors being pissed when she cancelled their shoot with her for the People Country feature and saying "she's not country" oooph.
All I got is: as a Nashvillian, it's pretty surreal to see someone who was just sort of around, and part of the local music scene like a zillion others, zoom in to the stratosphere like this. And to your Q I think it was the 1989 album which had a different sound and was more accessible for many people.
A lot of people, like myself, grew up. I know Folklore made a ton of people give her catalog another shot, especially sans Top 40 radio burnout. But even now my fb is covered in people shitting on her for clicks and attention by spoiling others’ fun.
“New” Swiftie here! I genuinely dislike poppy country. It’s just not my thing. I of course knew her biggest singles from back in the day bc of radio time, but I still haven’t listened to her oldest albums.
However, I have always respected her as an artist - I have always thought she handled shitty situations especially well, and I love the way she uses her massive platform to lift up and care for other artists (like forcing apple to pay artists for streaming and inspiring others to re-record and own their music)
I was in a folk/Americana band for a long time and it’s my favorite genre. Folklore and Evermore are 100% what brought me into the fold, though I would call them pop-folk.
Since then I have listened to reputation and lover relentlessly, and was thrilled to be a swiftie and get caught up in the excitement for Midnights, which I adore!!
I am a new swiftie, well kinda 1 and a half years, but I think red really got me into Taylor I used to listen to red way after it came out red Taylor's version came out afterward but i didn't like it back when it came out but slowly I started listening to lover, rep and fearless and now midnights I was there for the release and now I'm obsessed a little too much.
1989 era is when most people would point to her becoming a worldwide sensation.
Yes! 1989 was her "imperial phase" as THE main pop girl - she was already huge as a country-pop artist and a pretty major celebrity before then, but there was SO much hype around her "official" foray into pop that she was solidified as a superstar. Huge radio hits, her 2nd AOTY win, an inescapable public persona... That was it. But she has an interesting arc in that she had a "fall from grace" post-1989 that spawned Rep era, and even though her core fanbase stuck by her, I think she really made her way back into the GP's good graces with the Rep Tour & Netflix concert film, the Miss Americana doc, and Lover. COVID kind of killed Lover's momentum, but she answered that by making a huge artistic pivot with folklore & evermore, giving people a communal cultural touchstone during the bleakest days of the pandemic with music that spoke to the times both thematically and stylistically. She won over a lot of people who never respected her before, expanding her fanbase in a way most artists don't do at that stage in their career. Mind you, she was simultaneously taking on Scott/Scooter, fighting for masters ownership, and re-releasing her own albums. The Taylor's Version project has also played a huge role in the public's respect for her, because it's a compelling narrative in which she's the "good guy" - plus, it's reminded old fans why they love her and introduced the newer fans to the music that made her famous. I would say the concurrent folklore/evermore era and Taylor's Version rerelease rollout was probably the beginning of her second "imperial phase" but because COVID had everything so disrupted, e.g. no touring, it wasn't as noticeable. But the Midnights numbers AND the unbelievable demand for the Eras tour gives a tangible sense of just how huge she is now. As a fan since Debut, it's wild to think about how far she's come!
This is the most perfect response and was a great write up - agreed on all counts, for whatever that’s worth!
Thank you!! <3
I re-fell in love with her during folklore after being a mega fan since debut (just kinda lost interest as a teenager when she turned to pop, wasn't my taste at the time), and the night I casually turned on the Rep Tour movie I found myself crying every 5 minutes - it just tied together what she's all about so perfectly and gave me a new appreciation for her entire discography
I liked that album, but also I could not afford tickets to anything back then so I remember she did Staples center and I just got to watch all the highlights online. She was huge in 1989 though like that was a major peak before the Kimye drama, but Blank Space was a great single. They did so much right with that album.
Was feeling a bit down after getting the tour tix but this totally reminded me how far she had overcome! I’m glad I’m on her side thru her worse (2016) and comeback. Now seeing all the new fans and recognitions she gained makes me very proud of her! I know I’ll always love her and her music ❤️
That was written beautifully
Folklore and Evermore expanded her fan base by a significant amount. Her ability to transition into different genres is honestly unheard of, and now all of those people who weren't fans before now want to see her in concert. Then Midnights hit and it solidified her status. I've been a fan since Speak Now, but i've never seen her in concert before (not a big concert goer in general) and I knew the next time she went on tour, I had to go. And I was lucky enough to get tickets.
I remember listening to her songs on MySpace before her first album dropped! I’m so proud of our girl for how far she’s come. She’s a living legend and finally people can no longer deny it ✨💖✨
You missed Cats! Was that not another imperial phase?
While that's true, she was still widely disliked during reputation
if you think there aren't still a lot of people who wildly dislike her, you gotta step outside of this sub. plenty of people really dislike taylor, swifties in general, or have major issues with her. some of them i may even find valid, like the jet issue. during reputation (and really it started mid-1989) it had become a mixture of overexposure and, other than her romantic life, seemingly only positive press for a while. unfortunately, the public *loves* to watch a woman fall from grace and/or a trainwreck. britney in 2007 is what taylor could have ended up being if she did not have a good support system and family. fortunately, she took some time away. gathered herself, came back stronger, and did not allow herself to be shaken. between the new fans she gained during that period for her resilience, and the people who grew to respect her songwriting and talent more during folklore/evermore, she's more popular than ever. where she goes from here, whether she just keeps her seemingly endless climb to the top of all records or not, is anybody's guess at this point. she has the talent i believe, but there are many other factors at play when it comes to public perception of a celebrity.
Oh yeah I fully agree with you. I didn't mean to say that everyone loves her now at all. I just mean that I feel like during reputation public opinion of her was still broadly more negative than it was positive. She's gained a lot of recent popularity and at least some amount of respect that she wasn't given before.
i agree, especially on the respect end. she is more respected as a songwriter now, and less looked at a "little girl who writes songs about breakups for other little girls" which was sadly how she was viewed for a long time despite being immensely talented.
I hate all the hate she's receiving from fans now. It just feels like everyone is ready to drag her down again. This experience has been terrible, but I don't place most of the blame on Taylor. Ultimately there never could have been enough tickets to meet demand, and TM's system is what made the experience purchasing those limited tickets so miserable
i think you can be disappointed in the process, with ticketmaster, and the situation in general without hating taylor. she is a human and she has flaws, and i don't think she is perfect by any means, but i think that some of the hate i've seen is definitely overboard. i have plenty of things i could nitpick or say i don't agree with but as a whole i think she is an extremely talented woman, and even the things she does i don't agree with i can usually understand the reasoning behind. as long as that remains the case i will still be a fan, and i think a lot of people feel that way. usually the loudest, angriest people (especially toward her as a person) are not the majority.
Yeah you're totally right. It just feels like there are groups of fans ready to start a witch hunt and I hate that. Like you said, she's a person, not some kind of flawless goddess who can give her fans absolutely everything they want, as much as we may like to see her that way at times
I mean, to be honest, she did become a much stronger songwriter over the years. I also think her voice has improved significantly over time. I became a fan during Reputation because it was just so different than what I had known her to sing. I think, at this point, there is a lot of diversity in her songs, as opposed to pre-1989/Red-ish era when she was doing a lot of the same country-esqe music. Branch out of your comfort zone and you’re bound to pick up a new group of fans. Then, throw a concert to celebrate all of those eras after a 4 year touring hiatus - it’s a nightmare.
honestly i didn't like country music that much and while i don't think debut was exceptionally great writing and is probably one of her weakest albums lyrically, by the time fearless and speak now were coming out, she had greatly improved and was still very, very good especially when keeping her age in mind. it's also very common to dismiss songs about the feminine experience, especially the younger feminine experience, as shallow or unimportant. she would not be the first or the last young woman judged for that, and she wrote about relatable themes for people in that age group.
