base talk Do you think becoming a pop star was Taylor's plan all along?

[prettyinpink940]

she obviously started out as a country artist and eventually transitioned into a full-blown pop star. do you think this was her plan all along? or did this happen naturally to her? 

[MidnightsAtPeace]

no, when she first debuted as a country artist she had know idea how big she was gonna be, so after achieving everything she used to dream of in the US, she knew the only way to make it last was try a more universal genre.

[burninredhot]

I think she idolized being the biggest country act when she first debuted but when she reached that level of success at a very early stage of her career is when she realised that she's meant for pop stardom

[Revolution]

 she heard atrl gays calling her local and knew she had to act and transition to pop

[MingYouToo]

i think she tempered her expectations and just dreamt of being a big country star for the rest of her life. maybe get as big as shania twain, but when she hit that point before turning 20, i think she started being aware of the 'been there done that' phenomena and knew she was destined for things bigger than country music.

 

she clearly started charting this whole plan out by speak now, its basically a pop rock album with a twangy vocal delivery to it, RED was her multiple personality era and she clearly showed hints of committing to pop.

[Blank Space]

I mean the first album Taylor bought with her own money was Christina's debut. It was just a matter of time

[Beyonnaise]

I think it’s noteworthy that she grew up in the time when female country had crossed over to pop. She always cites Shania and The Dixie Chicks as formative to her. I remember she said something she admired about Shania was that she was country but played with pop melodies and had sexy fun music videos like a pop girl.

 

She actively wanted to be the biggest star in the world and put in the work for years to be widely appealing, but I don’t think at the beginning it was as calculated as “ok so on album four I’m gonna start adding in a few Max Martin tracks and then album five will be the full pop transition.” The circumstances of her early success couldn’t really be replicated by staying within the box of country, and I think after three country pop albums she knew she had to switch it up to stay relevant.

Edited October 22, 2023 by Beyonnaise

[Solaria]

She knew she had to switch up like the queen of reinvention Madonna and the rest is history smartest move she's ever made. I adore Poplor

[AvadaKedavra]

When she was a child-teen she was in love with all those iconic country singers and music legends from the 70s-80s but she also loved pop singers like Xtina,Nsync,Shakira and more.....she was a pop stan too.

I think her plan was to turn into a huge Country Star but then she saw how Gaga-Katy-Kesha-Rihanna were havin world domination with Pop Music, then she wanted a piece of that cake 

Edited October 22, 2023 by AvadaKedavra

[byzantium]

I am sure that her plans changed and she grew and evolved as a musician.  Back in 2005-2005, she wanted to be a songwriter musician and she saw country music to be the right place for that.  
 

After Speak Now was a little bit of a slump, I think the seriously started considering pop music to reinvent herself.  

[MingYouToo]

4 minutes ago, byzantium said:

I am sure that her plans changed and she grew and evolved as a musician.  Back in 2005-2005, she wanted to be a songwriter musician and she saw country music to be the right place for that.  
 

After Speak Now was a little bit of a slump, I think the seriously started considering pop music to reinvent herself.  

 

5 minutes ago, AvadaKedavra said:

When she was a child-teen she was in love with all those iconic country singers and music legends from the 70s-80s but she also loved pop singers like Xtina,Nsync,Shakira and more.....she was a pop stan too.

I think her plan was to turn into a huge Country Star but then she saw how Gaga-Katy-Kesha-Rihanna were havin world domination with Pop Music, then she wanted a piece of that cake 

I think it was a multitude of these factors honestly;

1. She saw how people treated her as peers of Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kesha, and she wanted to be a part of their world

2. She probably was aware and so was her team of the massive untapped potential she has in terms of market appeal if she just moves to pop.

3. Her music tastes evolved as she became more entrenched in Hollywood and she saw how limiting country was as a genre especially in terms of production. 

[babyboy1]

i think she was okay being a country act but later got influeced by late 00s pop girls success and wanted to taste that pop landscape success as well.

