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.
OP, can you explain why any other celebrity whom you do not follow is popular?
if not, i think your question is unfairly asked
you are framing this as though fame is a question with a simple y=mx+b formula for an answer, as though pop music isn’t a billion dollar industry of hundreds of thousands of creative professionals (not just musicians) vying against one another for their opportunity to make a mark.
with full respect and appreciation for your curiosity, it’s fine to “not get” a person’s music, but that doesn’t mean you are owed an explanation for the entire raison de’tre of the pop culture industry.
I’m not curious about the whole industry, just about this hyper-successful artist who appears unremarkable to me and isn’t the first to pioneer any particular pop movement like other hyper-successful artists before her.
I’m assuming there must be things I don’t see.
I don’t think I’m owed an explanation, but I think it’s perfectly fair to ask for an explanation that others with more experience in the subject can choose to provide.
If you look into the comments here, there are a lot of really good explanations and answers.
+1 for pointing out facts and elements of her character that changed your perspective in recent comments. i was getting really off-put by your earlier replies, hence my abrasion.
i want to point out that a lot of the things you “discovered” here could easily have been found out by instead reading some music journalism. nothing has been said here that hasn’t already been said hundreds of times by well-known music critics you can find on google.
Maybe many, but definitely not all points recognized in this post by these commenters would have been in those magazines.
I’m not familiar with music critics or hold as much stock in them as you may, I’m more interested in what many different people think.
I’d rather ask the community and see all the different answers and put together what makes sense instead of tucking into dozens of magazines that may have nothing to do with what I’m asking.