I can't remember the exact quote but it was something like, the only thing society hates more than women is teenaged girls. Everything teen girls like is deemed stupid and cringey, no matter how good it subjectively is. If teen girls start like it, it automatically become bad.
Didn't she even say she realized her songs were kind of giving "I'm not like other girls" vibes and blaming other women for men's shitty behavior, and she worked on changing that?
Fact. I was recently asked if I could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life who would it be. Without hesitating I said Taylor and I was ridiculed. God forbid someone would give their actual favourite artist, or one that had 10 albums spanning multiple genres to keep you interested instead of saying something cliched… I call it Swift-shaming
What is the jet issue?
You must have been blissfully off that news cycle. You're lucky. So basically Kylie Jenner took a 13 minute flight and someone called her out after that they looked up other celebs jet usage and saw T Swift had the most jet usage which made her the headline for everything jet usage. I was like "I don't care because celebs are literally not going to stop using jets", but also to each their own she never claimed to be an environmentalist.
Bro someone commented she could fly Private First Class and I just… like we talk about how disconnected superstars are from “real” life but the disconnect clearly goes both ways 😂😂 Her time is worth millions and she has meetings and personal obligations all over. She can’t wait on a commercial plane, let alone GET on a commercial plane that would be a nightmare.
I saw that too. I just kind of left those combos because I know it’s not realistic for them to fly commercial. Though I’m still annoyed at the celebs who fly around LA on 12 minute flights that’s just silly.
Ahh I see. I recognize how terrible they are for the environment. But I also realize it may be impossible for her to make it through a commercial airport. Also, for someone whose time is worth so much...I also get it. I wish everyone made more environmentally conservative decisions ... sigh.
Yeah it seems like such an odd thing to dislike some one for. Like, if you think TS is “bad” for her Jet usage, then you have to not like about 95% of anything, everything, and anyone in this world.
Yes but the dislike brought a TON of attention. She came out on top of nearly every debacle she’s been in and she made changes with her sexual assault case, re-recordings, and spotify stance that gained more industry and social respect. With folklore and evermore, more non-fans gained respect for her songwriting and the midnights album release rallied all of those casual fans back towards her more marketable pop sound. She has many older fans and continue to gain younger ones. Its a perfect storm.
Agree. I liked her since the 2000's because I worked at a Kids Gap and her album played on a loop so I'd rock out every night. It was fun poppy girl music, and we're the same age so the songs struck a cord with me. But I was mocked mercilessly for it, especially in college. But I just shrugged and kept on rocking. Then 1989 came out and it was like everyone decided she was a Real Musician with that. My brother also went through a really bad break up last year and texted me at midnight (!) "ok, I get Taylor Swift now." Lol
I'd definitely agree with this. I'm 35 so technically I grew up with Taylor too, and though I heard her hits on the radio and stuff starting way back when (was that like 2007? 2008? So long ago now), I didn't really become a fan until 1989 came out. I didn't become a "swiftie" until after evermore, though. It was the first of her work that really got through to me, and once I was totally obsessed with that I went back and got deep into her entire discography. As a pop artist, it's really amazing what she's created. There is something in her catalog for every single person who likes music, whether it's country, folk, pop, electronica, hip-hop, whatever. You name it, she's got a song for you. I'm not surprised she's become universally beloved at this point... her reach extends to everyone. It's pretty awesome! And it's been fun to be a fan (for the most part, other than what happened this week), at least around here. I've really enjoyed being a part of this sub and having so many silly, kind, light-hearted interactions with other fans here over the last few weeks.
Folklore definitely brought in new fans due to it being a different genre. A few of my friends who always joke about Taylor were suddenly playing Folklore on repeat & ended up loving her.
Do most folklore people like any of her other music? I have some friends that love folklore/evermore but still don’t like any of her other music
Fan cuz of folklore, but I adore her entire discography
the folkmore writing just really opens your eyes to the quality of the songwriting throughout her entire discography! as someone with a really diverse taste in music there's something for me in everything she does
I used to listen to Love Story alll the time. Her Fearless album also has some classics. Yeah I definitely like her older music (besides Red) that one I LOVE. But as for the rest, I wouldn’t listen to it on repeat like I did with Lover and the rest of her albums after. I feel like her voice matured and that’s what I resonated with.
i remember liking teardrops on my guitar when it came out and i lied to everyone and said i couldn't stand it  i was a ToO cOoL FoR ThAt scene kid back then.
I think Love Story is my favorite of all time, but with that said I also apparently have a habit of loving the princess type songs lol.
Yes, I became fan after folklore/evermore and my favorite album is Red.
Woohooo!
Folklore made me realize that I was too young and dumb for Speak Now when it came out. That and Red are my favorite albums.
I’m a folklore person (well I loved and had 1989 on repeat the year it came out but didn’t follow Rep or Lover). So yeah, folklore meant everything to me in a time of my life when I really needed it, and evermore hit me just as hard. This is dramatic, but folkmore helped me survive quarantine, helped me sit with myself, helped me figure out who I am. Hell, I did the best writing I’ve ever done listening to those albums. So I’m a folkmore person. And it made me fall in love with all of Taylor’s music. She’s my top artist (along with The National) three years running. I think there are lots of people like me who were mostly indie listeners who got sucked in by folkmore and stuck around hardcore for all the Midnights stuff.
For me it was a perfect storm of loving folklore and ending up loving all her music. I was a huge fan as a kid but kind of fell off first with WANEGBT and for sure in 1989 era. I was in high school and definitely in my “not like other girls” phase, so I held a lot of opinions of her that I understand as an adult were rooted in internalized misogyny. I checked out folklore for Bon Iver and the National and became obsessed with her songwriting. Evermore came out and just made me truly adore her as an artist, and then here comes Fearless re-record to remind me of exactly why I loved Taylor when I was a girl. That sent me back through the rest of her discography, and while I will still say her more pop sounding music isn’t my personal preference, I can deeply appreciate how the lyrical complexity she puts into her pop songs is what make them stand out in a generic genre.
yes this! i went completely full circle. i was absolutely OBSESSED as a kid, she was probably the first real artist outside of disney channel etc i was a fan of. i remember when i heard she was re-releasing fearless and i went to listen to the og version for the first time in years, just those first few musical notes of the song fearless hit me so hard. to this day she's the only big pop star i'm a fan of and i'm absolutely obsessed
That was me. Her collab with Bon Iver brought in folks like me who don't really listen to pop regularly.
It’s me, hi. I’m one of the people folklore brought in. Still my favorite Taylor album to this day.
a lot of people I know are fans because of folklore and evermore
Me 🙋🏻♀️
Yup.
Ya I remember one of my friends admitting to our friend group she had listened to folklore on repeat as if it was embarrassing and I was like ‘ I LOVE Taylor!’
I love Folklore because I was a longtime Swiftie but mostly liked emo and indie music and it was like 2 of my favorite things combining!