[AvadaKedavra]

1 minute ago, MingYouToo said:

 

I think it was a multitude of these factors honestly;

1. She saw how people treated her as peers of Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kesha, and she wanted to be a part of their world

2. She probably was aware and so was her team of the massive untapped potential she has in terms of market appeal if she just moves to pop.

3. Her music tastes evolved as she became more entrenched in Hollywood and she saw how limiting country was as a genre especially in terms of production. 

Love the third one of your answers. One of the things i love about Pop Music is how diverse can be your sound. You can make anything. Move through everything
This is the reason why Pop Music been able to sustain herself in the top of the charts for Decades
Meanwhile Rockstar-EDM-Country-Hip Hop singers are much more limited 

[byzantium]

10 minutes ago, MingYouToo said:

 

I think it was a multitude of these factors honestly;

1. She saw how people treated her as peers of Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kesha, and she wanted to be a part of their world

2. She probably was aware and so was her team of the massive untapped potential she has in terms of market appeal if she just moves to pop.

3. Her music tastes evolved as she became more entrenched in Hollywood and she saw how limiting country was as a genre especially in terms of production. 

Also notable, the world of pop music shifted by 2012.  In the 2000s, Britney was more the template which was less focused on songwriting.  But with Gaga, Katy, Kesha, etc, the emphasis of pop music became more about the song than the performance.  

[orange22]

100%

[Feanor]

No. I think at most she imagined herself to have a Shania-like career, where she taps into pop and has some crossover hits, but is still primarily regarded as a country act (like Shania is) and operates within the Nashville machine.

[Rev8]

Don't think she had that in mind from the beginning

Most of her favs weren't your typical pop artists..altho she had pop favs - even now when she is a "pop star", she still has moments when she steps out of that title

 

Imo, she just wanted to evolve and do something bigger after she Made it (2nd era?).

That is why she started going more into pop and literally working with Max Martin and Joseph Khan - 2 people who are essential to Pop Culture.

They were also 2 of Britney's biggest collaborators - a pop star who she idolized and made covers of (literally before working with them)

So she had an idea what to do, who to do it with.

And she made it

 

 

 

 

Tl;dr - Not at the very beginning.
Probably 2nd/3rd era.

[4Real]

1 hour ago, Blank Space said:

I mean the first album Taylor bought with her own money was Christina's debut. It was just a matter of time

Her taste is just impeccable

[xXavril]

Tbh you could close this thread now because a lot of people here have answered the question perfectly! 

 

She for sure didn’t plan on being the global pop star she is, but around Speak Now you can tell her overall plan for her career started to change. TBH I think she would have fully entered the pop space sooner with Red if it hasn’t been for her label. 
 

Simply defining 1989 as a pop record was almost ground breaking because at that point, every major pop artist was trying to distance themself’s from the “just a pop star” image, while Taylor dove headfirst into it. 

[Jai]

I think it wasn’t much of a though during the TS Era.

 

But once she saw her potential pop appeal during the (You belong with me) Fearless era, and she specially after the underperformance of Speak Now (which is much more Country, and less Country-pop, compared to Fearless) for her standards, it only made sense to lean

into it more.

 

Once she started leaning in more to Pop with Red the rest was bound to be history.

 

Anyways I guess that's a long winded way of saying no, but yes.

Edited October 22, 2023 by Jai

[Rep2000]

She's as pop as it could be with You Belong With Me and even Love Story. Also, she started as a country starlet but that doesn't stop her from rubbing shoulders with the rising Disney teenpop girls clique anyway.

 

Country simply was not her place to fit in anymore since she keeps getting bigger and bigger.

[MissedTheTrain]

She was always a fan of music in general, but her biggest early influences were The Chicks and Shania Twain so I think the genuinely wanted to be a Country star along the lines of those 2.  Also, Country was the best space for her as a songwriter, since that's always been what makes her special.

[queenoftheclouds]

Probably after Speak Now failed. She only Had 3 Pop Songs in Red Just to have a taste and went full into it after it worked Out for her.

She released two folk Albums after Lover failed to Deliver.