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Posted by: ta-ra*el~la 23rd April 2024, 07:26 AM

I used to be a really big fan of Taylor. But I feel her work has been getting worse over time. Tracking the number of chart toppers she had with each album (on my chart) this is what I got:

1. Taylor Swift - 0
2. Fearless - 7
3. Speak Now - 8
4. Red - 3
5. 1989 - 3
6. Reputation - 2
7. Lover - 4
8. Folklore - 2
9. Evermore - 1
10. Midnights - 1
11. TTPD - 0

Why is she seemingly getting more popular all the time?

Posted by: Linds. 23rd April 2024, 07:56 AM

I think she's the type of artist that does have something for everyone, you don't need to love every album she puts out to say you're a fan. She just makes good pop music but each album does have a different style so it's only natural some people will prefer some over others. I love her but I'm not a massive fan of Folklore, Evermore and The Tortured Poets Department, there's only a couple of songs from each that I actually like and go back to.

I think she's so popular because she's managed to strike the balance and stay relevant enough to maintain fans who will listen to her for nostalgia value but still have some kind of interest in what she's doing currently whilst also getting new/younger fans on board and lets face it, she's a good business woman as well, she's making the right kind of moves to amplify herself.

Posted by: Herbs 23rd April 2024, 08:06 AM

I would say that critically her star is still shining extremely brightly (critics love her albums).

Yes they have less commercial appeal but she has shown maturity in her writing and the more recent albums have a vibe that people connect to.

She is slightly subverting the trend of diminished returns for each album (the number of hits is not dropping off as massively as other artists)

Posted by: Sour Candy 23rd April 2024, 08:49 AM

I have always liked her, not loved but liked, and seeing her live in May, but the older I get, the less her music speaks to me... I think her lyrics were more universal and relatable when she was 20-25 compared to now when she's 34.. like she has become more juvenile and bitter? I am not interested who she's dating because why would I? I just wish she's happy. Yet, she still writes about Kim Kardashian... like why?

Shout out to Folklore though, that's a great album right there because she doesn't refer to herself all the time.

Also, I am a bit sad how she has used Lana to build her artistry - it might be unintentional and come with Jack Antonoff, but still.... Lana walked so she can run to the bank with her current aesthetics!

Posted by: London 23rd April 2024, 10:19 AM

I think this is a really great and accurate summary.

I think her more recent albums (particularly Folklore and Evermore) scooped up even more fans while managing to hold on to many of the older ones too.

Posted by: Dexton 23rd April 2024, 10:50 AM

In fairness with this part, it’s more the media that’s hyper fixated on her relationships past and present rather than Taylor herself. News outlets use any Taylor “news” as an easy click bait and as we have all seen the NFL have tried to use her presence at games as a promotional tool.

Granted there’s maybe things she could’ve done to stay more out of the spotlight but that’s a celebrity thing on its own not just Taylor

Posted by: 777666jason 23rd April 2024, 11:13 AM

Fairly certain kim and Kanye reignited the fued after Taylor tried to end it so who's really the bitter one

Also you can't blame Taylor for the media scrutinising her life, whether you like her music or not

Posted by: Sour Candy 23rd April 2024, 11:19 AM

Media of course play a part, but artists can decide how public they are with their life and Taylor has chosen to be very public. It's a two-way street. I really think it has affected her songwriting a bit too much starting from Reputation days and it's not going anywhere as long the albums sell BECAUSE of the chosen narrative, not in spite of it.

Posted by: 777666jason 23rd April 2024, 11:27 AM

Her and Joe were private and she still got scrutinised

Posted by: London 23rd April 2024, 11:43 AM

Exactly. I wonder if we'd be having these conversations if she was a man.

I also wonder if she's be constantly expected to reinvent herself if she was a man.

Posted by: Jessie Where 23rd April 2024, 11:56 AM

I was about to say this, I really don't think there'd be the same level of discourse around her love life if she was a man.

