re: Serious Taylor Swift question

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Help me understand why she is a superstar.

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Same. I don't hear anything interesting in her music.
Just good marketing to people whose musical tastes aren't very complex I suppose. More power to her though, collect those dollars. None of them are mine though.

I think it has a lot to do with up bringing. If music is important in your household. Some kids are followers and will only listen to the music their friends are listening to. And some kids will find their own musical preference. Generally influenced by their parents music and/or if their parents are musically inclined and/or by their friends/social media but a lot of time it’s because they are willing to discover new/non mainstream music and listen to older music. The best is when your music taste happens organically because of your surroundings. Some kids aren’t concerned or care about music and some do.
Actually I’m full of shite because my parents weren’t overly into music. I probably followed my brothers footsteps/found my own way
But you are right most of the time the next generation doesn’t want to listen to their parents music. And parents generally hate their kids music choices

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Isn't it weird to think there's an inherent generational constraint with music? Why would that have to be?

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There actually is one big one due to technology: quantizing. In the 90’s, mainstream music recording largely went completely digital. Computers allowed for songs to be placed on a grid where every note is perfectly in time and in tune. Those who “came of age” before this shift vs those who came up after were conditioned to two VERY different sounds for what constitutes “good” music.

See, for those who came up before quantizing, they can’t put their finger on it, but those songs feel “boring”, “sterile”, “manufactured”, and “lacking in energy”. A band recorded without quantizing naturally pushes and pulls tempos a little bit, and singers bend notes sharp or flat. These imperfections make music feel more “alive” to those who were used to pre-quantized music.

Those who grew up after quantizing became standard in the late 90’s (I would argue post-grunge and nu-metal to be the first mainstream genres almost entirely in the era of quantizing) struggle to appreciate music made before quantizing became the norm. Because they’re used to everything being perfect in time and pitch, when they hear non-quantized music, they can’t put their finger on why, but it just feels “off”. It often sounds “sloppy”, “rough”, or “like it has cheap production value”.

While music tends to already be generational where kids and parents don’t like each other’s music, the boundary caused by quantizing actually explains a very real dividing line for a LOT of music.

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Uh, classical music parents HATED showtune kids. Showtune parents HATED Jazz kids. Rock n roll is in NO way unique.

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I read a book recently that told a different history.

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Songwriting credits can get pretty creative. I mean Lars Ulrich has a songwriting credit on every single Metallica song but can't sing or play a note. He gets them from arranging.

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James himself gives massive credit to Lars for his arrangements. Basically says the songs would be a hot mess if not for Lars.

ETA: I would compare this skill to more like Rick Rubin - also can't sing or play a note. But has the ability to know what should go where and what should hit the cutting room floor.

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There actually is one big one due to technology: quantizing. In the 90’s, mainstream music recording largely went completely digital. Computers allowed for songs to be placed on a grid where every note is perfectly in time and in tune. Those who “came of age” before this shift vs those who came up after were conditioned to two VERY different sounds for what constitutes “good” music.

See, for those who came up before quantizing, they can’t put their finger on it, but those songs feel “boring”, “sterile”, “manufactured”, and “lacking in energy”. A band recorded without quantizing naturally pushes and pulls tempos a little bit, and singers bend notes sharp or flat. These imperfections make music feel more “alive” to those who were used to pre-quantized music.

Those who grew up after quantizing became standard in the late 90’s (I would argue post-grunge and nu-metal to be the first mainstream genres almost entirely in the era of quantizing) struggle to appreciate music made before quantizing became the norm. Because they’re used to everything being perfect in time and pitch, when they hear non-quantized music, they can’t put their finger on why, but it just feels “off”. It often sounds “sloppy”, “rough”, or “like it has cheap production value”.

While music tends to already be generational where kids and parents don’t like each other’s music, the boundary caused by quantizing actually explains a very real dividing line for a LOT of music.

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Lol. Yes, pro tools changed the game, but this is ridiculous overthinking. The slobs listening to popular radio music couldn’t care less or even recognize the the differences between a digital and analog recording.

She’s a pretty white girl who can sing and entertain and she’s making popular music for the current time. What can’t you understand about this?

Who else can take her place today? She’s far more talented than Britney was in her day. Why was Britney a star? Because she was a pretty white girl who can sing and entertain and she’s making popular music for the current time

When Taylor was a teen, her father, a hedgefund manager, bought a large stake in Big Machine Records, an already well-established record label at the time. Today, Big Machine is Nashville's biggest record label, and it's not even close, in part thanks to Taylor, but she had full major label support behind her before she'd recorded her first song. So many folks have to toil in obscurity for 5 to 10 years before they can get any industry backing or even attention.

She had it from age 15 right at the last period in time when there was a semblance of a mono culture, allowing her to become one of the last super stars before social media balkanized music audiences to such an extent that achieving true mass appeal became extremely difficult.

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average looking talentless ho

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I think it's ok to not like her music and despise her politics... but...

she's fine as hell AND she is wildly talented, like it or not. And she'll be a billionaire by year-end.