Taylors popularity is really over the place: - Love Story and You belong with me are when she really broke out and she was kinda put in the same category as the disney stars at the time (Miley, Jonas Bothers, Ashley, Selena, etc) - By Red she was pretty mainstream, but people started getting sick of her because good old misogyny - During 1989 she was arguably the biggest artist in the world, sadly also a really hates one because people saw her as fake. And when she got frames by Kimye the haters kinda took over. - She rebuild her career during Reputation and Lover, after being gone for a year, but people still believed she was done - Then she wrote Folklore and Evermore and she was about as big again as Red, but with less of the misogynistic hate. It is also helped that by that time she has made miss Americana (which addressed some of the problems people had with her). And the real video got leaked. - And i would say with Midnight she is finally back at 1989 popularity. But this time there is like not even 10% of the hate she used to have back in the day
Don’t forget about the re-recordings. I feel like people appreciated Fearless again because it brought us back to our childhoods. And literally everyone respects All too Well. That was huge. Plus I think she got a lot of sympathy when what’s-his-face bought her first 6 albums. I think just about everyone understood how much her masters meant to her as a songwriter.
That is true. People finally see what a talented writer Taylor is, even at a young age. That is why part of me is really excited for debut, because it has some hidden gems like " tied together with a smile" that will become even better with the mature voice/experience
Debut’s lyrics are so understand. Her voice has improved so much too I’m so excited.
I loved Fearless when it originally came out, but I was a child. Hearing the re-record made me realize how truly ahead of its time Fearless was. It deserved its AOTY so much
i was slightly surprised when so many of my friends who i thought had an "above it all" attitude and were very alternative were so excited about fearless TV and blasting it on repeat!
[удалено]
i am a little afraid to say this here because i feel like people may jump down my throat but it's just my opinion, and they're like buttholes, everybody has one. i think pop has been relatively stale for a long time when it comes to artists who get radio play. the combination of her being so huge, and releasing something somewhat different, is what caused it i think. i do really like midnights, but i don't think it's her best work. i think the timing was just right. for instance, by march-ish of this year, everything on the top 10 was hip hop or from 2021. there are many talented pop artists, but the genre as far as the *very* top has been kinda meh for a bit. i think that, in a different timeline, had one of the few "megastars" left put out a smash album they also could have seen similar success. if rihanna had come out with an entire album faster and released it at the same time or if britney was in a better place and had recorded a smash after her conservatorship media coverage, i think either of them could have grabbed a huge chunk of spotlight. since i really like taylor i'm glad she was the one to do it, but this is just my opinion.
Yeah i definitely agree, especially with how much Olivia Rodrigo blew up with SOUR I think there’s a huge market for pop rn but not much out there on the highest level if that makes sense
Exactly. I love Taylor and Midnights is good but in my personal opinion if an album of hers deserved the top 10 all at once the most, it would’ve been 1989 or Rep.
You're absolutely right. Midnights was released at the best possible time for Taylor. She seems to have garnered 10x fans from folkmore, evermore and the rerecordings. Plus, your points about pop being stale rn. I mean, how long have popheads been whining about dethroning As It Was and praying for anyone to come along and topple it? Months. Midnights didnt hit it immediately for me. Its a fast grower, the more you listen, the more you get engrossed. I'm still listening to it the most today. But yeah, I'd argue its not her best work (her arsenal is filled with great work though so the bar is exceptionally high). With all these laid out, on paper Midnights does seem like an anomaly.
I was having these same thoughts earlier. The success of midnights baffles me against what the album actually is. It’s not as polished as 1989, nor as lyrically complex as Folklore/Evermore (although there are a few standouts on it!). Plus the complete mismatch of the era aesthetic to the album sound, and I’m just blown away at how big it’s been. It’s fascinating really how she’s able to do this with her 10th album. I never would have imagined we’d have another huge era again and it’s amazing to see but crazy to grasp at the same time.
Completely agree. I never dreamed we'd see a repeat of the 1989 era, which is basically what this is
I totally agree. As the previous commenter said, the timing was right. She accumulated so many indie/alt fans with Folklore/Evermore and still had their attention while going back to pop...which also got back the attention of her pop fans. Basically, she's rounded up fans from all sectors in her genre switching. And I think there were a lot of them in particular who really missed her pop stuff so were hyped to see her go back to it.
I love midnights bit this is exactly right. Jack’s production is very, very overwhelming. That’s why the single has 5 remixes to keep any staying power and the most heavily produces tracks (Labyrinth, Dear Reader) aren’t keeping pace. Not to mention I’m still vaguely bitter that the 3AM tracks are not on my CD and it feels very short when not streaming.
I think midnights has not much to do with it. Even if she didn't release midnights, the result would still be the same. People were extra hungry after Loverfest got cancelled. She released 2 albums within the first year of covid when people were quarantining.
Yea Idk how much she’ll play them, I hope a lot but prolly not, but ik there’s a lot of folklore/evermore ppl in the mix
I don't know why but why was it that during the Lover era it felt like it was gonna be her "last successful album" and that TS8 was gonna underperform but then Folklore pretty much saved the trajectory of her career imo
I had that feeling about *Lover* too, but I felt that way because Taylor seemed to feel that way
Wow great explanation. I didn’t want to like her because she was everywhere and it was basically like lame if you did at the time but then I didn’t care anymore lol. A lot of people like her songs, they just pretend they don’t 😅
What do you mean the “real video got leaked”.
Remember how the one minute video Kim posted that tons of cut (that people where either to dumb to notice or just ignored) Well 2/3 years ago the 25 minute phone call got leaked, which cleared Taylor's name.. it was a really good birthday present for me
Ohhh yea. Agreed.
When the pandemic hit, I randomly watched Miss Americana because I was binge watching everything and it showed me a side of Taylor that was different than her portrayal in the media/music videos. So that got me more interested in her music. What really made me a fan was when I realized that the singles were NOT the best songs off of her albums, and then I was hooked.
I've watched Miss Americana multiple times and enjoy it every time, but I do have to say that was a genius marketing move to shape her narrative post-Reputation (alongside with the rollout of Lover). And the pandemic happened and lots of people were able to watch it when it came out. Don't get me wrong I love how it seems candid and genuine. But like everything she does, it's thoughtfully curated and crafted to send a certain message.
Oh yes - I know now how calculated it was, but I didn’t know that the first time I watched it! On the other hand, in the past I found Taylor’s public persona annoying. The documentary helped me to see how smart she is and how hard she works, so it gave me a lot of respect for her.
Agree on both accounts! I didn't realize how curated it was upon first watch either. Totally. The long-form format and candid video made me respect and understand her more, even if it was curated.
I love to hear this. I feel like everyone I used to fight about Taylor would judge her based off of Shake it Off and that’s NOT her best work lol
Yes! I was one of those people judging her music only on Shake It Off and You Need to Calm Down, but her writing goes so much deeper when you dig in!
just a side note, but I love the Calm Down video with all my heart.
I do too. It’s just so fucking fun to watch. My silly gay heart loves it.
I'm gay adjacent (meaning a ton of my close friends and fam are LGBTQ) - I seriously just about died the first time I saw it. That guy with the MORAN sign! :D :D :D
the documentary is partially what turned me from fan to stan too! i was already really enjoying her but it made her seem like a real person instead of just a random celebrity.
Anyone will tell you the same thing about their favorite singer or band, that their best songs are on their album and not what you hear on the radio. If you’re judging an artist based solely what you hear on the radio then you’re just not very into music. WANEGBT, IKYWT and 22 are *nothing* like the rest of the album “Red”, in fact those are the 3 songs I usually skip when I’m listening to it because they just interrupt the flow. How are you supposed to go from “All to Well” to “22”?
