I don’t get it. Her music is sometimes catchy but otherwise unremarkable, from the songs I’ve heard. How does she break all these records and accumulate so much fame and wealth?
She’s pretty, but a lot of singer songwriters are, especially those with makeup and costume people, a support staff.
Is there something else to her that people like?
I’m confused about what makes her so apparently unique or phenomenal.
Update: there are so many things that make swift unique or phenomenal.
I’ve received tons of great answers from people that have helped me understand, like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, many factors that makes swift different and consequently more successful than her peers.
Clever lyrics, top-tier production, sharing autobiographical and emotional points in her life very directly, apparent honesty with few or no public blemishes, creating a community of fans through Easter eggs and house parties and unconventional, but always personal methods, an early start supported by wealthy parents, she keeps winning against abusers, and her music itself is popular and fun.
Those are just a few of the puzzle pieces contributed here, and a dive into this post is a pretty good explanation of many of the factors that must be contributing to her phenomenal success and recognition, that set her apart from other pop stars, even pop stars who were phenoms in their own right.
This is a very educational post, thank you to everyone who has contributed.
You could ask this question about any popular artist for the last 70 years, probably longer, why The Beatles, why Elvis Presley, why Michael Jackson, why Madonna?
Hype mainly.
The Beatles had a huge and demonstrable effect on a large portion of rock n roll music. I’m not their biggest fan in any way, but you can literally see how they helped initiate a huge change in popular music in their era if you look at what came before them and what came after. It’s pretty disingenuous to claim it was mainly only hype.
In retrospect, yes. They became hugely popular and that influenced lots of artists that came after them. Was “Love Me Do” really that groundbreaking? How about “Twist and Shout”?
The Beatles Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson all seem unique in several salient ways that explain their success, Madonna at least in fashion.
And all of those artists were at the beginning of one movement or another, Taylor’s right in the middle of popular pop.
I can’t think of anything comparably unique about Taylor Swift, though I don’t know much about her, hence the curiosity.
In hindsight possibly. I’m only old enough to comment on Michael Jackson and Madonna but at the time their music wasn’t that unique. Michael Jackson absolutely pushed the boundaries with his music videos. Madonna played up to controversy. That’s how they built their audiences.