Reply to Do all millennials like Taylor Swift?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]She’s a marketing genius - that is 95% of her success.  [/quote]

How is she a marketing genius?  I always hear it so I believe it's true, but I don't pay any attention to her, so I don't get what it is that she is marketing about herself that is so appealing.[/quote]

She is amazing at developing a relationship with her fans and making them feel special, and making them feel their connection to her is special. She also does an amazing job at performing vulnerability, to make the people who listen to her music feel like they are seeing her real self, while also always maintaining actual privacy and distance.

Her fans often feel like they relate to her or are like her, but it’s by design— her music is written to evoke this feeling, specifically.

She understands her fans extremely well and knows how to give them what they want.[/quote]

She doesn't really have a relationship with her fans. Does she know your name? Would she recognize you in Starbucks? Will she babysit for you in an emergency?

How does she make you feel special in practical terms when you're in a football stadium sized crowd? How can 13 year olds relate to her lyrics about relationships when they've never had one?

She does have a magnificent marketing machine I'll admit.

[/quote]

It's called a "parasocial relationship." Very common in the social media era. Swift cultivates them pretty assiduously via social media, the Easter eggs and little inside jokes that she peppers her songs and videos with, plus a PR machine that releases a steady stream of stories about Taylor reaching out to fans, helping them, and protecting them. Stories about her sending personalized notes and merchandise to fans who are sick or have sympathetic stories. There was recently a bunch of news recently about her checking on a fan in the middle of one of her tour appearances who was having issues with security, and defending the fan -- this was pushed out by her PR team but also got picked up by the many Swifty fan accounts.

I'm not saying I have a relationship with her -- I don't really even listen to pop music. But I have a family member who is obsessed with her and tracks this stuff closely. The fandom seems to be based on this idea of personal connection. On the current tour, people are dressing like Taylor at various stages of her life -- wearing costumes that look like outfits she's worn in videos or on tour, or when she's won awards. People are even cutting or dying their hair (or wearing wigs) to get these looks.

Yes it is obsessive and IMO not healthy, but you can't deny that Taylor is good at developing these parasocial relationships and also milking them. A few years ago one of her pieces of merchandise was a cardigan sweater manufactured to look like a cardigan she wore in a video and/or promotional materials for one of the albums she released during Covid. My family member was OBSESSED with this cardigan and received it as a gift and cried when they received it. This person is in their 30s. I don't get it, but she is not alone -- many of her fans are like this. And they are giving Taylor $$$$$$$ for it. Savvy businesswoman.[/quote]

Why does this parasocial stuff happen primarily with singers e.g. BTS, Taylor Swift,  Harry Styles and back in the day David Cassidy, the Beatles etc. It doesn't seem to happen as much with good-looking actors, nor with less attractive musicians. Does singing do something to your brain chemicals?[/quote]

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