base talk Changes in the music industry that your fave has influenced?

[Burn]

What are some meaningful changes in the music industry that have come about as a direct result on your fave?

 

I'll start.

 

Beyoncé - New music releases were changed from Tuesdays to Fridays after she surprise dropped the BEYONCÉ album in 2013.

 

Prince - The parental advisory stickers that you see on album artwork to this day were introduced after a controversy in the 1980s where a mother bought her 11 year old daughter the Purple Rain album, not knowing there was a song (Darling Nikki) about a woman masturbating.

 

Michael Jackson - Revolutionised the music video, and broke down racial barriers with getting MTV to play his videos, after they initially refused to play the Billie Jean video because he was black and playing black artists didn't fit their 'image'.

[Mariya Takeuchi]

Prince pioneered lots synth and drum patterns, created lyric videos, help birth new jack swing and inadvertently helped Janet find her sound through jam & Lewis.

[Vixen Eyes]

Kesha started off the 2010s with Animal and thus started the electropop/dancepop trend (sure there was some in the late 2000s but the height of it was the early 2010s)

and since Kesha's new song came out, it feels like 2010s nostalgia modernized

[Treason]

https://www.billboard.com/lists/how-taylor-swift-changed-music-business/taylor-swift-artists-rights/

 

9 Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed the Music Business

1

She's a Champion of Artists' Rights

It's easy to forget today, but for a nearly three-year stretch in the 2010s, Taylor Swift's music was MIA on Spotify. That's because the singer-songwriter — who had recently crossed over into pop megastardom with her massive album 1989 — pulled her catalog from the streaming service in November 2014 in protest over low royalty payouts for its "freemium" model. Just months prior, Swift had hinted at her displeasure in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which she wrote, "Valuable things should be paid for. It's my opinion that music should not be free." Swift wouldn't allow her music back on the service until June 2017.

That wasn't the last time Swift flexed her industry power in the name of artist rights. In 2015, she threatened to keep 1989 off of Apple Music, which was then preparing to launch, over its decision not to pay royalties to artists during the streamer's free three-month trial period. Apple made an about-face just one day later by announcing that it would pay those royalties after all. "When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change," tweeted Apple's then-senior vp of internet services and software Eddy Cue. The company's abrupt change of heart was a testament to Swift's superstar clout, leveraged in service of artists at all levels. –Chris Eggertsen

2

She Mastered the Art of Taking Control

After the master recordings for her first six albums, along with her former label Big Machine Label Group, were sold to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2019, Swift announced that she would re-record the songs included in the sale to gain master ownership. In a Tumblr post, she called the sale to Braun, with whom she was not on good terms, a "worst case scenario." A little over a year later, Braun sold Swift's work to Shamrock Holdings. She moved forward with her plans to re-record all of her early albums, but it was a risky move — one that had basically never been done before on such a large scale. To do it would require incredible amounts of time and money from the already busy superstar to recreate her old work with precision — plus, there was no guarantee that fans would ditch the original recordings for her new ones.

But by the time her first Taylor's Version album was released, there was no doubt the Swifties would have her back. Fearless (Taylor's Version) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. A year after its release, it became even more clear that Swift's plan was working. The original version of Fearless had earned just 242,000 equivalent album units that year, compared to the new Taylor's Version of the album which earned 1 million equivalent album units in the same time period. Now, Swift is three albums into her quest to "regain the sense of pride [she] once had" in her old work, as she once put it on Twitter. All three of the re-releases out so far – Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version) and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) — have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. –Kristin Robinson

3

She Found a Way to Dominate Across Consumption Metrics

For several years in the 2010s, Taylor pulled her music from streaming services, fearing that the music's free availability would cut into her physical sales. But in the 2020s, she found a way to have her cake and sell it too: 2022's Midnights not only scored the third-largest-ever streaming week for an album with its 549.26 million on-demand U.S. official streams in its debut frame, but it also sold 1.14 million copies, including a record 575,000 on vinyl. She achieved this through inspired promotion and marketing that puts both a premium on streaming her new material early and often to be part of the conversation around it — and encouraging extra listens through surprise drops like the Midnights (3am Edition), which arrived mere hours after the original set and added seven new tracks — as well as an emphasis on her albums as art objects and collector's items, which have helped spur physical sales (of vinyl in particular) to commercial heights not seen in decades.

