What if Taylor Swift keep focused on Country Music
- Thread starter SgtRL-3
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Well, her reputation wouldn't be quite what it is now, since there aren't as many country-singers who become household names, compared to pop singers, especially if you're looking at the global scale.
How that translates financially, I don't know, but since, as I say, country music doesn't have anywhere near the global following that pop does, I'm guessing she doesn't make as much money as she's making IOTL.
How that translates financially, I don't know, but since, as I say, country music doesn't have anywhere near the global following that pop does, I'm guessing she doesn't make as much money as she's making IOTL.
She left country for a reason - way more money to made made outside that box. Plus, the country genre itself has turned agaisnt singer songwriters - see the trend in brocountry.
Taylor Swift had gotten as far as she could in Country, and the older she got the more fake her persona of innocent girl next door, who had never been kissed would look. So she needed to create a new persona, but I can’t really see a potential persona for TS which would fit on the Country scene and make her a big deal. Maybe if she was more religious she could have gone into Christian music with a more mature version of her old persona. But honestly I think that pop was pretty much the only door open for her, unless she was okay with becoming a niche celebrity instead of a major star.
I know I'm being a smartass, but as someone from the south she aint no Patsy Cline. Her stuff was never Country as far as I'm concerned.
I mean, the one word answer to this question is "Branson" but really, let's say we were to put this what if to the test. The first thing there'd need to be is a decent POD and I think I have one. See, the comparisons of Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are not without merit, both started in country, though it was always with more pop leanings. Both released albums in 2010 (Swift's Speak Now and Cyrus' Can't Be Tamed) which introduced their new sound and new images as Swift began her slow transition into pop idol while Cyrus began her move to her more mature image.
So, the POD that keeps Swift in the country camp is Cyrus opting instead to go country after Hannah Montana runs its course. In place of "The Climb" the big hit off the movie is "Goodbye" a slower acoustic ballad written with idea of being a break-up song but also a way of saying goodbye to the Hannah Montana fanbase with the hopes that they'll stay with her as she makes the move from pop to country. Cyrus was still popular among a big demographic at the time, so while the plausibility is suspect (but when has that ever stopped me?) the singles success of "Goodbye" influences not only Cyrus' next album (Back to Nashville) but also convinces Taylor to stick to country, reworking Speak Now to better match the genre.
Parton, I imagine, would be a big influence for both going forward since she's one of the biggest female names in country (and being Miley's godmother doesn't hurt) and while the fanbases wouldn't be keen on each other, I imagine Miley and Taylor maintain a more friendly rivalry (a scenario I imagine is Miley playing the titular temptress in the video for Taylor Swift's cover of "Jolene")
So, the POD that keeps Swift in the country camp is Cyrus opting instead to go country after Hannah Montana runs its course. In place of "The Climb" the big hit off the movie is "Goodbye" a slower acoustic ballad written with idea of being a break-up song but also a way of saying goodbye to the Hannah Montana fanbase with the hopes that they'll stay with her as she makes the move from pop to country. Cyrus was still popular among a big demographic at the time, so while the plausibility is suspect (but when has that ever stopped me?) the singles success of "Goodbye" influences not only Cyrus' next album (Back to Nashville) but also convinces Taylor to stick to country, reworking Speak Now to better match the genre.
Parton, I imagine, would be a big influence for both going forward since she's one of the biggest female names in country (and being Miley's godmother doesn't hurt) and while the fanbases wouldn't be keen on each other, I imagine Miley and Taylor maintain a more friendly rivalry (a scenario I imagine is Miley playing the titular temptress in the video for Taylor Swift's cover of "Jolene")
She was making enough money already, I think. What she wanted wasn't just to be a big pop star, which she was already, but to be the biggest pop star in the world. She couldn't do that while still calling herself country, because country is too niche. She wanted to ditch the parochialism and chase new trends in production. I literally can't think of any reason for the horns in Shake it Off other than a ripoff of Macklemore's success with that instrumentation the year before. And so on.
For me, the first time I became aware of her was "the incident". The conspiracy-leaning section of my psyche still thinks that was probably staged, since if it managed to get an irredeemable square like me to notice her, it couldn't have been anything but a plus for her career.