Taylor Swift remains a name recognizable around the globe due to her famous songs and musical talent; she won 12 Grammy awards over the course of 19 years along with multiple other awards such as the American Country Music award and Apple Music’s Writer of the Year award. Nevertheless, arguments started on whether or not Swift genuinely earned her fame. The pop singer recently started re-recording her albums and releasing them as “Taylor’s Version,” practically rebranding her career. Although she works hard to rebrand her career, Swift still seems to capitalize on teenagers’ emotions and takes advantage of her relatable lyrics by targeting teens specifically. Swift’s enormous Eras Tour caused environmental issues, including a record-breaking amount of seismic activity at one of her Seattle tour dates.
Die-hard fans found the Eras tour concert tickets extremely difficult to obtain. Compared to popular artists such as Billie Eilish who tours and prices her tickets from $61 to $294, Swift’s concert tickets come with an exceedingly high price tag. Swift’s concert tickets can range from $150 to $600, and resale prices can exceed $600.Considering the high cost of her concert tickets, numerous people used their savings and missed paying important bills. Although fans seem to still bend over backward to receive tickets, Swift’s music also lacks skillful writing, her lyrics lack rhythm and her music fails to catch attention, which adds to the point of Swift’s pricing her tickets absurdly high.
“Her music is very repetitive and musically it is simple and does not have much of a hook. There are so many better artists you can listen to who understand the music theory and who are more creative with their songs and songwriting. Personally, I think her fan base is one of the reasons I do not enjoy her music,” junior Evan Fernandez said.
The singer’s fan base displays an intense obsession with the media that the pop singer releases, posts or announces. Swift frequently drops hints to her fans, clueing them in about her upcoming surprises, leaving fans to overanalyze the hints and create theories about her next move. Thousands of videos appear of Swift’s fans delving into lengthy detail to predict her next album release. The hate that Swift receives makes sense due to her fan base’s perceived obsession; die-hard fans of the singer carry a reputation known to unfriend or dislike someone because they simply dislike her.
“I listen to her so much now because she has an album or a song that fits any situation. Her music always puts me in a good mood or validates whatever I’m feeling and it really means a lot to me in general. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for Taylor and her music,” magnet junior Leika Badstibner said.
Nevertheless, fans enjoy Taylor’s Version albums such as “1989” or “Folklore”, and even consider her re-recordings a movement. Swift started re-recording her albums due to her previous record label’s failure to grant her the rights to all her music. The pop singer appears to take a significant stand against mistreating women in the music industry. Swift showed a strong commitment to owning all the masters to her albums so she could represent to women that they can take back their power from their abusers. She believed in the message so intensely that she turned down the 2024 Super Bowl to focus on producing music for her fans and herself.
Nonetheless, the pop singer fails to represent feminism like her fans claim she does. Swift has not explicitly represented women in a positive way and Swift actually never mentions her “feminist” status. Swift may produce relatable songs but hundreds of other artists also produce relatable music along with helping the environment and engaging in supporting or advocating for serious issues happening throughout the world.
As timeless as Swift may appear, she still shows numerous faults that fans seem to overlook. Previously seen with singer-songwriter Matty Healy, fans raised suspicion of the two dating. As countless of her relationships ended in hit songs, fans show curiosity to see where this relationship will end in another album, or maybe a new song release. Unfortunately, her recurring theme of failed relationships has become redundant. Fans continue to perceive Swift in an unrealistic way, while she does not seem to live up to the standards of a deserving artist.