With different-colored LP variants and packaging containing fan-servicing easter eggs and bonus materials, Swifties will often buy multiple copies of the same Swift albums, both online through her web store and through major chain and independent record stores, where she's encouraged in-person shopping by releasing a number of store exclusives. The result is perhaps the lone contemporary artist who can both stream as well as Drake and sell as well as an Adele, the exemplar for what commercial success as a recording artist looks like in 2023. –Andrew Unterberger

4

She Changed the Way Artists Look at Engaging With Fans

 

Remember the old days when artists walled themselves off from fans, preferring enigmatic over approachable? Taylor dispensed with all that early in her career, becoming one of the first major acts to not just use social media as a messaging tool but as a way to directly communicate with fans. She extended that sense of intimacy and connection on platforms like Twitter and Instagram to IRL situations as well, like with personalized gifts and letters to members of the Swiftie community, secret listening parties at her house for upcoming album releases and meet-and-greets during her sold-out tours. And who can forget that time she invited hundreds of fans into her house for baking and dancing? Taylor's mastery of engagement also involves surprising the hell out of fans with unexpected new music (see: Folklore) — all the better in her quest to prevent leaks — and holding various contests allowing fans to engage in direct ways with promotional campaigns. This is all to say that Taylor's devotion to Swifties (and theirs to her) has changed the way artists prioritize fan engagement and has laid solid the groundwork for other acts to build meaningful connections with their own supporters. –Marc Schneider

5

She's a Tour-de-force

 

Taylor's dominance of the touring industry goes back more than a decade: when Swift's acceptance speech was famously interrupted by Kanye West at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift was in the middle of her sophomore Fearless tour, performing in front of 1.2 million fans across the United States, U.K and Australia, earning $66 million in ticket sales. In 2010, at the age of 21, Swift headlined her first stadium show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. and has returned every tour since, including three stops in May 2023 on her Eras Tour, for a record 13 concerts at the stadium that's long been home to the New England Patriots.

Swift would go on to cross the $100 million mark in 2011 with her Speak Now Tour and generate an impressive $150 million with the help of longtime promoter and family friend Louis Messina from the Messina Touring Group, and go on to generate $250 million in sales for her 2014-2015 1989 World Tour. The success of each tour was proof of just how much fans valued Swift's music, and the "Blank Space" singer wasn't the only one noticing. Scalpers were also watching and looking for easy opportunities to make a quick buck, buying up affordable tickets meant for fans and flipping them on the secondary market. For her 2017 Reputation Tour, Swift would pilot a new technology developed by Ticketmaster aimed at keeping tickets out of the hands of scalpers. –Dave Brooks

6

She Prompted Major Ticketing Reforms

 

Scalpers love Taylor almost as much as her fans, and it's that pesky truth that has planted her at the center of many of the concert industry's reforms and strategies over the years to conjure a more fair marketplace. Long before the infamous crash of her Eras Tour ticket presale, which has prompted dozens of Federal and state bills and a high-profile Senate grilling of some of the touring world's top execs, Swift synced up with Ticketmaster on strategies to minimize scalping. Before 2018's Reputation Tour, she partnered with Ticketmaster's then-new Verified Fan program to create SwiftTix, which had fans register in advance for an opportunity to buy tickets during the presale, with their place in line partially boosted by purchasing fan merch and posting about the tour online. Additionally, Swift and her team have employed dynamic pricing, where ticket prices fluctuated based on demand.

Today, securing advance registration for an opportunity to buy tickets, along with seat-by-seat pricing based on market demand, have become staples of most high-demand tours. The war on bots, scalpers and random technical issues — see the recent snafu in France — clearly isn't over, but Taylor's on the frontlines. –MS

7

She Showed an Artist Can Change (Genres) 

 

It's worth noting that Taylor was never just a country artist. Though her 2006 self-titled album was released and marketed as a country record, the set was decidedly pop-leaning, adhering to a template set by Nashville forebears like Shania Twain and Faith Hill. She continued on that trajectory with Fearless, Speak Now and Red — the latter of which was noted as a transitional record, prepping fans for her turn to full-bore pop on 2014's 1989. With the possible exception of the then-divisive Reputation — which pulled from electropop, trap and even hip-hop and has since undergone something of a re-evaluation — Swift's fanbase only seemed to swell with each evolution. On her back-to-back pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore, Swift experimented with an indie folk/rock sound that served to broaden her fanbase to more alternative-minded audiences. The result is a discography that seems to hold space for nearly every kind of listener — no doubt helping her career-spanning Eras Tour become arguably the must-see blockbuster of the year. –CE