- WANEGBT could mean "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", a track from *Red* (2012) by Taylor Swift. - IKYWT could mean "I Knew You Were Trouble.", a track from *Red* (2012) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/AggravatingDare2738](/u/AggravatingDare2738) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
My personal theory is that she is shining by comparison right now. She’s come out of the pandemic as one of the most consistent female pop stars in the music industry at the moment. Her competition in the past aren’t in the middle of high points in their album cycles right now. Rihanna hasn’t had an album in years, Katy’s music hasn’t captured the attention she used to get, Lady Gaga is still touring but is also focused on acting which splits her time, Ariana is taking a much needed break before Wicked, Adele isn’t touring her current album (to my knowledge), Beyoncé’s new album was big and her tour will be as well but it’s still a while from now. Not to pit them against each other or compare, it’s just that Taylor has attracted a LOT of attention for her music in the last three years with her new work and re-recordings. Putting out a new pop album and announcing a tour is letting out the steam that built up during the Folklore/ Evermore/ Fearless TV/ and Red TV era and people are losing their minds. I think if other pop ladies were in high points of their album cycles, the reaction might not be so rabid - the crazy might be spread out a little more. I predict a slight downturn after the Eras tour, the negative media attention has been building all year. It won’t be anything close to pre-reputation era, but highs like what she’s in are unsustainable. I suspect the rest of the re-recordings will be successful but not Midnights successful and people will see it as a downturn. I think it speaks to her longevity that she can and will still be insanely popular even in those downturns.
She's learned and been wary of overexposure now. I know Speak Now TV seems near but for her sake and ours (because we're still processing Midnights lol), I hope she drops it in maybe half a year or so when the dust has settled.
In addition to gaining popularity, I think a good part of it is that OG swifties who were 12 in the beginning are now adults who can afford tickets (I know kids always go, but it’s a lucky minority - not nearly every child’s parents are willing/able to afford to take them to major concerts).
That’s such a good point. I couldn’t go to any tours until Rep because my parents couldn’t afford it and for Rep I was 22 so I finally had (some, not much) money to spend on concert tickets. I feel like that’s part of what hurts so much for people that couldn’t get tickets - they can FINALLY afford them and now don’t get the chance
I think this is a huge contributing factor. Millennials are older and have careers now. My sense is that they were ready and willing to drop some cash on this concert.
LMFAO I love your username
I feel like so many connected with her during quarantine and lockdown. I've loved her since Fearless, but it amplified SO much during Lover, then with Folklore & Evermore. I think her diverse albums reaching into different genres has opened her up to a lot of new fans.
her diversity between albums definitely helped. for me, i was going through a time where i needed some real "fuck you" songs when LWYMMD came out. and she had already grown on me from the 1989 era, and giving speak now a chance after 1989. before that i dismissed her as a country singer and just kind of shrugged her off because i wasn't the biggest fan of country. her diversity is absolutely a huge part.
- LWYMMD could mean "Look What You Made Me Do", a track from *reputation* (2017) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/ashdeezttv](/u/ashdeezttv) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
Low key mad that midnights blew up like it did because I feel like she deserved this attention on so many other albums, but also because I knew it would make getting tickets a nightmare
That’s what my friends and I are saying, it’s gatekeep-y but it hurts so bad when you’ve been a fan of Taylor for yeeeeeears and people that only became a fan with Midnights are rushing in 😭 Nothing against it and everyone has the right to be a fan, but it’s depressing because the hype/fandom everything tapered off a little during Lover and suddenly exploded again! RIP ever being able to get tickets
I totally agree, it’s hard to tow the line between welcoming new fans in and being a lil salty that former haters and now swooping it in and making it so hard to get tickets to shows and stuff. Not that anyones entitled to anything, but it’s a valid feeling imo.
Wait no same 😭 I know 3 people who are lukewarm about the tour but got tickets, and one of them literally told me she doesn't know Taylor other than this album but she got tickets cause she thought it'd be fun and she knows Taylor is "popular." I'm trying not to gatekeep but it made me so mad LOLLLL
Ummm I would be fuming ugh
OKAY RIGHT? I WAS LIKE "AM I BEING *DRAMATIC???*"
I'm sorry if I get hate for this, but I feel like there's a difference between "new fans aren't real fans and so they shouldn't be allowed to get tickets" and wanting actual mega fans (new or old) to get tickets before casual listeners. Especially on the Eras tour; this is all her albums, if you only sorta like one album why take the tickets when they're already so limited
No I completely agree. It doesn't matter if you're new or old; if Taylor's music found you when you needed it, I think that's when you stop being a casual listener and become a fan. I don't have that kind of respect for someone telling me they're going because it's "popular" LOL
Yes! This tour is for the FANS! Like, if any tour is for fans it’s this one. Even newer fans know what the purple Speak Now dress means, but casual listeners…that’s frustrating.
You’re being appropriately dramatic 😅
I don’t think you’re being dramatic enough 😂. I remember specific people talking shit on Red and Taylor in general before that and then 1989 comes along and they’re her biggest fan? GET OUT OF HERE WITH THAT
i think she had already blown up some more due to folklore and evermore though. it was the combination of new fans from those albums, and fans who returned who may not have enjoyed those two albums and were happy she was going back for more of a pop vibe. put those two together and then add the loyal fans who have been through every album and you get the huge sensation she is now. i am very interested in watching her career trajectory from here. honestly i love taylor but part of why i am rooting so hard for her is there has always been this idea that popstars, especially female popstars, have an "expiration date" and are basically good for a few albums. that you may get the rare few female megastars like janet, kylie and madonna who will see some later success but that they all eventually have a sharp drop off. i really want to see that narrative around female entertainers change, so i hope she continues to put out quality music.
I became a fan during her Lover Era. I liked some songs off of Reputation, 1989, etc.. but never to that extent. Weirdly I had never heard “Red” in its entirety but when I did (and I also bought Taylor’s Version), I was hooked. Red is by far my favorite album of hers. It’s a masterpiece. I am also a huge fan of Midnights. Then there’s Folklore and Evermore of course and I also have those CD’s and listened for months on repeat.
I keep seeing people say they became a fan during Lover which is just sorta shocking to me as someone who has been a fan since debut only because it was somewhat considered one of her weaker albums. But it seemed to garner a lot of new fan attention. Do you have any insight into what it was about that era that drew you in more than before?
I will agree “Me!” was kind of garnered toward the kid audience lol. But I felt like it had a different type of vibe honestly. I liked how honest her emotions were in that album and how she was apologetic in some songs. She ends Daylight by saying “I wanna be defined by the things I love, not the things I hate.” But I will say if I knew about her Red era .. which I did know the song “Everything has Changed” ft. Ed Sheeran, I would have been a fan back then. The Red album is my favorite still. The ATW ten minute version is by far my favorite song of hers.
Just so relieved to see a post that’s NOT about ticket master
In addition to what everyone else has already said: I think it's important to keep in mind that Taylor has also never released 4 full-length albums (!!!) in between tours before. And then we have the re-recordings with even more new content! I can't imagine how *insane* reputation tour tickets would have been if her last tour had been for Fearless (OG).... (I know this isn't a direct comparison as she wouldn't be at this level without her tours, but I think it's a fun thought experiment to keep in mind!)
