that billionaire is not your best friend

on the cultural phenomenon and capitalistic nightmare of taylor swift

Taylor Swift has been a constant presence for more than half of my life. I’m 22, almost 23, I remember hearing “Teardrops of My Guitar” when I was in second grade, obsessively watching the “Love Story” music video before I even understood what the internet was, and knowing that this singer was something special. Speak Now was the first album I ever bought myself, I was 9, I had birthday money left over, and I got it at Barnes and Noble. When I finally learned what the internet was, sometime around her Red era, I realized that she wasn’t just my tiny, special singer that only a few of my friends and I liked, she was everywhere, making headlines, living a life, and constantly being talked about. That’s also when I learned about Swifties, Taylor’s fans, and undying protectors. I love Taylor Swift, and I think I always will, but I will never call myself a Swiftie.

Before any Swifties reading this start looking for my IP address or thinking of insults to throw at me, I’m going to ask you to continue reading for a second. Put away the blind loyalty of stan culture and just read. I LOVE Taylor Swift. But she’s a person, someone with flaws and emotions and imperfections, and someone who is not free from criticism. There is a tendency by Swifties to call misogyny at most pieces of criticism directed towards the singer. Yes, she has been a victim of the patriarchal system that profits off of targeting successful women many times throughout her career, but constantly denying valid critiques of her that are unrelated to anything misogynistic perpetuates an unhealthy environment and leaves no room for growth in her or her fans. I’m not saying that she needs to change everything about herself, or even will listen to any of it due to her insane levels of wealth and success but there’s a conversation to be had about falling into patterns and prioritizing wealth at the expense of art. Without a doubt, Taylor Swift could do almost anything, put out any album, release any piece of merch, or ask for support on something, and it would perform well, sell out completely, and create a conversation, regardless of messaging or quality. I think the points that have been floating around in my head and now are being expressed in writing are not solely about Taylor Swift. However, the singer represents a constantly relevant example of the culture that places celebrities on an unbreakable, untouchable marble pedestal, miles above the rest of us and impossible to ever equate to.

In the last week, so much online attention has been surrounding the release of Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Conversations were breaking out about the album’s subject—would the songs reference the singer’s 6-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn; would Travis Kelce, her football superstar boyfriend finally receive his love song— the references and “easter eggs” Swift was potentially leaving (or the ones made up in their heads). Social media was set ablaze by fans (and non-fans) discussing the sound of her album, bashing reviewers who didn’t absolutely adore every element of it, and heralding TTPD as her masterpiece (something that has been said about almost every one of her albums). Regardless of anyone’s personal feelings towards her, Taylor Swift once again became the center of pop culture conversations, which inevitably brought her more streams, more revenue, and a starring role in this week’s internet discourse.

lyrics from “fortnight” from The Tortured Poets Department

I often think of something my friend has said, something along the lines of how celebrities, they’re not our friends. They don’t look at us how we look at them and that is okay! That billionaire is not your best friend! We aren’t meant to relate to them or understand the ins and outs of their daily lives. Parasocial relationships are not real in the sense that we need to be updated on when the celebrity or artist or whoever does x, y, or z, not like we should be with the real people we see in our day-to-day lives. Here’s where I fear for my life: Taylor Swift, just one example among the many, is no longer relatable, she lives life and experiences things on a completely different playing field than 99% of people, and once again THAT IS OKAY! There’s nothing wrong with that, but I no longer can look at her or listen to her music and find a connection, and I think part of that is reflected in the art she is putting out. This isn’t an album review, I’m not going to go through TTPD and critique what I liked and didn’t like, but I feel like I need to acknowledge that to me, her art feels corporate (and by corporate, I don’t mean sellout, boring, only for profit, I mean disconnected, over-marketed without being personally marketed, and lacking the relatable emotions to the common person. In the wise words of my sister, I’m not empathizing with her, I’m sympathizing) in comparison to her old work and so much of that is because of Taylor Swift the Brand.