8

She's an Elite Marketer

Throughout the easy-to-delineate phases of her music career — country, pop, folk and re-recordings — Taylor and her team have flexed their brand and marketing prowess in too many ways to count (or explain in a listicle blurb). She understands her audience and has cultivated an iron-clad personal brand through her genuine connection with them. With each transition in sound and vibe (like going from the youthful pop of 1989 to the angry pop of Reputation and then back to the light for Lover) she has tailored her style, her color palette, her persona as a winner (taking back her intellectual property) to fit the story she's telling at that point in time. Her enduring relevance has a lot to do with her constant reinvention through personal storytelling and the kinds of strategic album releases, promotional campaigns and larger-than-life tours that don't neatly fit industry narratives. Case in point: with her Taylor's Version series of re-recordings of Big Machine-era albums, she has pulled off a coup of re-marketing her own career to a new generation of fans, while forging an even deeper connection with long-haul Swifties. –MS

9

She Changed the Way Label Contracts Are Written

With heavily publicized re-recordings of Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989 doing blockbuster numbers — and consistently outperforming the original albums on streaming services — several more artists have either released re-recordings of their own music (Switchfoot, Wheatus, Paris Hilton) or announced their intention to do so (Ashanti). According to some top music attorneys, that has spurred record labels to overhaul contracts to include language prohibiting new signees from re-recording their music for as long as 30 years — a significantly longer period of time than was the norm previously. While it's difficult to imagine almost any other artist replicating Swift's success on this front, the overwhelming triumph of her Taylor's Versions has clearly been inspirational not just to other artists but to label bosses, who are now clearly intent on preventing a similar situation from happening in the future. – CE

[Burn]

9 minutes ago, Mariya Takeuchi said:

Prince pioneered lots synth and drum patterns, created lyric videos, help birth new jack swing and inadvertently helped Janet find her sound through jam & Lewis.

dd; you reminded me of when he performed What Have You Done For Me Lately

 

3:20 - "who wrote that?"

 

 

[West Coast]

paved the way for alt pop girls and spawned countless daughters

 

[Julia Fox]

doing a Spotify fan pre sale tickets exclusively for the 5% of top listeners or whatever 

[TomTom]

46 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

Kesha started off the 2010s with Animal and thus started the electropop/dancepop trend (sure there was some in the late 2000s but the height of it was the early 2010s)

and since Kesha's new song came out, it feels like 2010s nostalgia modernized

+ Kick-starting the end of the Lukasz Gottwald era of pop music.

[HASHTAGPOW]

Ava Max, an American pop singer and songwriter, has made a significant impact on the music industry with her distinctive sound and bold persona. Here are some ways she has influenced the industry:

1. Distinctive Sound and Style: Ava Max is known for her unique blend of pop and dance music, often incorporating elements of 80s synth-pop and modern electronic music. Her catchy melodies and powerful vocals have helped her stand out in a crowded pop landscape.

2. Chart-Topping Hits: Her breakout single "Sweet but Psycho" became a global hit, reaching the top of the charts in multiple countries. This success demonstrated her mass appeal and solidified her presence in the music industry.

3. Empowerment Themes: Many of Ava Max's songs focus on themes of empowerment, self-love, and independence. Her lyrics often resonate with listeners who appreciate her messages of strength and resilience, contributing to her popularity.

4. Bold Image and Branding: Ava Max's bold image, including her asymmetrical hairstyle, has become a part of her brand identity. This distinctive look sets her apart and makes her instantly recognizable, which is crucial in the visually-driven music industry.

5. Innovative Marketing: Ava Max has effectively utilized social media and digital platforms to connect with her audience. Her strategic use of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube has helped her reach a wide audience and maintain a strong online presence.

6. Collaboration and Versatility: Ava Max has collaborated with various artists and producers, showcasing her versatility and ability to adapt to different musical styles. These collaborations have broadened her appeal and introduced her to new audiences.

7. Performance and Visuals: Her dynamic performances and visually striking music videos have captivated audiences and helped her build a loyal fan base. She pays close attention to the visual aspects of her music, ensuring that her videos and stage performances are memorable.

