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Post by neverduplicated on Oct 27, 2010 12:13:04 GMT -5
Oh, and she's country. So she sings with a twang about generic small town issues, rather than sex and dancing, causing everyone from the South to fall in love with her, because that's the only music they can relate to. No shade or anything, but that's just inaccurate. Firstly, she's not even a Southern Country girl, she's from Pennsylvania. Second, she doesn't have a twang, at least not a natural one. And finally, she doesn't sing about small town issues(maybe a few songs are about this), she sings (mostly) about boys. Oh and saying that that's the only thing people from the South can relate to...well, that's just rude. Shame on you. Preach. I'm from the south and I don't even like country music. Taylor is the first country act I've ever fallen for, probably in part because she's not that country. She's safe. It's the key thing about her. She has wide appeal to both teens, tweens, parents and older people. She gets radio/video airplay on Pop, adult radio formats and country. But again, she's safe. She writes about what most people experience. For younger audiences, she speaks to them and what they're experiencing now and for older people, she brings nostalgia. She's not complicated lyrically or musically and her songs aren't difficult to sing. She's about as safe as one can be in the music industry. If playing it safe was the key to Taylor's success, we'd see a lot more artists raking in 6+ million in sales. I'm not saying she doesn't play it safe in the way you're saying, but that's hardly the main reason she's so successful. I know this sounds like a cheap answer, but she just has that "it" factor. Some people have it, some don't.
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Rurry
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Post by Rurry on Oct 27, 2010 18:08:40 GMT -5
Maybe Taylor really just is the only one left in this industry with the star power to rake in these huge numbers. I mean, I understand that album sales have obviously dropped off a lot, but even still, she's getting one million people to run to the stores to buy an album, something other artists simply are not. The only other one who comes close right now is Eminem (well and Susan Boyle). It makes you wonder - if a few select artists can push gigantic numbers, maybe some of the problem with the industry today is the artists/material and not just the economics.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Oct 27, 2010 18:39:58 GMT -5
It's not even the star power at all. It's the audience.
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Rurry
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Post by Rurry on Oct 27, 2010 18:43:15 GMT -5
I think it has more to do than just her audience. There's something about her that just draws a lot of people in. I think in the end it comes down to the relatibility of her songs.
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Post by Peaches. [Ch, r. is] on Oct 27, 2010 18:52:00 GMT -5
Taylor is an experiment. Her label buys 2/3 of the albums she sells, and she becomes a big name and gets a bunch of endorsement deals, royalties, etc therefore paying the label back with interest o_0
IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY
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Post by kt1990 on Oct 27, 2010 19:13:38 GMT -5
^
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2010 19:19:02 GMT -5
People like her? I like her music, she seems like a nice girl, and she's a gifted songwritter. I am neither a hillbilly, 60 years old, a tween girl, nor a country fanatic. I mean my favorite artists are Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, BEP and Mariah Carey, yet she draws me in.
I do believe she makes relateable music which does appeal to a large audience, but that doesn't take away her songwritting ability. And at the end of the day people just like her and she outsells my and all or your faves...so I guess just deal?
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Samer
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Post by Samer on Oct 28, 2010 6:46:36 GMT -5
Taylor Swift = Female Nickelback
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Mark
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Post by Mark on Oct 28, 2010 8:23:20 GMT -5
Taylor Swift = Female Nickelback ..except not nearly as terrible or monotonous sounding.
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Eqbk
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Post by Eqbk on Oct 28, 2010 10:57:09 GMT -5
Taylor Swift = Female Nickelback Nickelback is critically maligned while Taylor is critically praised.
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Post by ListenToItTwice on Oct 28, 2010 11:07:04 GMT -5
Taylor Swift = Female Nickelback In a sense... They're both huge-selling, critic-proof artists with adoring fanbases that will probably follow them from one album to the next for the rest of their careers. Both have been accused of generic songwriting and poor vocals. The difference is, Taylor Swift is the love of my life and Nickelback is the worst band of all time.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Oct 28, 2010 14:14:26 GMT -5
If playing it safe was the key to Taylor's success, we'd see a lot more artists raking in 6+ million in sales. I'm not saying she doesn't play it safe in the way you're saying, but that's hardly the main reason she's so successful. Definitely not the ONLY reason but I think it plays a big part in it all. She's safe. She's familiar with that girl-next-door essence. She's easy to get along with. Relate-able songs. And her songs aren't complex, either musically or lyrically. I don't think these are the only reasons but I think they all play a combined role.
