As Taylor Swift gains more popularity by the minute, people are questioning whether she deserves fame. Swift manages to stay in the news cycle with new music, top-grossing concerts, and record-breaking tours. Having been in the music industry since she was 15 years old, Swift knows a thing or two about relating to audiences.
With her Eras Tour being the highest-grossing music tour in history and Swift constantly breaking records, such as being the first artist to surpass 100 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts, you can expect her fanbase to be very large. Many people love to share their opinions as to why they think Taylor Swift is so popular and what her effect is on her fans.
“I kind of stopped liking her because as students we were supposed to believe she wasn’t cool anymore, but then all of a sudden she was cool again,” said junior Parmis Ranjbar. She also talked about how Swift handles her celebrity status. “When she does get hate, she puts her own little spin on it and gets better from it, like her album reputation.”
When Swift first released the album reputation, she sold 1.2 million copies in the first week. This album is looked at as her “comeback” because, at the time, she was facing many damning allegations along with scandals involving Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
“I am not her target demographic at all but I love art that captures really small moments and makes them huge, and nobody does that better musically than Taylor Swift,” said Vista del Lago drama teacher Kyle Hadley. “She somehow manages to be relatable because we have all had broken hearts, and even though she has billions more than we do, the music doesn’t change.”
Other Swift fans (also known as Swifties) expressed that they feel she is a good influence and an inspiration to young women everywhere.
“She helps little girls feel like they are enough,” said Ranjbar
In 2019, record owner Scooter Braun bought all rights to Swift’s original music, meaning Swift no longer owns her original albums. Swift, wanting the rights to her original music that she wrote, decided to re-release her old albums. “It works in her favor because now she has to re-record her albums,” said devoted Swiftie Charlotte Daysh. This is good because Swift gets her profit while the fans get to listen to new songs they’ve never heard before.
People also question her rise to fame. Was it Kanye? Was it her exes? Or was it really her music and talent? The Swifties seem to agree that it was her talent.
“She’s made her own name,” said Vista del Lago junior Nate Garrigan. Even if the Kanye scandal hadn’t happened, “she would still reach this level, it just would’ve taken her longer.”
“Taylor is just the sweetest person ever,” said freshman Kate Perry. While on tour, Swift uses her profit to donate to food banks in cities she plays in across the country. By doing this she draws support and awareness to the hunger issues that affect one in six Americans. This means she doesn’t just perform, she also changes lives.