[Club classic]

Madonna broke down a lot of barriers and challenged sexism and now ageism constantly during her career and fought for queer audiences in her art when not many other would in the mainstream. I also feel like BAT rewrote the rules of female touring.

Lana influenced a whole generation with her songwriting and world building. She opened the doors for so many artists who go deeper than what was popular back then.

Beyoncé changed the game with the digital drop, I feel self titled's release strategy pushed digitalism of music 5 years ahead.

Gaga brought so much weirdness and excitement to pop and made music videos such cultural events I feel everyone was deemed boring in comparison during her peak. I feel like she pioneered the importance of fashion in music much more than we discuss as well. 

 

Ugh, these legends  

[Trash]

With her help, pivoted Dubstep into the mainstream for the early 2010s sound

[Club classic]

4 minutes ago, HASHTAGPOW said:

Ava Max, an American pop singer and songwriter, has made a significant impact on the music industry with her distinctive sound and bold persona. Here are some ways she has influenced the industry:

1. Distinctive Sound and Style: Ava Max is known for her unique blend of pop and dance music, often incorporating elements of 80s synth-pop and modern electronic music. Her catchy melodies and powerful vocals have helped her stand out in a crowded pop landscape.

2. Chart-Topping Hits: Her breakout single "Sweet but Psycho" became a global hit, reaching the top of the charts in multiple countries. This success demonstrated her mass appeal and solidified her presence in the music industry.

3. Empowerment Themes: Many of Ava Max's songs focus on themes of empowerment, self-love, and independence. Her lyrics often resonate with listeners who appreciate her messages of strength and resilience, contributing to her popularity.

4. Bold Image and Branding: Ava Max's bold image, including her asymmetrical hairstyle, has become a part of her brand identity. This distinctive look sets her apart and makes her instantly recognizable, which is crucial in the visually-driven music industry.

5. Innovative Marketing: Ava Max has effectively utilized social media and digital platforms to connect with her audience. Her strategic use of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube has helped her reach a wide audience and maintain a strong online presence.

6. Collaboration and Versatility: Ava Max has collaborated with various artists and producers, showcasing her versatility and ability to adapt to different musical styles. These collaborations have broadened her appeal and introduced her to new audiences.

7. Performance and Visuals: Her dynamic performances and visually striking music videos have captivated audiences and helped her build a loyal fan base. She pays close attention to the visual aspects of her music, ensuring that her videos and stage performances are memorable.

I know this is a joke but actually Charli talked a lot about Ava pre-Crash and even spent some time with her in the studio, I feel she kind of influenced Beg For You's and Used To Know Me's samples

[Into The Void]

Charlie Puth - Popularized tik tok music 

[Vixen Eyes]

@Treason i can see any text

(i zoomed the page out to fit the whole post in the screen, ignore how wonky it looks)

[Vixen Eyes]

27 minutes ago, HASHTAGPOW said:

Ava Max, an American pop singer and songwriter, has made a significant impact on the music industry with her distinctive sound and bold persona. Here are some ways she has influenced the industry:

1. Distinctive Sound and Style: Ava Max is known for her unique blend of pop and dance music, often incorporating elements of 80s synth-pop and modern electronic music. Her catchy melodies and powerful vocals have helped her stand out in a crowded pop landscape.

2. Chart-Topping Hits: Her breakout single "Sweet but Psycho" became a global hit, reaching the top of the charts in multiple countries. This success demonstrated her mass appeal and solidified her presence in the music industry.

3. Empowerment Themes: Many of Ava Max's songs focus on themes of empowerment, self-love, and independence. Her lyrics often resonate with listeners who appreciate her messages of strength and resilience, contributing to her popularity.

4. Bold Image and Branding: Ava Max's bold image, including her asymmetrical hairstyle, has become a part of her brand identity. This distinctive look sets her apart and makes her instantly recognizable, which is crucial in the visually-driven music industry.

5. Innovative Marketing: Ava Max has effectively utilized social media and digital platforms to connect with her audience. Her strategic use of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube has helped her reach a wide audience and maintain a strong online presence.

6. Collaboration and Versatility: Ava Max has collaborated with various artists and producers, showcasing her versatility and ability to adapt to different musical styles. These collaborations have broadened her appeal and introduced her to new audiences.

7. Performance and Visuals: Her dynamic performances and visually striking music videos have captivated audiences and helped her build a loyal fan base. She pays close attention to the visual aspects of her music, ensuring that her videos and stage performances are memorable.

i was about too send a genuine reaction to this, but then realized that this reads like ChatGPT wrote it

[narid]

Among many others, Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour set the blueprint for the modern pop concert. 