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like2throw
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Post by like2throw on Oct 28, 2010 18:09:37 GMT -5
She has star appeal. Its not even the songs, its her charm and charisma. Justin Timberlake has it, Britney had it, Lady Gaga has it, and Taylor Swift has it.
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Mack
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Post by Mack on Oct 28, 2010 18:41:09 GMT -5
She has star appeal. Its not even the songs, its her charm and charisma. Justin Timberlake has it, Britney had it, Lady Gaga has it, and Taylor Swift has it. Britney had it? Um, no. She has it.
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Samer
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Post by Samer on Oct 28, 2010 19:14:28 GMT -5
Taylor Swift = Female Nickelback ..except not nearly as terrible or monotonous sounding. Well I don't find either of them terrible. But I'm sorry both constitute the definition of monotonous. I am waiting to see Taylor out of her comfort zone. It is the same recycled concept over and over again, lyrically and musically. Same with Nickelback. The sad thing is because of their comfort-music style, both are huge with wide demos of the population. It would be a shame if Taylor gets stuck in the same creative loop she is in now
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like2throw
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Post by like2throw on Oct 28, 2010 19:24:07 GMT -5
She has star appeal. Its not even the songs, its her charm and charisma. Justin Timberlake has it, Britney had it, Lady Gaga has it, and Taylor Swift has it. Britney had it? Um, no. She has it. cant believe you caught that LMFAO
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Gravity.
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Post by Gravity. on Dec 26, 2010 19:06:08 GMT -5
Taylor Swift's appeal (in bullet points): - She has country credibility from her debut and because she "reps" the genre. She always says that she is a country star, and she keeps on good terms with country PDs.
- She has singer-songwriter credibility. She's always been marketed as the young girl who writes her own songs. She's written about what she knows, mostly breakups. Because of her singer-songwriter cred, she is critically acclaimed.
- She has a great image. She's inoffensive, so parents let their kids buy her CDs. She mostly targets teenagers, because she writes about their problems. Her adult fanbase is mostly 20-somethings, soccer moms, and the old. Her songs resonate with them because they can remember what it's like to go through breakups, growing up, etc.
In my opinion, Taylor is neither a country artist or a pop star. She is a singer-songwriter with country cred. As long as that works for her, more power to her. She's got bills to pay.
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Post by Fat Ass Kelly Price on Dec 26, 2010 19:07:54 GMT -5
^ Pretty much that.
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Jay
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Post by Jay on Dec 26, 2010 19:14:39 GMT -5
I think her first album had the amount of success it deserves, IMO. I don't get why her later albums sold as much as they did, but I guess the answer to that would be controversial and obviously opinion-based.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Dec 26, 2010 19:59:37 GMT -5
I think it has more to do than just her audience. There's something about her that just draws a lot of people in. I think in the end it comes down to the relatibility of her songs. It's the audience. More tech savvy audiences tend to buy downloads rather than albums. In Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle's cases, they have an older audience in general so they will buy their records. Eminem released an album with radio hits and high powered collaborations. Not to mention he already had a built in fan base that didn't waver on him at all. So when he was on the outs he was still selling a truckload of albums. Taylor is still relatively new same with Susan Boyle. Taylor had the Kanye West thing help her out. Unfortunately, radio isn't receiving Taylor's music as well as it had in the past. Taylor is selling so many albums that it won't matter if she releases radio friendly material with the next album. If Taylor doesn't watch it she could be come the victim of the "that's not real country music" crowd getting louder.
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Post by tearsdryontheirown on Dec 26, 2010 20:33:21 GMT -5
nothing special about her. thats why shes popular because shes ordinary. she cant sing well so people can sing along. she cant write well so everyone can relate to her simple, naive lyrics. shes not that pretty so girls arent intimidated. shes not sure in anything she does so she offends nobody. she is ordinary and there is nothing worse than being ordinary except for her because shes getting paid.
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Post by Peaches. [Ch, r. is] on Dec 26, 2010 20:36:36 GMT -5
Oh, the irony. I'm sure she knows proper punctuation, which is more then can be said about you
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Post by Fat Ass Kelly Price on Dec 26, 2010 20:38:30 GMT -5
nothing special about her. thats why shes popular because shes ordinary. she cant sing well so people can sing along. she cant write well so everyone can relate to her simple, naive lyrics. shes not that pretty so girls arent intimidated. shes not sure in anything she does so she offends nobody. she is ordinary and there is nothing worse than being ordinary except for her because shes getting paid. This is fairly accurate, imo. A+ Oh, the irony. I'm sure she knows proper punctuation, which is more then can be said about you
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Post by tearsdryontheirown on Dec 26, 2010 20:44:21 GMT -5
Oh, the irony. I'm sure she knows proper punctuation, which is more then can be said about you A conscious decision to not punctuate altogether is completely different than the deeper, stylistic, and enterprising endeavor that I was referring to - song writing. Some may find lyrics subordinate to the music, but I believe that they must be absolutely harmonious. Of course, that is just a question of taste.
