base talk Does current Taylor Swift compare with PeakGa in terms of pop culture impact?

[UnusualBoy]

Honestly, it feels like it. Taylor is inescapable right now something I hadn't seen since Gaga's circa 2009-2011.

[Achilles.]

Taylor basically always had more pop culture impact. 
 

 

Like this is considered a major, influential moment in Gaga's career and in pop performance history, but the next day everybody—including the president—was talking about… Taylor Swift. 

[dirrtydiana]

No taylor mania is on the line of Ed sheerans, drakes and bad bunnys 

[SwiftLover]

greater than or equal to.

 

Both much bigger than the likes of Ed, Drake, Bunny & britney. 

[Human Fly]

27 minutes ago, Eternal220 said:

??? What walking legend peaks with their first album though. 
 

 

%99 of trend setters peak with their first projects. 

[Infernal Paradise]

Their individual peaks represent two completely different events in pop underlining their vastly different approaches and methods in how they executed it (challenging vs preservation of status quo, pushing people's buttons vs maximizing commercial appeal, centering flamboyance/theatricality vs mundaneness/relatability as part of their brand). Then you add the sea change in factors between those two peaks such as monoculture, role and influence of social media, personalization of content etc. and you get a fuller picture of what they look like in their respective contexts.

 

Gaga's artistry, like other shapeshifting icons before her, is a love letter to the art of drag and she makes it abundantly clear with her drastic genre changes and visual reinventions each era. At her peak she was bold, fresh and was able to set trends and warp the entire industry in her sound and image, moving the culture forward with her contributions. Even to this day, she's able to generally stay ahead of the curve sonically whenever she releases because she just does whatever the hell she wants to. In stark contrast, Taylor's imagery relies heavily on white feminism and heteronormativity. She's extremely calculated about her every single career move and keeps her art safe and accessible at all times so as not to alienate her audiences, but in order to maintain that level of cultural dominance she's also not innovating or rocking the boat enough that can be seen as commensurate with the commercial stature that she already holds, which results in "billions in economic value" generated, sure, but little in the actual cultural ecosystem getting "enriched", so to speak.

 

Not the most accurate analogy but a $1B-grossing Rated R film and a $2B-grossing (or $4B, or any multiplier to reflect the scale of her gargantuan success) PG-13 film are both massively successful ventures, and while in absolute terms the latter grossed more, the former is regarded as a much more impressive achievement because of its limited reach by design and how it was able to break beyond those pre-defined boundaries.

 

Commercially, Taylor is by far the bigger juggernaut and her numbers are almost unprecedented but in terms of cultural impact, and that impact translating into something tangible, few artists, and virtually none, that debuted this century can compare to Gaga who not only reinvigorated the pop landscape when it needed that the most but was also was a total game-changer when it came to pioneering artist-fan relationships online, making music videos and red carpets full-fledged events and making social advocacy and championing individuality cool again, just to name a few. 

[LOTF]

7 hours ago, Junipero said:

Taylor I think is "big" simply because her team markets her as a songwriter and has a legacy of acoustic heavy albums which I think is similar to why Ed Sheeran and Adele sold a lot in the past; buying her music is "worth buying" because it is "real music" in the eyes of the GP. 

You spilled hard with this. But like hard HARD.

Most people, however, are simply not ready for such a conversation 

[swissman]

in popular culture? not even close.

 

Gaga was EVERYWHERE and she was exciting, fresh, surprising, innovative...it's a lot different than what Taylor has now which is primarily immense popularity. Outside of the impact of Taylor's success, the work itself, her performances, her costumes, her concepts, her statements, etc. are not really that important to pop culture as a whole. I can see points for Taylor in that the sheer number of fans to whom Taylor's work is important to adds up to a great many people in culture thinking it's important works, but realistically, if we erased either/both Midnights and TTPD would pop culture look or feel any different? Would it lack something immensely iconic and game-changing? Are these culturally defining works or do they have any culturally defining moments outside of a handful of memes and an Ice Spice collab?

If we took The Fame/The Fame Monster away, the 2009-2011 era of pop would 100% be missing not only some very important pop songs, but pop moments, cultural references, etc.

[AxelFox]

Among teenagers and young- adults yeah, sort of.
 

Hard to compare to ga ga directly though. I'd say she's more of a spice girls, justin bieber, one direction type of phenomenon. 

[itshyolee]

I feel like Taylor is just as big as Gaga was back then. The media and social media just tends to gas her up as if she's the biggest thing since sliced bread, but in reality her current reign is on par with Gaga's.

[kayliah]

9 hours ago, HardBambi said:

TS probably sells more than Gaga did even back in the day when sales were higher in general but the impact is nowhere to be seen, everyone kind of likes Taylor and she sells a lot, but the impact, OMG Gaga had much more impact incomparable really, me thinks

What impact exactly.... she was supposed to be the next madonna. She was a hot item for two years then became a has been until a star is born revived interest in her... 

[Walk_Away21]

Taylor even had the NFL fawning over even during the Super Bowl where she didn't even perform. Not to mention the size of their tours. It's not close. The setup.

