poll Bigger phenomenon: Madonna vs. Taylor Swift

[HardBambi]

 

 

[Mr.X]

Madonna, all the way. She was a capitalist AND a cultural phenomenon

[Storm653]

In the U.S., Australia, and Eastern Asia, Taylor. 

 

Everywhere else, Madge. 

 

/thread. 

 

To be fair to Taylor though, she hasn't had any true slump periods yet like Madonna has. One could argue that Madonna has higher highs but lower lows. Taylor's debut and Evermore are her least commercially successful albums yet they still are far bigger than Madge's duds. 

 

Madonna fits the idea of a "phenomenon" more too because she's always been a larger than life diva with a risqué image while Taylor still keeps it cute with the "girl next door" image which isn't as distinctive or unique. 

 

 

[GraceRandolph]

Unfortunately Taylor Swift. She’s a product of late stage capitalism. She’s cracked the capitalist code. We must overthrow the system to topple her. 

[Stankonia]

Madonna was a global phenomenon right off the bat so her

[ShootingStar]

there's really no use comparing, both will be remembered as the legends of their eras and for good reason.

 

so many tried to follow the madonna blueprint but nobody reached her level because she already perfected it. 

 

it took someone doing something completely different - branding themselves as a songwriter more than a elite pop performer and shying away from the controversy madonna thrived on - to reach the same level of phenomenon.

 

thats why i think all these "next taylor swifts" are a lost cause and the next truly huge mega star will be the one who figures out the brand that the next generations will cling on to. 

 

[BrandNewBrandon]

Madonna. 

 

Her riskiest work still sounds good. Like compare American Life the song to Taylor's riskiest single Look What You Made Me Do  Add to that, Madonna was a GLOBAL PHENOMENON pretty equally famous and revered everywhere, Taylor is still not as big outside of Anglosphere, especially with her singles. 

[alejandreaux]

bigger cultural phenomenon - Madonna

bigger commercial phenomenon - Taylor

[Diesel is Desire]

Please be serious. Madonna sweetie

[Year of Shadow]

I say Madonna because of her activism and immense variety of musical styles. 

She took insane risks and was still able to become the best selling woman of all time, and scored 12 US #1s and 6 US #2s.

[HardBambi]

3 minutes ago, Hey Dude said:

I say Madonna because of her activism and immense variety of musical styles. 

She took insane risks and was still able to become the best selling woman of all time, and scored 12 US #1s and 6 US #2s.

13 UK number 1s too. The most ever for a female artist

[TROJAN]

Taylor is bigger and will surpass madonnas sales in the next few years. Madonna never really felt big to me imo.

[BrandNewBrandon]

@byzantium is there a badge for every downvote you do or do you just collect them like Taylor collects ex-boyfriends? 

[Gorjesspazze9]

Madonna is called Queen of Pop for a reason. Of course she don’t feel big to some ATRL users who weren’t even probably born when she had her Peaks. 

[Bethenny Frankel]

iI's obviously Madonna and she wasn't afraid to speak up during the AIDS crisis or speak out against Bush and the war in Iraq and still is the legend she is today. I'd like to see Taylor ever take that kind of risk in her career

[BrandNewBrandon]

46 minutes ago, TROJAN said:

Taylor is bigger and will surpass madonnas sales in the next few years. Madonna never really felt big to me imo.

I've been around for both. I was in High School when 4 Minutes came out and people talked about her and how great she looked for her age etc. I also remember some of her controversies and Hung Up and how massive it was. 

 

Taylor isn't bigger than Madonna for anyone living outside of America. 

[Devin]

36 minutes ago, BrandNewBrandon said:

@byzantium is there a badge for every downvote you do or do you just collect them like Taylor collects ex-boyfriends? 

[Katamari]

1 hour ago, TROJAN said:

Taylor is bigger and will surpass madonnas sales in the next few years. Madonna never really felt big to me imo.

do you have any stories to tell about her

 

[Devin]

any thread vs Taylor Swift will most likely be the other artist bc they walked so Ms Swift can run. 

[Goaty]

1 hour ago, alejandreaux said:

bigger cultural phenomenon - Madonna

bigger commercial phenomenon - Taylor

I go back and forth on this topic, but i think I agree with this the most. 

 

However, to Taylor's credit, the full scope of cultural influence is best identified retroactively, so she's never going to compare to someone like Madonna who's had five decades compared to Taylor's two (and a half). One of Taylor's most influential periods is happening right now and it will take many years to really unpack the legacy she's leaving. 

[Storm653]

1 hour ago, TROJAN said:

Taylor is bigger and will surpass madonnas sales in the next few years. Madonna never really felt big to me imo.

Either you're a Zoomer or you were in a coma during Madonna's peak run. 

[spree]

10 minutes ago, Goaty said:

it will take many years to really unpack the legacy she's leaving. 

are Spotify streams her legacy?

[LOTF]

1 minute ago, Storm653 said:

Either you're a Zoomer or you were in a coma during Madonna's peak run. 

It's a troll whose only purpose is trashing Madonna lmao

[constantinople]

Madonnamania was a thousand times bigger in terms of cultural impact and globally than Taylormania.

[mojitos]

Asia - Taylor (I guess Japan is debatable though)

Europe - Madonna

Oceania - Taylor

Canada and US - Taylor

LATAM - Madonna