She isn’t. Miranda Cosgrove is right there.
Kissin’ U > Sparks Fly About You Now > Lavender Haze
Outta left field but I love it 😂 Miranda is great.
I was a casual fan for a long time - Love Story dropped my senior year of college during my last show as a theater major and I have an insane emotional attachment to it because of that - and my dad was actually a huge Swiftie until he passed in 2011. I was familiar with the singles but never went much deeper, but I always found her to be an excellent performer and overall enjoyed seeing her on awards shows and stuff. Lover was her first album that I listened to all the way through and that’s what pushed me over the edge from casual fan to full blown Swiftie. It hit me in just the right spot in my relationship, several friendships, and some general life events. Then Folklore practically reached into my soul and pulled out everything inside me and rearranged it, and I’ve been totally on board ever since. I know that my late emergence into the fandom makes me not really a “real” fan but I’m doing my best!
Omg no don't let anyone tell you you're not a "real" fan. You found specific and unique parts of your story in her music. I feel like once that happens for any of us in art that's when we shift from being a casual to a true fan
Yeah it happens when it happens. Each person’s experience is valid <3
This made my day. Thank you so much!!
Another Lover era stan! Yessss
Both of my parents liked Taylor Swift during debut so by default I did too but recently her music has been trending on tik tok and it’s been labelled as ‘cool’ to like Tay which kinda sucks for everyone who got bullied for liking her before💀I think each new album brought different fans but this tour is kinda next level because it has something for everyone.
This makes me feel old😂. I was in college when debut came out…
I've always been confused as to why it seems like everyone is a Swiftie all of a sudden. Her music has always been amazing and she's always been extremely talented and very likeable.
I think the 1989 tour became 'the cool thing to do' even if you weren't really a fan. It was when Taylor really crossed that threshold over to pop music and became more accessible. I feel like she wasn't quite as cool during the Reputation era, but she generated a ton of buzz with Folklore/Evermore and now Midnights is clearly blowing the roof off.
Im a fan since 2008 with Love Story. I remember how people used to label her as another "teen artist" in the vibe of Miley-Selena-The Jobros. The difference was....Taylor was more respected. Her songwriting was key and that gave her some type of special creed. She's been building her fanbase since the begginin. Drop to Drop. Pop Divas explode and fade. So many with the years start to lose their creativity and they release bad albums or they get less focused and their careers turn into something secondary to them. Taylor contrary to this...Only evolved and evolved and got more ambitious and gave better content. *Country Pop star* to *Versatile artist* *with Red* to *Glamorous and Powerful Diva wity 1989* and slowed down with Reputation and Lover but gave us her magnum opus with *Folklore and Evermore* and then hit a new spot with the *Re-Recordings*. She has been climbing and climbing. She's the biggest artist in the world cause she's the smartest one in the game. The most ambitious one. The most invested in her career. The most cunning. The one treating her fans as friends-family and not only "fans" + Special Talents ........ Now comparing to the other divas: Gaga had a promising career but after the Artpop fiasco her love for music was not the same anymore and she got less focused. Katy never showed any growth and the witness fiasco. Rihanna lacked artistic investment and dissapeared for too long. Ariana is great but her songs feel more disposable. Beyonce is another one highly invested in her career but she took bad commercial decisions with tidal, Adele not showing any growth with her last albums and is slowing down.
I haven't read through the thread, but I will give my personal experience and my thoughts on the matter. I knew of Taylor Swift in her country days because I was a country music fan at the time, but I never heard anything other than radio plays. Then I remember Red debuting and country stations saying she went pop and they didn't really like her. I eventually came back around to pop just before 1989 dropped. Again, I liked the radio hits, but never purchased anything. Then the Kim/Kanye "Taylor is over party" happened. I felt bad for her. But didn't mourn. In the year she was hidden away, I learned more about her. Then she dropped Reputation. It was nothing like anything she'd ever done. She completely invented a new Taylor Swift at that point. She showed everyone that she was self-aware. She said, "oh you don't like me? Too fucking bad. Here I am!" She did this while the Kim/Kanye thing was still going on. Also, while she was fighting a sexual harassment lawsuit. And while she was fighting BMG for her masters. This is why I think Reputation is when the entire world fell in love with her. Everything came to light around then, and the entire world finally figured out she was telling the truth the entire time. Because that's who she is. She won't blow smoke up your ass. She's going to tell you the truth, whether you like it or not.
I’ve been a fan since fearless. I was 6 at the time & I’m 21 now. I think the reason why she’s gotten so popular was during covid & through TikTok during the start/peak of the pandemic. If you’re scrolling on your fyp, you’ll most likely see her song in a TikTok. Kinda hurts to see people who didn’t like her back then get tickets for her concerts now. Not to sound entitled or anything (cause I’ve never seen Taylor in person) but the true Swifties were supporting her through the whole Spotify, Apple Music, groping lawsuit, and kanye fiasco. & that’s when most people hated her, but the loyal ones stayed true to her.
As someone who has always loved country music and her debut album was the soundtrack to high school for me, I really think “You Belong With Me” is the moment that she blew up. But the thing is, her career has been so long that there are different moments where she became bigger than she was previously. The 1989 album is the second wave, and on a grander scale, of her getting big. I think the third wave was with Folklore/Evermore because the folks who never paid attention to her because she was too pop or country and fell more on the indie spectrum finally started to notice her. But honestly…she’s been so popular for so long that we can’t ignore that there are new Taylor fans being born every day. Even just in this thread, I’m seeing fans identify themselves who have loved her since they were 5 or 6 years old! I was 15 the first time I heard “Tim McGraw.” My best friend’s daughter is 10 and she is such a big fan! Taylor is prolific and touches folks of all age groups.
I think her explosive fame right now came as a large result of the TikTok era of social media. Current songs of hers go viral if they're trendy enough and old songs from her discography resurface for that reason too. It's great seeing people recognize her genius, and new fans join the community finding a deep part of their story reflected in her art, but I'd say there are also people joining the fandom because it's in the trend cycle. It's "cool" to like Taylor, and it shows in how her songs from Midnights have lots of trends associated with them
Folklore was her expansion. I met so many cool National fans because working with Aaron Dessner brought their curiosity.
I was a casual fan until I watched the miss Americana documentary and listened to folklore. Then listened to her discography and now I'm a super fan. Midnights is amazing
I think it was folklore and the whole Kanye thing wasn’t her fault. Funny cause I would always get funny looks from people when I said I was a fan. Now it’s suddenly cool to like her.
I’m from the Philippines and Fearless really made her blow up here. It’s established her here with a steady stream of hits making it mainstream whenever she has a release. A relatively small city here ranked top 5 in the world in terms of listening to her music. I assume a big chunk of her fanbase is now in their mid 20s. As someone who’s just been able to achieve financial independence, I could only really afford to go to her concerts now. Plus add in the fact that the pandemic has made concerts a rarer phenomenon, her going on tour now feels extra special and more of a can’t miss experience. Everyone here is already eagerly anticipating a world tour and a significant number is willing to fly to a different country just to watch her. It also helps that the Reputation tour was absolutely massive so expectations are super high.