Posted by: Herbs 23rd April 2024, 12:04 PM

100%

Slightly similar but I always remember Pink doing an interview where they sat her down and said something like, 'as you're now an over 30 female singer, people won't want your music anymore, so we have to figure out a strategy'

The media loves to bring down female artists.....

Posted by: London 23rd April 2024, 12:14 PM

100% - once women reach a certain age, how dare they continue to do the same music which was successful for them previously. Expected to completely re-invent themselves over and over in a way not expected of men. And how the fall of a female artist is celebrated ! Im glad she's sticking two fingers up to all and doing what she wants - with success.

Posted by: Jessie Where 23rd April 2024, 01:00 PM

Similarly, we have somebody in the Kylie forum who always says she should be making age-appropriate music and that one of her recent singles was "embarrassing" because it was a little bit racy. As if to say because she's a woman in her mid-50s she should be expected to wear dowdy boiler suits all the time and regimentally stick to making what can be deemed as "age appropriate" music without having any fun with it

Posted by: Last Dreamer 23rd April 2024, 01:04 PM

I still love first four Taylor albums and some tracks from "Lover", but don't have any interest in listening her albums (including pointless re-recordings) from last 5 years.

Posted by: London 23rd April 2024, 02:22 PM

If you knew the point of them, you'd actually realise they are anything but pointless.

Posted by: Herbs 23rd April 2024, 02:37 PM

The level of shaming there is unreal

Posted by: T Boy 23rd April 2024, 06:05 PM

I’ve never been a fan of Taylor, she has some bops but nothing has ever enticed me to listen to an album. Same with Adele, Ed Sheeran and Rihanna in their imperial phases so I guess I just don’t like huge artists

But it’s not hard to see why she’s become so massive. She’s a shrewd business woman who has planned out her rise bit by bit. She doesn’t always succeed, Reputation and Lover set her back slightly as I think she went a bit too hard in those directions at the time but she pulled it back with Folklore and then kept going. She’s a full time celebrity and milks every opportunity. She knows how to capitalise on everything.

I do find her a little clinical and planned out and I think that’s part of what I don’t like. Her voice also does nothing for me but it’s all working for others so good for her.

Posted by: Jordanlee 23rd April 2024, 06:23 PM

I personally have grown to like Taylor a lot more since folklore dropped and the reissues happened.

I was a lot more casual towards her until that point but now with the re-releases of earlier work I’ve discovered how great those albums actually were whilst appreciating the newer work. From listening to her albums I can see her appeal she’s capable of being a songwriting genius. I definitely prefer when she leans into the story / characters esque kind of writing and when she steps away from the pure pop sound but I can see why she has this appeal.

In some ways I think she can quite underrated in the vocal stakes but it’s a different type of vocal. The reason people love acts like Celine and why Whitney had mass appeal for example were purely the voice but they didn’t write their material where as people feel connected to Taylor because she’s the master of her own work. I do think a lot of people would be surprised if they delved into her catalogue at just how versatile she actually is. She’s pretty much mastered Country, Pop and Alt / Folk with them all sounding like a real fit for her.

At the point of streaming era I don’t know if overexposure is as bad as in the sales era but right now I’m sure we can safely there’ll not be another act pulling in these figures for at least say a decade.

Posted by: TheSnake 23rd April 2024, 07:19 PM

I just find her modern stuff boring compared to RFI, LWYMMD and IKYWT.

Posted by: kimberley88 23rd April 2024, 09:05 PM

Her songs are very personal and people can relate to them. My favourite is midnights and reputation, I relate to midnights because I am often awake until about 4/5am some times later as I can't switch off.

Posted by: JSG 24th April 2024, 04:40 AM

The rerecordings are anything but pointless.

Posted by: Rough_edges 24th April 2024, 04:46 AM

I found her extremely annoying before Folklore. I dont think she is any shape or form the best out there, and shouldn't warrant the success and praise she is getting. But I think she connects with a lot of demographics. Had other artists released this much material in short time (actually shocked not many follow in footsteps as I think that's what the general public want now) they would be on same level. I don't for one second think the majority or people like her as an artist as there is just no likeabilty, the songs the lyrics and the sound since Midnights is unmatched by any other artist.