I’ve given so much money to Taylor Swift the Brand. 1989 tour tickets, reputation tour tickets, Eras Tour tickets, merch, “Love Story” Barbie, Wonderstruck perfume, CDs, and even random little knickknacks and trinkets she used to sell. At the time of purchase, especially when I was a child, I felt like she somehow would know that by spending money on her products, I loved her, but now I acknowledge that I’ve just contributed to her wealth. I think that supporting artists and buying merch, especially for smaller more indie artists is awesome, however, when it gets to the point where fans and stans will purchase anything she releases just for the sake of consumption, that’s where it becomes convoluted, especially when the quality and originality of the products continuously declines. Do you need that Taylor Swift-branded hair tie? Are you ever going to look at that Taylor Swift plastic bag you bought? Of course, the same goes for other artists, if you’re putting out branded merch that is unique and exciting, then people are more likely to be into it (think Lana Del Rey’s ICONIC necklace), but what’s the point of selling the most basic items if not for pure monetary gain. It’s like by plastering the name Taylor Swift, or her likeness, or even just a mention of her, the companies (especially her own) will always prosper. Even now, whenever she wears something (the Aritzia green sweater) it sells out in a second. And yes, it’s like this with all of your favorite artists and celebrities, but with Swift, I see it in such an extreme sense. Fans rush to buy copy after copy of the same album, drop money on anything she puts out or associates herself with, and without sounding like Carrie Bradshaw, I have to wonder why. What is it about Taylor Swift that makes people ranging from preteens to full adults drop all of their money?

Taylor Swift built a reputation (lol) out of being that relatable, sweet, kind of quirky girl next door, and that made her so accessible and so loveable to so many people. Her heartbreak felt like our heartbreak, her music videos in her earlier days always showed her as a sweet, suburban girl, never too fancy and just like us. Part of why I (and so many others) have enjoyed Taylor Swift’s music for such a long time is her storytelling and lyricism. She never presents anything too complex or far-fetched, but she tells her stories and explains events in her life with beautiful words, and that is how people fell in love with her. For so long, even with the obvious elephant in the room (her celebrity status) she still felt like she could be anyone, like my next-door neighbor, or the girl I would sit next to during English class, albeit with way more privilege, opportunity, and resources. I would argue that up until post-folklore and evermore, amid the pandemic, and TikTok’s boom in popularity, she didn’t feel as corporate as she does now. I think so much of that has to do with the worldwide attention she constantly has, every second a new article pops up about Taylor Swift’s carbon emissions, or what restaurant she and her group of celebrity friends frequent. The Eras Tour saw Swift become a billionaire, but even amid the stories she shared with her fans, Corporate Swift never was more prevalent. Do I think Taylor Swift is a money-hungry, capitalist, craving power and status above all else? Absolutely not. But she is an artist, who knows the pattern of success, and Taylor Swift is her brand. The product she is selling is herself. Her songs, her life, and her experiences are all marketed through albums, tours, and memorabilia and sold to millions of listeners and fans which has made her one of the biggest stars in the world. She’s reached a level of success that many of us could not even imagine reaching, but in doing so, has lost the relatability she presented herself with for the majority of her career.

That being said, she’s not suffering because of it, relatable to the general population or not. Taylor Swift will always succeed (i.e. sales, promotion, dominating the conversation) because of the dedicated fanbase she and her team spent years cultivating and growing. Fan/Stan culture is a bit terrifying at times. As I’ve mentioned, I’m not a Swiftie and don’t want to be one. I want to love and support her and all of the artists I enjoy on my terms and have room to critique them, and praise their successes but openly speak about some of their low points. Taylor Swift no longer represents the common, average, quirky girl, she represents success and power and wealth and mega-stardom, and I’ve made my peace with that. I don’t need to fight her battles, she has the most expensive lawyers and publicists money can buy.

To be honest, I think the corporate fatigue is setting in. I still love Taylor Swift, I know I’ll always listen to every album she puts out, but my relationship with her has evolved. Pop stars and billionaires aren’t meant to be exactly like me, and I’ve stopped trying to project those expectations onto her. Maybe we view her that way because we want to see ourselves in that position, or we want our woes, heartbreaks, and life experiences to be shouted from the mouth of someone like Taylor Swift, but that’s not going to happen, or at least I’ve stopped looking at it this way. I love her for what she represented to me when I first started listening to her music. They say that artists are frozen in time to the maturity and mentality they were at when they reached fame, and maybe that’s where Taylor Swift is, but I think more is to be said that perhaps fans are frozen in time at the moment when they decide an artist’s work impacted their life. It takes a lot to move forward and re-evaluate a relationship with an artist or with anyone who has created something that has meant so much to you over such an extended period, but I think in doing so, you’re able to view so much more and understand that you don’t need to love every single element about someone in order to support them.

my sister and I at the rep tour after it was pouring rain and we became incredibly soggy

ps: my favorite songs from ttpd are “the black dog” and “so long, london” because i can still listen to her music and enjoy it while having these thoughts <3