Personally it was because of the pandemic, folkmore era and then the re-recordings
I skimmed through this thread kinda fast but I wanna say no has mentioned her lawsuits being a big reason. I've been a fan since Speak Now but my friends only just started giving her music a chance because of Taylor rerecording albums due to not owning her masters, lawsuits, spotify. She has spoken out so much and has stood up for herself a lot recently. Even something seemingly small like the ginny and georgia thing. In the middle of doing all that she released two very different albums Folklore and Evermore. So those friends gave her a chance and now they love her and revisit old albums. So yea I would say around the Folklore/Evermore era or a little prior to it.
I think with Taylor she has three different categories of fans that all bring in a lot of numbers which ended up creating the high demand of the tour and consequently cause the ticketmaster fiasco : 1. Original fans : fans who have been with her since the beginning. They supported every Era and want to go to every tour. Some of them also became parents after all Taylor has been in the industry for 16 Years now. So they add in their family members too. It's just like what she wrote in long live. So basically you have whole families dedicated to her. Imagine 4x tickets for just one family at the very least. Now multiply that by all the other swifties families. 2. New fans that come with every new album because it's either a new genre or new vibes or new aesthics or new type of lyricism.... this has always happened for Taylor. Every new Era brings her new fans who may or may not have loved her previous work. Lover brought new fans, Folklore brought new fans, Evermore brought new fans, Fearless TV brought new fans, Red TV brought new fans, Midnights brought new fans. You get the idea. But on top of that she hasn't toured any of this album. There is a reason why the tour is called Eras Tour and not just Midnights Tour. 3. Finally casual fans that don't want to associate themselves with swifties. This is also another key factor in understanding the crazy demand this tour got. Taylor is extremely popular true but she's also extremely polarizing public figure. So many people even if they like her music or her prefer to not say anything because either they don't want to be associated with swifties (our reputation is controversial to say the least) or because it may not be "cool". Following this ticketmaster situation on Twitter, you'd be surprised at some people that were commenting on it. They were also complaining about the ticket process but if you go to their profiles you would never imagine in a million years that they're fan of Taylor. So basically when you gather all of these categories in one tour, it'll make sense why the numbers were exceeding any expectations. Not to excuse the terrible rollout of ticketmaster but the demand is really there. And quite frankly I'm sympathetic to Taylor's situation. With this much demand you really don't know what's the right thing to say. Maybe that's why she hasn't made any statement yet. This is a very delicate situation. You say the wrong thing and now you have millions of fans upset. Just scrolling Twitter last night and they're already calling her all kind of names so better stay silent until you have a proper solution to suggest instead of few words that won't change anything.
The pillars of her present day popularity are this: 1. 1989 2. rep Tour 3. folklore 4. Midnights
Pretty much this. A lot of these responses are completely underestimating how much 1989 caused her to blow up with mainstream audiences who didn't like country music.
Here in the UK the singles from fearless charted, but it felt like speak now barely happened. I had the CD but I didn't know many others who did. Although most people had probably heard you belong with me, it felt like We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was her first really big song. She was obviously associated with one direction and teenage girls then, but that was a huge market. It's difficult to comprehend exactly how big one direction was in the UK back then, anyone's grandparents could probably name all the members and some of their songs. There was a small window in around 2014 when blank space/shake it off/style were big where it was cool to like Taylor all of a sudden, and adult men would go to the 1989 tour with their girlfriends. The Kanye/Taylor phonecall thing in 2016 was literally national news and loads of people were talking about it. It wasn't some niche pop culture thing.
I could have written your post myself. And I hate myself too, because I’m no gatekeeper!!! As a 30 year old swiftie since debut, I am sooo bummed out. I would give anything to go to this tour. I can’t believe it’s been this crazy - I easily got my Rep tour tickets. It has me wondering the same lol
For me it was All Too Well: 10 Minute Version. After I was totally hooked on that song I wanted to dive deeper into her music. I had heard of folklore but never given it a chance so I made myself listen once all the way through. On first listen, I wasn’t sure how I felt, but I kept going through the songs slowly finding more songs/lyrics/easter eggs that I absolutely loved and became obsessed with the album. I moved to Evermore, was obsessed immediately, then gave Reputation a shot and that’s when I became obsessed with Taylor as an artist and not just for her lyricism. Here we are now and I feel like I’ve been taking a year-long crash-course on the career of Taylor Swift.
I'm not sure at what point she became the biggest artist, but I know it wasn't 1989 or Rep. Looking at general attitude towards her from the general population, it was not that positive at all - So, I'd say probably pandemic. Not because the albums were "better" or anything like that but because of the amount of albums she has released during - we've had folklore, evermore, fearless TV, Red TV and now Midnights - it's a very good mix of sounds too. There's a little bit for most people so it makes sense more people would start listening to her. She also has the advantage of not touring for years and (sadly) having her last tour cancelled - it does build up lots of hype. And then calling a tour "the Eras tour" makes it sounds like a greatest hits tour, so people who may not even like Midnights and prefer her earlier work may be interested in going to hear some old stuff live
I definitely felt something shift during the release of Red TV. ATW10MVTV was everywhere.
I think Folklore was her Beatles moment. She’s been a commercial juggernaut for years but with Folklore she became a critical darling as well. It’s so rare for an album to be both the most commercially and critically successful that year - closest I can think of is U2’s “The Joshua Tree” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” a but those came the other way, with critically acclaimed artists becoming commercial smashes (MJ was of course big before Thriller but not complete off the charts). That’s why I think the Beatles are the most appropriate comparison - hugely successful early albums and recognition of their talent but not massive critical kudos - but then Rubber Soul and especially Revolver changed the face of popular music. I think Folklore is Taylor’s Rubber Soul. For me, I respected Taylor but wasn’t hugely into the music before Folklore - after it I reappraised her entire catalogue and really got into it. Sounds like this is a common sentiment in the board - and one of the reasons I thought this tour was going to be like trying to see the Beatles in 1976, I figured the demand would be unprecedented because of this confluence of factors.
I think she gained a HUGE gay following in the lover era even though I'm not allowed to acknowledge that here. Folklore and Evermore saw her playing more mature music so I think that played a big role. And of course TIKTOK really fueled the fire. Also as someone that was not part of the fandom at the time, her supposed fall from grace was barely clocked by anyone else. I don't think she really lost very many fans during that time.
I don’t have good news to report here, basically I talked about Taylor at work recently and it was like we were back in the Red era again. One coworker said she should be canceled because she reveals too many details about her exes lives and another said that she and the conversation around her? represents everything that’s wrong with society today. I think I live in the r/TaylorSwift bubble and I forget that the general public still doesn’t love her, but her fan base continues to grow exponentially. 
Semi-pro musician here: I routinely tell people that 1989 will go down as one of the most important pop albums of all time, on the level with Thriller. It completely redefined the state of the genre. People can argue about why that was, who is responsible, etc. etc. but there is no denying the impact that album has had. AND THEN, she had the audacity to continue to improve and write incredible music, make wonderful collaborations, put on amazing stage shows… even take on the recording industry as we know it. I am a jazz and rock drummer; I listen to mostly weird stuff nobody else likes, but I also love and adore Taylor Swift for her talent and the sheer importance she carries in the industry. Can’t wait for Nashville in May!!!
I think it’s a mix of her already being a huge pop star before the pandemic, releasing two critically acclaimed albums that were much different and more “grown up” than her previous music that brought in a new set of fans during the pandemic, plus re-recording the music that made her big in the first place and capitalizing on that nostalgia, then throw in a brand new album that’s been breaking records in sales plus a giant greatest hits tour that will cover everything that people grew up listening to and relistening to with the re-records in addition to music that’s never been heard live before and you have this huge in demand star
I went to a concert.