I think its a bizzare case as I genuinely still don't think even though how successful she is will be remembered as highly as the greats in the future. She has me in a chokehold with her recent outputs but I think she and the team have made some clever decisions to get to this height.

Posted by: ta-ra*el~la 24th April 2024, 05:50 AM

I guess I just want her to go back to her old style, which she is moving further and further away from all the time.

Posted by: Sour Candy 24th April 2024, 06:29 AM

We also need to remember that even though she is successful worlwide, the gigantic success is limited to Anglo-American countries this time around. For instance, in France her highest charting song currently Spotify is at #31, in my country #17, in Brazil #15, #29 in Mexico. so she is popular but within the cultural limitations to some extent. The massive numbers come from US, Canada, UK and Australia almost alone.

She will still need proper hits to stay as global phenomenon, the jarring production and rants about her exes from 5 years ago are not it. And maybe that's why I am not getting her as well as I "should" with this album, because English isn't my first language, I don't care about her exes and the songs just don't click without brilliant melodies.

I understand that she has always been an American sweetheart, but with this album she resonates globally less than she did with Midnights.

Posted by: ...ready for it 24th April 2024, 08:40 PM

You know I'm going to say this, but I think Taylor deserves all the praise and success she is getting.

Posted by: London 24th April 2024, 09:17 PM

Posted by: Starlight 13 25th April 2024, 03:17 PM

I feel like this question is only being asked since the AOTY grammy win/this week following the success of TTPD. There was minor talk of overexposure in the Midnights era but the last week in particular, everybody seems to want to make it clear that they either dislike Taylor or that this level of success isn't warranted. I'm seeing people all over tiktok make videos about how terrible they think this new album is and that they don't understand why people like her. I'm not sure why it bothers people so much.. I get this is a chart forum so naturally people are going to talk about it, but I've never seem somebody refer to the success of Ed Sheeran or Drake, for example, as ludicrous and questioned why people enjoy their music so much.. they'll simply state its not their thing and move on. Nobody gave a toss when Drake broke the streaming record. Nobody said the success Ed got with divide was unwarranted or undeserved at the time.

Why is it with female artists, that they can be successful, but when they become TOO successful, it makes people feel uncomfortable subconsciously/feel the need to question why? I'll be honest, I don't think TTPD is her best work, and I was a bit disappointed by it as a long term 'Swiftie' - but I wouldn't personally agree that her work is 'slowly deflating'. I think Lover was a slight let down in comparison to 1989/Reputation but Folklore and Evermore were both phenomenal in my opinion, I didn't LOVE Midnights but I've grown to appreciate it over time and I still think its a pretty strong album.

Posted by: London 25th April 2024, 04:09 PM

What you've described is deeply entrenched systemic misogyny - some people can't stand to see a successful woman and feel the need to sabotage it.

In the words of Taylor herself: “the worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about something."

Posted by: Rough_edges 28th April 2024, 12:39 PM

There's no way her work is slowly deflating its dramatically improving in my opinion

Posted by: Sour Candy 29th April 2024, 09:51 AM

It's about what one values the most. For me, there's nothing even remotely as good as Blank Space, All Too Well, Cruel Summer or even anything as punchy as Look What You Made Me Do.

Posted by: 777666jason 29th April 2024, 11:04 AM

And it's wonderful that people have different opinions , life would be boring if we were all the same

Personally it just seems like your want to find something negative in every record or achievement she smashes

Posted by: London 29th April 2024, 11:49 AM

I completely agree with you. I'm not sure how many ways Sour Candy can inform us they don't like Taylor. We get it - you've made your point. It's getting kinda boring now.

We all have a different point of view - that's okay - let's all enjoy our different points of views and allow everyone together feel happy about it.