What do you think of Taylor Swift?

Started in country but now mainly a pop artist, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is easily the biggest thing to hit music this century. She is now on the Forbes list of billionaires and the film of her current tour is a popular stream on Disney+ even as the tour grinds on. Her relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce gets more attention than his work on the field sometimes. She's got multiple Grammies and seems to drop new or remixed albums annually or more.

So what do you think of this musical juggernaut? Fan? Hater? Indifferent?

My thoughts? I admire her savvy and success. The way she stuck it to Scooter Braun after the fight over the masters of her early albums was nothing short of brilliant. Short version: She wanted them, he was fighting hard to make her pay through the nose. Then Taylor realized that she owned the rights to the songs, just not the recordings, so she just re-recorded them all, appending "Taylor's Version" to the titles. And the re-recorded versions were hits all over again, even as she was also putting out new material in parallel with them.

But her music? Not my cuppa. I've tried. Thought her "folklore" acoustic album might be the ticket but even it did not quite click. And she's a great performer on stage but her voice is kind of average for a modern pop singer, certainly not in the same league as any of my favourites. Solid songwriter, though, and I might yet come to appreciate her music from that standpoint.

Whole-heartedly a fan. She's a mesmerizing performer, and I love her songwriting. Having daughters who loved her helped make me a fan.

She is an intelligent, savvy, talented woman that I can admire. However, I don't find most of her music that interesting, but I understand the appeal. If I do listen, I prefer her older stuff, but I can't imagine spending the amount some have on a concert ticket. However, it has been fun watching all the celebrities attend her concerts, especially the overseas leg of her tour.

If she was a company and CEO, I'd buy stock. Her music, not so much, but that's not where the genius lies.

Quote by gillianleeza
I can't imagine spending the amount some have on a concert ticket

I find the price of concert tickets slightly insane these days to start with. Big tickets like her and Beyonce just exacerbate that. I looked at going to jazz-pop singer Laufey's most recent concert in Toronto in the spring and even she was going for around $100 for the cheap seats and she's nowhere near to being in Swift's league (in fact, she's an admitted Swiftie herself). It was sold out by the time I got there anyhow so I would have had to pay a scalper to go.

My brother took my nieces to one of her concerts. Getting the tickets was a challenge, and they had to travel to Philadelphia because she didn't have any concerts scheduled in this area. So they had to buy tickets and rent an Air BnB. For me, the worst was having to pay two hundred dollars to park at the stadium. No, thank you. I don't like any artist enough to go through all of that.

Quote by gillianleeza
For me, the worst was having to pay two hundred dollars to park at the stadium.

That's got to be a new record for parking gouging in my experience (maybe others have seen it). Toronto can be bad during big events but I've never seen it go that high. We'll see what happens when she plays there this Fall. She's doing a 5 night run at the Rogers Centre (the domed stadium where the Blue Jays play) which has almost no parking of its own. Its all private lots and garages around the neighbourhood.

Shrewd and confident with flashes of genius in her songwriting; other times lazy. Decent singer. At least she doesn't need autotune.

Catchy songs overall. Certainly wouldn't turn them off if they came on the radio, but wouldn't turn many of them up either.

Visually she's not very appealing. Waaaaaaaay too much makeup = insecurity for me. But I'd fight Kistin for stock if Taylor was a company. She's badass at getting what she wants.

Quote by TomEccleston
Visually she's not very appealing. Waaaaaaaay too much makeup = insecurity for me.

And, yet, I get the sense she's probably quite naturally pretty and should probably ditch some of that makeup.

Quote by TomEccleston
But I'd fight Kistin for stock if Taylor was a company.

Seems like a good investment to me, too. Perhaps she should incorporate and go public, eh.😉

Quote by Mendalla
quite naturally pretty and should probably ditch some of that makeup.

Definitely.

I can’t vote for some reason, but a Yes from me. I really just learned more about her since she started dating Kelce though. I’m a Chiefs fan and a huge fan of Kelce brothers New Heights podcast.

I think she’s a brilliant storyteller and has a unique, pleasing voice, and her looks remind me of a classic era gone past. I’ve even grown used to the red lip.

My sis saw her in Chicago and her and her hubby said it’s best show they’ve ever seen, and her hubby is NOT a Swifty.

I love she shares her wealth with friends and family and the others she runs into. She’s a known huge tipper of Chiefs staff at ballgames. I’m sure she donates to big orgs, but she seems to donate to less-publicized charities. Family of a fallen one, etc.

I think she desperately craves love and approval (over money) from others, but won’t become something she’s not to get it. And I think she could probably easily turn her storytelling into books and achieve tremendous success.

Lastly, I’m not sure how much artists like her and Beyoncé can control the ticket price. I suspect Taylor would prefer her tix be priced for everyone.

Quote by WriterGirl
Lastly, I’m not sure how much artists like her and Beyoncé can control the ticket price.

At this point, something needs to be done about Tickermaster, and they are not the ones to do it. It should be an anti-trust issue at this point. The fiasco over the tickets for the Oasis reunion has surely got to be the last straw. The company used "dynamic pricing" meaning prices changed based on volume of sales. Oasis was, needless to say, a popular ticket so prices went nuts. And then there's the usual problem of scalpers scooping up ticket and reselling them at exorbitant prices. In some countries, TM even facilitates that through their own site, though I think some constituencies cracked down on that.

Needs to shut up and sing her songs and count her money. She's wholly unqualified to weigh in on political matters. Basically, she's an idiot.

Quote by BowTied

Needs to shut up and sing her songs and count her money. She's wholly unqualified to weigh in on political matters. Basically, she's an idiot.

Musicians weighing in on politics was considered a feature, not a bug, back in the sixties. And plenty of other celebs are getting their digs in. Free speech and all that. No one is obliged to listen (to her politics or her music).

And compared to some celebs, she's pretty quiet. Said her piece and carried on without constantly talking about it. And, let's be honest, Trump deepfaking her kind of forced her hand this time round.

Quote by BowTied

Needs to shut up and sing her songs and count her money. She's wholly unqualified to weigh in on political matters. Basically, she's an idiot.

You may disagree with her politics, but she's certainly not an idiot. Clearly, she's pretty smart. Look up some of her lyrics sometime. Why the name-calling?

Nope, not my jam.