Why is Taylor Swift so successful?

[amiro1989]

Taylor does not depend on the songwriting politics of the industry to release hits, she writes them. I honestly use to not like her one bit. I watched her Netflix documentary last year, out of sheer curiosity, and I was so surprised at how little I knew about her. I know the documentary is obviously formatted for us to like her, but I admire artists that are so hands-on. She does not need to write songs with 10-15 songwriters to get the results she has. She is quite capable herself.

Her voice has also grew on me a lot since I heard, Out of the Woods. I think it's an incredible track.

I'm glad I finally see her for what she is; a very talented songwriter with a hands-on approach on her career. She is not the best vocalist, but she has something, and that something keeps us coming back for more everytime.

[GMFlop]

She's talented. She knows the game and how to play it.

[Crabo Lavender Turmeric]

She was very relatable at the beginning of her career... like "I am just like you but I happen to perform".

Also, in my opinion, her transition was very smart - letter by letter and not from A to Z. This way, she managed to keep her following.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Crabo Lavender Turmeric
spelling

[SS91]

She works hard. Owns her craft. Writes her own songs. Can actually play instruments. Her vocals keep getting better. She knows a hook. But honestly above all else: her writing is relatable, and she LOVES her fans and shows it. 

[Adriannn]

8 minutes ago, SS91 said:

She works hard. Owns her craft. Writes her own songs. Can actually play instruments. Her vocals keep getting better. She knows a hook. But honestly above all else: her writing is relatable, and she LOVES her fans and shows it. 

ALL THIS 

[MortalMarshmallow]

3 hours ago, The Greatest Show said:

I forgot what it sounds like so I listened to it again and I found enough things wrong with it. English pronounciation, lyrics and vocals.  

It’s a bop and I’m not into Kpop but after watching their Grammy performance with Lil Nas I found out the person V is kinda hot .
So now I am slightly interested .
They are all total dolls tho probably surgically “perfected”, at least some of them are obviously. Kpop scene is savage. Actually exposes the industry with its rules and standards. 

[Slayer]

Talented and hard working  

[Bigno]

First and foremost, I think her work ethic is the main factor. She has noticeably worked on improving things about her that truly sucked at the beginning. 

Second, she has a talent to put primal feelings into words. I have said it many times, I hated and still hate her earlier stuff, it is very silly, but it is clear many people connected with it. Still, she has a way with words and melody. 

Third, she has not been scared of showing her vulnerabilities and sticking to herself. It could have been easy to follow the "every popstar route" with over***ualized image and lyrics. Even to this day, she has never done it, which makes her success more poignant. 

And finally, ENORMOUS PRIVILEGE. People say she has been a smart business woman, which is true, but she had that chance, at least early on, thanks to having had her dad be one of the owners of her record label and giving her all the leverage. I mean, look at early Britney, in spite of being so young, she knew what she was doing. She refused to do a stupid Power Rangers-esque video for BOMT, she chose and fought for songs and singles. She wanted to come out with Original Doll, which apparently had a totally different style, but they did not let her. Imagine if a record label crushed Taylor's choice of creating and releasing Folklore? It is those key choices that make a huge difference. But why was Britney crushed by a bunch of powerful decision makers? Cause she did not come from the same privilege Taylor came from. It is not the same to be a young girl in the business, but have your daddy buy part of the record label and become the partial owner, help and support you, guiding you with business choices (having been an investment banker) than being a poor girl from Louisiana, with an abusive, alcoholic father and an abused mom with no education, no job, a damily in bankruptcy. I bet many women, Britney included, could have been way savier about their careers, if only they had the same Opportunity Taylor did. And I am not taking away the fact that Taylor's biggest talent is, arguably, her capacity to build her brand up. But she was able to do that cause she came from a privileged background very few people have. 

[redacted statement]

21 minutes ago, Bigno said:

First and foremost, I think her work ethic is the main factor. She has noticeably worked on improving things about her that truly sucked at the beginning. 

Second, she has a talent to put primal feelings into words. I have said it many times, I hated and still hate her earlier stuff, it is very silly, but it is clear many people connected with it. Still, she has a way with words and melody. 

Third, she has not been scared of showing her vulnerabilities and sticking to herself. It could have been easy to follow the "every popstar route" with over***ualized image and lyrics. Even to this day, she has never done it, which makes her success more poignant. 

And finally, ENORMOUS PRIVILEGE. People say she has been a smart business woman, which is true, but she had that chance, at least early on, thanks to having had her dad be one of the owners of her record label and giving her all the leverage. I mean, look at early Britney, in spite of being so young, she knew what she was doing. She refused to do a stupid Power Rangers-esque video for BOMT, she chose and fought for songs and singles. She wanted to come out with Original Doll, which apparently had a totally different style, but they did not let her. Imagine if a record label crushed Taylor's choice of creating and releasing Folklore? It is those key choices that make a huge difference. But why was Britney crushed by a bunch of powerful decision makers? Cause she did not come from the same privilege Taylor came from. It is not the same to be a young girl in the business, but have your daddy buy part of the record label and become the partial owner, help and support you, guiding you with business choices (having been an investment banker) than being a poor girl from Louisiana, with an abusive, alcoholic father and an abused mom with no education, no job, a damily in bankruptcy. I bet many women, Britney included, could have been way savier about their careers, if only they had the same Opportunity Taylor did. And I am not taking away the fact that Taylor's biggest talent is, arguably, her capacity to build her brand up. But she was able to do that cause she came from a privileged background very few people have. 

