does anyone listen to Taylor Swift? tell me what the draw is

[Freeway]

I find this really annoying at concerts... I want to hear the artist sing (why I paid for a ticket), not everyone in some silly competition to know and sing all the words. Same with everyone recording the whole thing on their phones, instead of experiencing the experience.

JSmith

Frank Sinatra had his 'bobby soxers'.
The Beatles quit touring.
Taylor embraces it.

 

[AdrianusG]

My 11 year old daughter is not a fan, so there are exceptions. I listened to her top 50 tracks once to try to understand. It did nothing for me, didn’t strike me as exceptional - at all. But I watched some videos, read her story etc. and I really like Taylor Swift the person/brand. Definitely a charismatic force of nature, incredible drive and will to achieve what she has, so I get the appeal. The music just underperforms the personality in my opinion. I’d also say her appeal doesn’t carry to certain demographics.

Same for me, admiring the person and her success, especially given the fact that she did/does most of it by herself, however regarding the music i have zero interest, but the same goes for (almost!) all modern music since 2000, especially the "Auto Tune" generation, most of it ultimately forgettable, not even worth a second listen.

 

[Liya]

This thread should be in 'extreme snake oil' section

 

[Axo1989]

She is an average singer. Just like Ed Sheeran in UK.
But this is even more disturbing than her vocal abilities

The only thing worse than popular culture is people thinking about popular culture, amirite?

 

[Svet Angelov]

''Students will also learn about Swift's predecessors in music like Dolly Parton''

my face can only be palmed so much today, I'm out

 

[Multicore]

Exactly. Paul Hindemith and Johnny Paycheck aren't for me either but you don't see me posting about it.

Right. That's my job.

For me at least it's the unprecedented scale of the Swift enterprise that needs explanation. What explains that? There's a lot of girls who can't dance singing ordinary songs. So what's the Swift difference?

 

[AdrianusG]

The only thing worse than popular culture is people thinking about popular culture, amirite?

which brings me to

Undergraduates' average IQ has fallen 17 points since 1939. Here's why.

A new analysis shows that undergraduates' IQs have decreased over the past four decades as attending college has grown more common.

bigthink.com

gee i wonder why?

 

[AdrianusG]

"In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Burt said the singer's transition from country to pop music will be studied as it relates to broader political shifts in the country."

hahahaha , what a load of crap,
Sure, it has probably nothing to with the fact that the audience for pop music is substantially larger than that for country right?

 

[Left]

People may not realize that her music has been used in adverts. Swift‘s “Mastermind” was in a promo for the 45th season of the CBS reality series Survivor. 1989‘s “Welcome to New York” played in an NBC Superbowl commercial. Women's US Open incorporated her "Wildest Dreams." There may be more and more will surely follow.

 

[Left]

Btw, estimated worth of Full House's Olsen twins is $500 million. Ex-Disney child actress Bridgit Mendler is now a space CEO. Business savvy can be orthogonal to other skills.

 

[AnalogSteph]

which brings me to

Undergraduates' average IQ has fallen 17 points since 1939. Here's why.

A new analysis shows that undergraduates' IQs have decreased over the past four decades as attending college has grown more common.

bigthink.com

gee i wonder why?

It's stated right there in the article - if everyone and their dog is attending college, you shouldn't be overly surprised if their average IQ eventually approaches that of the general population. Plus there's the whole issue of traditional IQ testing not providing the full picture. (The interesting question would be, how does that affect the "traditional" group of attendees?)

Somehow I'm not too surprised by a college associated with "prestige" doing this kind of nonsense, it seems like exactly the kind of thing that people thinking along those lines would be suckered into... now if it were the MIT I would be seriously worried.

Personally, I can't say I care much about Taylor Swift's music one way or the other, and I've tried to give her a shot more than once. I can think of at least two young "girl next door with relateable lyrics" type singer-songwriters that I'd much rather be listening to.

 

[JiiPee]

As a 60+ years old guy, I'm obviously not in the target group of Taylor Swift's music, and it has no special draw to me, but it appears to be rather well produced pop music.

I think the ultra derisive behavior of some posters is more juvenile than her fan base.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

On an internet forum, people can express indifference to an act, and be labelled as "haters", or "juvenile".
Oh well, no doubt worse descriptions are appended on FB and Twitter.

 

[JiiPee]

On an internet forum, people can express indifference to an act, and be labelled as "haters", or "juvenile".
Oh well, no doubt worse descriptions are appended on FB and Twitter.

I'm not a native English speaker, so some finer points of language may escape me, but I don't think exaggerated expressions of disgust are the same thing as expressing indifference.

Also, I think there is a difference in calling a certain behavior juvenile and calling a person juvenile.

 

[FrantzM]

People used to say what's the big deal with Michael Jackson?
Generations prior asked the same about the Beatles and Elvis.

My daughter is a Taylor Swift fan. Not me, it draws a blank space when it comes to her songs. I don't know her music all too well however I feel it is unfair to make her the anti-hero just because she is gorgeous (opinion) and many young folks are enchanted by her songs. Have you seen her bejeweled costume?! To the haters, you need to calm down and shake it off.

So true .. We could add those born in the early 80's would be wondering about all that fuss about Elvis, Sinatra, Billy Joel, etc...

Lots of intolerant pompous old guys here talking out of their a**holes. Get a life gentlemen: it is popular entertainment!

I took the liberty to edit the post a bit but I agree with the post ... And Yes I am one of those over 50 who listen to Western Classical Music, Jazz, Prog Rock Rock, Brazilian, non-Western music and yes to Hip-Hop & Rap...
This said I wouldn't be able to recognize her voice, or any of her songs....

Peace.

 

[AdrianusG]

So true .. We could add those born in the early 80's would be wondering about all that fuss about Elvis, Sinatra, Billy Joel, etc...

I took the liberty to edit the post a bit but I agree with the post ... And Yes I am one of those over 50 who listen to Western Classical Music, Jazz, Prog Rock Rock, Brazilian, non-Western music and yes to Hip-Hop & Rap...
This said I wouldn't be able to recognize her voice, or any of her songs....

Peace.

In all fairness, and in her defense although i myself am not a fan.

One could probably open a topic like this on virtually any and every other artist or group, and get the same results Fan/ Indifferent/ Hate responses, after all, everyone has different tastes.

 

[Liya]

One could probably open a topic like this on virtually any and every other artist or group, and get the same results Fan/ Indifferent/ Hate responses, after all, everyone has different tastes.

Problem is, atm she is called the biggest pop star in the world. If I think about other pop stars from the past (Jackson, Beatles, Queen, Madonna) it looks like we are moving away from the pop territory and getting increasingly closer to the poo territory

 

[darrellc]

What a bunch of curmudgeons! Lots of music sucked in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s. I was a huge Alan Parsons Project fan as a teen. From my vantage point today it was god awful, horrible music - just maybe, maybe interesting now from a music production/engineering perspective. Time will tell and kids will look back fondly at the 2010s and 20s as the peak of music. Taylor Swift might be in there, might not.

 

[dasdoing]

This thread should be in 'extreme snake oil' section

naaah, it should be in "Fun Topics"....it is just circle jerking

 

[Eric Natural]

haters gonna hate
...and you would expect that hating to appear around a hot-button like Swift at this point in time. It's gonna be a weird year. Some will take the piss on her success.

The girl can write song form and can sing