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Post by Peaches. [Ch, r. is] on Dec 26, 2010 20:50:44 GMT -5
Oh, the irony. I'm sure she knows proper punctuation, which is more then can be said about you A conscious decision to not punctuate altogether is completely different than the deeper, stylistic, and enterprising endeavor that I was referring to - song writing. Some may find lyrics subordinate to the music, but I believe that they must be absolutely harmonious. Of course, that is just a question of taste. Oh YAY! Stop playing down your intelligence. It's not a good look.
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Jay
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Post by Jay on Dec 26, 2010 21:20:42 GMT -5
A conscious decision to not punctuate altogether is completely different than the deeper, stylistic, and enterprising endeavor that I was referring to - song writing. Some may find lyrics subordinate to the music, but I believe that they must be absolutely harmonious. Of course, that is just a question of taste. LMAO
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Post by out of reach on Dec 26, 2010 21:26:49 GMT -5
These days image is half the battle and if you can get more than just image then you can become a big star. In her case the marketing to get her acclaimed as a top songwriter. The other female star who has this level of sales/popularity is Gaga.
The rest are not as successful because they mostly only have a decent marketing image Rhianna, Perry ect... or will only be temporary stars because it's based on gimmicks(Kesha)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2010 22:11:04 GMT -5
People like her stuff? Same reason why Boyle, Gaga, Beyonce, Eminem, Britney, Nickelback, Michael Buble sell.
Simple as that. Not everyone is gonna have the same taste as everyone. There is no one thing that makes people buy Taylor(or other people's music). Yes she's relateable, and her music connects with a wider range of people, but in the end if people like the music enough they buy, if not they don't.
People aren't just buying her shit because they can sing along or because it's the story of their life, they have to like it aswell :)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2010 1:47:31 GMT -5
*She has the Class-A jerk-of-a-promo-team to get her shoved down everyone's throats to a point where we're all forced to listen to her cliche, 3-chord tunes. (Honestly, her performing on top of a bus in LA traffic on a Friday evening is utterly ridiculous, and it had to have been annoying for the people stuck in the log jams on the freeways there.) Plus, if Scott Borchetta thinks that he can diss American Idol like that and not have someone roundhouse him like there's no tomorrow (*standing ovation for Kelly Clarkson*), then he's nuts. *She writes about the same lovey-dovey/fantasy/prince charming/romeo/revenge/marriage/goopy-sappy crap over and over again that appeals to the 12 year olds that think they're in love with the first guy that gives them a piece of bubble gum in middle school math class. *As ch,r,is said before, she's slept with half of Hollywood, wrote songs about them, exploited them as @$$holes, and made a bigger name for herself off of their rising/falling careers. *She labels herself as a Country artist (Katy Perry is more country than her at this point) when she's a pure, bubble-gum, cookie-cutter POP artist. Because of that, she's able to chart on a billion lists and get all the attention one could desire.
After 3 years of her reigning the industry, I still haven't gotten the incredibly overrated, overly-crazed hype about this girl. She has maybe 2 or 3 songs I can tolerate, but the rest of it is complete nonsense, and I'm pretty much done with her. Yes, she has one hell of a knack for songwriting, but that's about it. Her singing (and even Taylor Swift stans can admit this -- besides Joe1240 who is oblivious to the obvious) is horrid. Recall the Grammys, the AMAs ("It's too laaaa--asdlghouerphg--te!"), and every other live performance of her's, televised or on tour; she can't sing well. Truth hurts, and the girl simply will never grow on me. Hopefully she's just one of these 5-10 year fads that will fade.
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Post by shawnshamrock on Dec 27, 2010 3:57:49 GMT -5
See I liked her before all the "fake fans" jumped on the bandwagon. I thought her first album was brilliant. I was like this girl is going to go far and people laughed at me.
Sadly she got successful and changed everything about herself. Then she started coming out with garbage like You Belong with Me. Which was nothing more than "I'm just the girl next door part 2"
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