You make a lot of great points, but so many artists still wouldn't be able to achieve the heights that Taylor has even if given the opportunity to. She's definitely privileged, and anyone would kill for the launch pad that she had during her debut, but you also have to be able to maintain that, and she had what it takes to do so. You could have the biggest push in the history of the music industry backing you up, but if you don't have the talent, you're gonna fade into oblivion as quickly as you arrived on the scene. If you think about it, it's just promo, and anyone can become a star with enough exposure, but no amount of exposure is gonna grant you longevity if you don't have some kind of 'It' factor.

[ICouldntThinkOfOne]

Talent and her fans. 

There is no other artist that engaged fans and engages with her fans like Taylor Swift.

[Speed X]

On 4/13/2021 at 5:34 PM, Spicechinodiva said:

She's a songwriter and writes about her life, and she went thru what most teens went thru. 

 

The irony of people forgetting how they were when they were teens and basically wrote in journals I hate him, few explicit words wish nothing but the worst for him and his new flavor of the moment. 

 

You guys really forgot going thru that teenage angst if hating people and wishing nothing but the worst for your enemies and exes is what i find laughable.  

 

That's why she was able to be relatable she was brutally honest..

Exactly this plus she makes easy listening music that sticks. 

[ExXL]

Honestly her music is as mediocre as mediocre gets , don't hate me for saying that, she might be a sweet woman and all that I just never ever liked a song of hers , so personally I don't know why she's so successful in the music industry , she's pretty tho ..... 

[Rosewater]

In my opinion there are two factors that made Taylor this successful. 
 

1. Great music. 
 

2. Clean, non - ***ual image. 

[MX3]

I remember when her first album came out and I was blown away. And I did not like country music.....the relatability and vulnerability in her songwriting was just incredible. 

Her relatability and sincerity also crosses over into her relationship with her fans which built a strong base. 

As well she’s switching up with different styles and eras keeping it fresh and trying new things... even that tour where she had a special guest every show!? I loved that. 
 

She clearly tries to outdo herself and it shows. She has never been lazy. her work ethic is amazing. The new generation of hopeful pop stars should take NOTE. 

[Bigno]

2 hours ago, iAlwaysSingLive said:

You make a lot of great points, but so many artists still wouldn't be able to achieve the heights that Taylor has even if given the opportunity to. She's definitely privileged, and anyone would kill for the launch pad that she had during her debut, but you also have to be able to maintain that, and she had what it takes to do so. You could have the biggest push in the history of the music industry backing you up, but if you don't have the talent, you're gonna fade into oblivion as quickly as you arrived on the scene. If you think about it, it's just promo, and anyone can become a star with enough exposure, but no amount of exposure is gonna grant you longevity if you don't have some kind of 'It' factor.

Totally. That is why I mentioned it at the end, because without dedication and work ethic, not even all the privilege in the world would do. I don't think anyone can take away from her the fact that she has built this, whether she received lots of help or not, not everyone would be able to carry on for almost 20 years. 

[DougFrmBrazil]

🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 

 

why the sky is blue?

[Britney'sBish]

She appeals to basic white women and white gays, all because she plays up this victim mentality.

Nothing is ever her fault, there's someone to blame for everything, and again zero accountability.

It's fine to make all these songs about trashing the guys she's been with, and even re-recording them.

But God forbid anyone says one little thing about her.

It's always been so funny to me that she's revered as a great songwriter, when all of her lyrics sound like a 12 year old girl...

I'll forever hate Kanye West for getting on the stage and catapulting her fame.

 

She's always been trash.

[Jamie Lynn Forever]

this is like asking why is mcdonalds so successful

people like basic, flavorless, generic junk music

she's easy to consume, she's easy to listen to, you can use her stuff as a background sound, it's harmless, not dangerous, it's socially acceptable, politically correct, morally good, kids and seniors can relate to it, she's the perfect condentor for that safe, conservative american-dream prototype that puritans seem to love, she never relied on provocation or shock-value, unlike her peers, so she's kinda a very great product and opportunity for megacorps.  personally , her stuff bores me to death. At least Britney was entertaining when she had that safe american dream image. Taylor isn't. I really don't get why she is so big.

Fun fact : i'm from france and no one here cares about her, all her tour dates flopped here, she never had a hit, so it's really weird to me that she seems so huge in other countries. France loves Rihanna, Shakira, Bey, Gaga, Britney, Madonna etc , in France we don't really relate to Taylor Swift.

 

 

 

 

 

[Isla]

Well, she was originally a country singer and country is huge in the US. That and the fact she was young when she started out meant she was able to appeal to pre-teens/teens and there was already a market there what with High School Musical and Hannah Montana’s success. I think her relationship with Joe Jonas may have gained her some fans (and maybe some haters dd). And the fact that she is talented, writes her own songs and is an extremely savvy business woman is a bit of a refreshing change from some singers. 

[The Greatest Show]

14 hours ago, MortalMarshmallow said:

It’s a bop and I’m not into Kpop but after watching their Grammy performance with Lil Nas I found out the person V is kinda hot .
So now I am slightly interested 
They are all total dolls tho probably surgically “perfected”, at least some of them are obviously. Kpop scene is savage. Actually exposes the industry with its rules and standards. 

Yeah Im a 30 year old woman and I prefer men to look like adult men not teenage girls. So visually I just cant get into them. And this isnt a race thing because there are asian men that I think are hot. They just actually look like men. 

Their music is basic pop bops in a language I dont understand or in a language they dont understand.