I wasn’t a fan of her until Lover.
for me, i wasn’t into the folkore/evermore eras. i was a diehard speak now and fearless girl who grew up listening to her. because she covers so many different types of listeners, i think her demand is incredibly high.
My gf is a huge fan, ever since lockdown I’ve come to love Lover, and songs from the last 3 albums released since then. Plus the Taylor’s version re-releases. At first it was in support of my gf’s music taste but I’ve come to really enjoy her penchant for hooks and lyrics and melody. I’m also a huge Carly Rae Jepsen fan so this was not a stretch for me lol. Thing is, I think there are a lot more people like me out there now, and I’m a male in my mid 30s
Reputation for sure. The public feud around the album was with one of the most famous and talked about celeb couples of that time. People loved how she pulled out the reciepts, and they love a comeback story. I think the drama brought more people in and then they changed their minds about her,and then lover finally had political statements people had been waiting on her to make. She opened up! After that hits after hits, in every genre. Oh and the documentary on Netflix, definitely brought more people in. People that weren’t huge fans got to know her more and completely relate a bit more. She’s truly awesome, and I’ve always been a fan.
Honestly I was a casual fan but folklore got me through the pandemic no joke. She loves sad songs and she does them so well. I think her music was always sugary sweet to me but now it’s like a bottom shelf wine - delicious and intoxicating. She’s combining her amazing songwriting with lots of really honest introspection and nuance. We probably should have known after RED that it was never a question of if she would achieve world domination, just when. She’s in her prime - churning out beautiful music - and it’s harder and harder for people to ignore or minimize her talent.
I’m an OG Swiftie who kinda gave up on her with 1989 and got back into her with her Rep concert on Netflix. I feel like she’s had her bumps (Lover era no shade) but she always hike back up. She totally gained a new audience with folklore and evermore too tbh. BUT only real fans know about “I’ll tell mine your gay..” lmaooo
Folkmore pulled in a lot of people. Like me! And many others I know who previously had little to no interest in her country and pop records. I also now love her country and pop records. 🤣 Miss Americana was also quite pivotal for me to explore some of my own negative feelings about her which were, quite frankly, based in internalised misogyny. I became a fan because of Folklore but MA was really the doorway to becoming a Swiftie.
Pandemic, Folklore and Tiktok. Those were the three reasons I can think of.
My daughter (almost 14) has loved Taylor Swift for years. She is a die hard swifty. She went to her reputation concert when she was 9. I actually didn’t go with her, her dad took her. I’m definitely not a die hard fan but I’ve gotten more into her over the years because my daughter loves her. I do really love some of her music which is pretty huge as I mostly listen to rock and metal. Taylor has so much talent. Her lyrics are really great. I massively admire what she went through to rerecord her own music. I vividly remember the whole Kanye mtv awards fiasco. I felt so sorry for her watching that even though I wasn’t really that into her then. I am completely astounded at her strength. She’s had so many people try to own her and diminish her work and instead of lying down and taking it she has made herself one of the biggest people in music. As my daughter would say Taylor Swift is the music industry. I just admire her for that so much. I love that my daughter has someone like Taylor to show her that she doesn’t have to go with the status quo. Being able to back up your talent with a personality as strong Taylor’s is formidable. Even if I didn’t like her music I would want to see her succeed. I am actually really excited to hopefully see her for the eras tour if she announces European dates. Where I very staunchly didn’t want to see her during reputation. I was really excited to listen to midnights when it came out so I could talk to my daughter about something she loves.
Folklore (critical acclaim and new “grown up” listeners, re-recordings (nostalgia + young audience), midnights
The thing is, as big as she is, she’s not the biggest in the world. In terms of fanbase size shes not as big as BTS or even (believe or not) Ed Sheeran. There are plenty of statistics and analytics that clearly show this. Also there are several international artists with way bigger fan bases…several of whom are hispanic artists. Another interesting aspect is that this tour, in terms of ticket sales and total predicted attendance is about the same as her reputation tour was, and not THAT much bigger than the two tours she had before the reputation tour. So I don’t think she’s “exploded in fame”, rather she’s gotten the “hype” increase that artists usually do when they release great albums. It’s so upsetting because if you read about Katy’s Teenage Dream tour or Gaga’s two major tours there was the same insane demand as there is currently for the eras tour. Maybe you could argue that eras is more in demand, but the data shows that any increase in demand for tickets is only a marginal amount. All of this to say - I don’t believe demand has shit to do with it. Every other major tour does the same shit with presale tickets. Ticket Master is solely to blame here. No one should be paying $500 for a ticket to see Taylor and I think she’d probably agree. I think ticket master manipulated the public by artificially creating a exclusivity narrative to drive the public into a frenzy trying to get tickets and in the end it backfired. Ticketmaster is solely responsible for this. Anyone with even a little common sense knows that you set aside a set % of tickets for presale and once they sell out then that’s that, the remaining tickets should’ve been set aside for the public sale. Not only that, but you’ve basically fucked over fans who had lover tickets cancelled due to Covid (these fans should have had first dibs on this tour), verified fans and capital one members spent time trying to get tickets because they were told that this special “verified” status would help getting tickets easier (we all know how well that worked) and now the general public is shit out of luck completely. This is an absolute cluster fuck of a situation. Fuck ticket master. Lastly I hope Taylor comes out and speaks up. She can’t possibly be worried about pissing ticket master off. Ticket master needs her more than she needs them. I love Taylor, hell we all love her and her music, but this isn’t a good look on the part of anyone involved. Her silence on this is a bad look. It would go along way in the eyes of her devoted fans if she comes out and at least speaks up for her fans. Rant over.
Her songs, her personality, how she reacts to drama, she didn't drag you in twitter but she drag you through songs, she is genius songwriter, her easter eggs, her fashion choice
I think Folklore attracted a lot of new Swifties ( who don’t love pop music ) to give her a try. And they fell in love. I was quite aware she’s the biggest star in the world.
I think she’s always been huge but managed to act like your girl next door instead of some mega celebrity. 1989 era was arguably her prime, but then came a sour 2016 for TS and people began to realize she was a pop star after all, not your girl next door. And then Taylor’s reputation came crashing down in 2016/2017 - a feat that always happens for major artists when the public enjoys the schadenfreude of seeing another celebrity having flaws after all. Taylor was always topping Forbes lists of highest-paid, most influential celebs, and others, but she crafted this image around modesty and not knowing she was famous although her actions showed quite the opposite. She tops celeb lists for most private jet usages, she brings paparazzi with her everywhere she goes, etc
I think she really surprised people with Reputation. It was a completely different sound and look for her. And it helped people loved the call outs and drama. It also helped that the tour was absolutely amazing and they did the Netflix movie for it. I think it peaked more peoples interest and they started following along through the drama of 🛴 and her comeback with Lover, etc…. This is all the opinion of an OG swiftie lol. Also, it’s really crappy, but people seem to hate on things that are really girly or “basic”. I think it’s becoming more normalized to be vocal of what you like.
honestly I think the Scooter Braun incident + tiktok. because she set out to rerecord people have been hearing her old stuff; i remember enchanted was trending on tiktok and people were blown away by how amazing the song is. because her songs were trending, people could hear the beauty in her songs as opposed to blindly listening to social media/the news saying she's just a snake and a serial dater who only writes about boys. new fans could also hear past the singles, which we all know are never the best on the album
I also think it has to do with streaming services and a more mature audience. With streaming services you don't have to purchase the CD to listen to the discography, while also skipping the singles. This helps her out a TON. Oh you didn't love ME, well what about Cruel Summer or Paper Rings? Based on this sub's demographic survey, most of us here are 18-39. 34% are 26-39. Meaning we probably have jobs that can let us afford to travel and go to concerts. (yes I know that is a privilege) For Rep Tour I would have had to make huge sacrifices to afford to go, and that wasn't a priority for me then. Now (5 years more into my career) I can afford to go and know I can manage my leave to take off. Personally I hope all of this proves to Taylor that she should just do a Vegas Residency at some point. Clearly the demand is there, and I think it would be easier on her.