[Badgalbriel]

1 hour ago, swissman said:

in popular culture? not even close.

 

Gaga was EVERYWHERE and she was exciting, fresh, surprising, innovative...it's a lot different than what Taylor has now which is primarily immense popularity. Outside of the impact of Taylor's success, the work itself, her performances, her costumes, her concepts, her statements, etc. are not really that important to pop culture as a whole. I can see points for Taylor in that the sheer number of fans to whom Taylor's work is important to adds up to a great many people in culture thinking it's important works, but realistically, if we erased either/both Midnights and TTPD would pop culture look or feel any different? Would it lack something immensely iconic and game-changing? Are these culturally defining works or do they have any culturally defining moments outside of a handful of memes and an Ice Spice collab?

If we took The Fame/The Fame Monster away, the 2009-2011 era of pop would 100% be missing not only some very important pop songs, but pop moments, cultural references, etc.

I agree with you, tbh. Taylor's peak feels more like a Beyoncé type of peak where there's OF COURSE a lot of impact but it's not really THAT important for the overall music world. 

Gaga was very much here to make a statement, she wanted to be seen, so she made everything possible to make sure people saw the f of what she had to show and that shows a lot in the early 10s when everyone, except Taylor, starting dressing up as Gaga. She really shaped that era of music. 

[jjmed59]

gaga changed the scene in a way taylor hasnt, sorry. yes taylor is commercially huger, thats a no brainer, but gaga had far more influence. 

 

if celebrities were flocking to rerecord their music and have their own era spinoff tours, then maybe we could say taylor had half the impact. but gaga literally had the entire celebrity scene dressing up very differently after her debut. being there to see the change at the time was wild. it was very clear everyone felt they needed to up their game. theatricality was in during her peak years. and you could see it everywhere, from live performances to videos to ads. she also ushered in that synth pop sound that was then seen emulated by many others. 

 

i dont see taylor causing any influence and change like that. arts will always see a bigger impact over time than charts. 

Edited May 15 by jjmed59

[queenoftheclouds]

2 hours ago, Human Fly said:

%99 of trend setters peak with their first projects. 

Taylor is the 1% then

[HardBambi]

32 minutes ago, kayliah said:

What impact exactly.... she was supposed to be the next madonna. She was a hot item for two years then became a has been until a star is born revived interest in her... 

Her impact may have slowed down now but that Gaga in her first 5 years of her career will remain in Pop history forever 

[Lady Claire]

There's a difference between having huge numbers and a cultural impact.

 

Obviously Taylor is huge right now and will go down as one of the biggest artists ever but the peaks of artists like Madonna, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga are untouchable bc it went beyond music charts. And that's not an opinion, it's a fact.

[liam13]

i know it's hard when your fav doesn't release music for a long time but damn, the delulu in here is crazy

[Storm653]

9 hours ago, jonapova said:

I would have to say no. Gaga was talked about by everyone including the straights. Taylor is only talked about by the media due to her sales, the gp don't really know her

Hold up. You really think Gaga appealed to "straights" more than Taylor? 

 

Or are you just trolling?

 

 

[jonapova]

Just now, Storm653 said:

Hold up. You really think Gaga appealed to "straights" more than Taylor? 

 

Or are you just trolling?

 

 

I meant to type straight men. But I never mentioned that she appealed more, but everyone was talking about gaga, her music, her clothes, her interviews. That isn't the case for Ms Swift. 

[Club classic]

I think Taylor has a bigger hold on the GP while Gaga influenced peers and upcoming artists more if that makes sense. No need to compare though.

[Soda Pop Queen]

No, I don't think any of Gaga's peers or successors' cultural impact compares with her cultural omnipresence from 2009-2011. Anyone that is downplaying how astronomical Gaga used to be is not old enough to remember witnessing or just outright did not live through it. You couldn't go anywhere in the world and not be asked your thoughts about whatever latest Gaga video, song, outfit, stunt, interview soundbite, etc. Our faves couldn't go anywhere without being accused of copying her (she did have many clones that popped up at the time). All the legends were constantly asked what they thought of her. Everything was a huge discourse around her, every brand wanted her, not to mention she was breaking digital records and setting touring records at the time.  She rose so quickly and so vastly that I think the industry and public were waiting on her downfall actually. 

 

Gaga's megastar years were the last era that was still kinda running on the old model of pop stardom so I guess it's hard to compare. After her fall, the culture became even more fragmented.

Edited May 15 by Soda Pop Queen

[ithinkheknowsoutsold]

13 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Yeah, it's the penultimate song that plays on the pre-show playlist so when it starts playing everyone runs back to their seats because the show is about to start. She truly meant it when she said it's her fave song. 

 

 

Imagine being seated in the front row there, what an experience it would be.

[TeemoR]

nope she lacks that massive appeal and star quality Gaga had during that massive peak. 

[Gladiator]

20 minutes ago, TeemoR said:

nope she lacks that massive appeal and star quality

You are delusional.