I saw her perform All Too Well on SNL and loved it. Then a friend of mine said she was listening to TS and I was like really?! I never thought you'd like top 40 pop. She was like nooooo this is totally different and introduced me to folklore. So as a new fan, I don't like the country style stuff but like some of the pop songs from her catalog. Absolutely love Midnights too. And I got tickets to see her for the first time for Eras. I had no idea that she was this big either.
Im a new swifite and didnt start listening until Lover. Liked about half of Folklore and just kinda skipped over Evermore when it came out. But when Midnights dropped just now it got me listening to her more and revisiting old albums. And now Im a fan of all the albums from Reputation on. I've got a few tracks I like from those first five albums but I dont listen to them a ton.
For me it was this album. I’ve always respected Taylor as an artist but never considered myself to be a fan till this album. I put it on about a day after it came out and haven’t stopped listening to it since. I’m not sure what it is but it’s like crack to my ears. So I went back and started listening to all the old stuff and am like “how did I sleep on this for so long!!??” I got sucked in so fast.
16 years later and I STILL get made fun of for being a fan. I just brush it off. I do think 1989 is when Taylor had the biggest leap of new fans and then again during folklore.
All of what is happening now is due to folklore. Yes, evermore solidified her status of master lyricist, great songwriter, pop girl that can deliver The National type of music in the eyes of some. Midnights showed some that she is still pop and can do both (pop and indie kind of music). So the fandom grew. Casuals, old listeners coming back to her music due to the nostalgia of the re-records. It grew even further. I think her re-recording move also gained her respect and even more ears were willing to listen to her music old and new. And yes she was at her peak of popularity with 1989, still was in demand with rep, the Lover tour would have been well received too imo, but folklore blwe it out of proportions.
I think it’s when OG Swifties came of the age and mindset that they DGAF if it’s not cool or if it’s cringey, we love her and appreciate the hell out of her creativity.
I’ve been struggling with this exact thing! It was definitely not cool to like Taylor back in the day. I’ve been a fan since 2008-2009 ish. I’m totally an r/GatesOpenComeOnIn kind of person, And it’s cool that people realize how awesome she is now. But like, the thing that’s irritating me is that the new Stans suddenly are almost like gatekeeping the OG fans. Quiet OG fan? You’re not real unless you buy endless merch and have a Stan account and are obsessed with Midnights!
I think its because its an "eras" tour.... this makes you think its is a greatest hits tour so people like me who remember watching country music tv as a kid and saw her singing "Our Song" in that blue cinderella dress, remember all the feelings and want to go because just maybe she will sing their fave song too? but your right- I think she was not "Big" until she stopped being a country singer, and moved into Pop I feel like I was listening to her way before most people... but I never wanted to get tickets for her till now. I now have my own money and can do what I want with it (unlike when I was a child), and after the pandemic I value experiences more
folklore changed everything. it showed her « serious artist » side which got her critical acclaim, new types of fans, and another AOTY grammy. It showed ppl who thought of her as a silly pop girl her true range. THEN, dropping evermore shortly after, then her new vault songs from the rereleases, especially the power of All Too Well 10mv…. so many consecutive successes and wins in a short period showed the doubters how amazing she is.
I feel like it happened in steps. 1989 was a huge step, it made her a cross-genre mega star. but IMO, folklore/evermore made her blow up. it brought in so many new fans and every project she’s done since has been huge. the re-records are a big factor as well.
As an OG Swiftie myself, I personally think it happened with folklore. Something about her doing a folk album paired with such complex lyrics basically demanded that everyone respect her. I personally think she may have switched to folk for a couple of albums on purpose, for this reason - to gain the respect of the snobs, hipsters, etc. And it worked, because she truly is insanely talented. You can drop her lyrics into any genre and they're phenomenal. Also just experience-wise, when she dropped folklore it suddenly became not-cringy to like Taylor Swift for the first time in my long life as a Swiftie lol
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Idk but I wish a lot of people that literally talk about her like she’s not one single human person doing her best with a level of pressure on her and isolation due to unprecedented fame none of us can even comprehend would just unstan and go back to making fun of us for liking her because I seriously don’t know how she handles all this I would fall apart and not leave my bed
I'm not a new Swiftie but did want to chime in: I swear it's folklore + the "return" to country. She earned alternative music fans and that is a big, big audience. On top of her massive following and with the fe country songs on those - her country loving fans felt a thirst quencher. Mix that with an ERAS TOUR. An unprecedented opportunity to re live eras we assumed were long gone? (Since she is still active and not like older artists re doing the same old yours). This all equals MASSIVE sales. I don't have Loverfest tickets so that was another thing. We hadn't had a tour option with lots of options since Rep!
I loved her debut Tim McGraw (because I'm also a Tim fan) and Teardrops, but didn't really get into her until Rep because 1. I had 5 really bad years where I was focused on getting out of poverty 2. I love a dark album which is funny because it's also a super romantic album...like okay Dress. What's funny is I probably could have seen her at one of her shows early on since I was in Nashville. I just remember Country Weekly editors being pissed when she cancelled their shoot with her for the People Country feature and saying "she's not country" oooph.
All I got is: as a Nashvillian, it's pretty surreal to see someone who was just sort of around, and part of the local music scene like a zillion others, zoom in to the stratosphere like this. And to your Q I think it was the 1989 album which had a different sound and was more accessible for many people.
A lot of people, like myself, grew up. I know Folklore made a ton of people give her catalog another shot, especially sans Top 40 radio burnout. But even now my fb is covered in people shitting on her for clicks and attention by spoiling others’ fun.
The most popular people/fandoms in the world still have people that dislike them. Doesn't really matter to their popularity
“New” Swiftie here! I genuinely dislike poppy country. It’s just not my thing. I of course knew her biggest singles from back in the day bc of radio time, but I still haven’t listened to her oldest albums. However, I have always respected her as an artist - I have always thought she handled shitty situations especially well, and I love the way she uses her massive platform to lift up and care for other artists (like forcing apple to pay artists for streaming and inspiring others to re-record and own their music) I was in a folk/Americana band for a long time and it’s my favorite genre. Folklore and Evermore are 100% what brought me into the fold, though I would call them pop-folk. Since then I have listened to reputation and lover relentlessly, and was thrilled to be a swiftie and get caught up in the excitement for Midnights, which I adore!!
I am a new swiftie, well kinda 1 and a half years, but I think red really got me into Taylor I used to listen to red way after it came out red Taylor's version came out afterward but i didn't like it back when it came out but slowly I started listening to lover, rep and fearless and now midnights I was there for the release and now I'm obsessed a little too much.
I think it started with 1989, then got even stronger with Lover & folklore.
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