[JO1s]

JO1 ending the chokehold johnnys had over boy groups in the Japanese industry 

[dirrtydiana]

Britney revolutionized the music industry and the entire pop girl archetype as her mothers Janet and Mandonna did before her

she's credited for being the front runner in charge of changing the entire musical sound in the late 90s/early 00s and what we know that sound to be

 

shes the reason most of the people y'all stan are here

 

everyone still flocks to the producers and directors Britney worked with hoping to get their baby, oops, toxic, etc

 

she went on to revolutionize music once more in 2007 with blackout 

 

and a bit more with FF in 2011

[EliMaraj]

Streaming rights. Everyone say THANK YOU Nicki Minaj. Made it so all your favs could eat. 

Edited July 7 by EliMaraj

[Twizzy]

3 hours ago, Treason said:

https://www.billboard.com/lists/how-taylor-swift-changed-music-business/taylor-swift-artists-rights/

 

9 Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed the Music Business

1

She's a Champion of Artists' Rights

It's easy to forget today, but for a nearly three-year stretch in the 2010s, Taylor Swift's music was MIA on Spotify. That's because the singer-songwriter — who had recently crossed over into pop megastardom with her massive album 1989 — pulled her catalog from the streaming service in November 2014 in protest over low royalty payouts for its "freemium" model. Just months prior, Swift had hinted at her displeasure in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which she wrote, "Valuable things should be paid for. It's my opinion that music should not be free." Swift wouldn't allow her music back on the service until June 2017.

That wasn't the last time Swift flexed her industry power in the name of artist rights. In 2015, she threatened to keep 1989 off of Apple Music, which was then preparing to launch, over its decision not to pay royalties to artists during the streamer's free three-month trial period. Apple made an about-face just one day later by announcing that it would pay those royalties after all. "When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change," tweeted Apple's then-senior vp of internet services and software Eddy Cue. The company's abrupt change of heart was a testament to Swift's superstar clout, leveraged in service of artists at all levels. –Chris Eggertsen

2

She Mastered the Art of Taking Control

After the master recordings for her first six albums, along with her former label Big Machine Label Group, were sold to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2019, Swift announced that she would re-record the songs included in the sale to gain master ownership. In a Tumblr post, she called the sale to Braun, with whom she was not on good terms, a "worst case scenario." A little over a year later, Braun sold Swift's work to Shamrock Holdings. She moved forward with her plans to re-record all of her early albums, but it was a risky move — one that had basically never been done before on such a large scale. To do it would require incredible amounts of time and money from the already busy superstar to recreate her old work with precision — plus, there was no guarantee that fans would ditch the original recordings for her new ones.

But by the time her first Taylor's Version album was released, there was no doubt the Swifties would have her back. Fearless (Taylor's Version) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. A year after its release, it became even more clear that Swift's plan was working. The original version of Fearless had earned just 242,000 equivalent album units that year, compared to the new Taylor's Version of the album which earned 1 million equivalent album units in the same time period. Now, Swift is three albums into her quest to "regain the sense of pride [she] once had" in her old work, as she once put it on Twitter. All three of the re-releases out so far – Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version) and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) — have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. –Kristin Robinson

3

She Found a Way to Dominate Across Consumption Metrics

For several years in the 2010s, Taylor pulled her music from streaming services, fearing that the music's free availability would cut into her physical sales. But in the 2020s, she found a way to have her cake and sell it too: 2022's Midnights not only scored the third-largest-ever streaming week for an album with its 549.26 million on-demand U.S. official streams in its debut frame, but it also sold 1.14 million copies, including a record 575,000 on vinyl. She achieved this through inspired promotion and marketing that puts both a premium on streaming her new material early and often to be part of the conversation around it — and encouraging extra listens through surprise drops like the Midnights (3am Edition), which arrived mere hours after the original set and added seven new tracks — as well as an emphasis on her albums as art objects and collector's items, which have helped spur physical sales (of vinyl in particular) to commercial heights not seen in decades.

With different-colored LP variants and packaging containing fan-servicing easter eggs and bonus materials, Swifties will often buy multiple copies of the same Swift albums, both online through her web store and through major chain and independent record stores, where she's encouraged in-person shopping by releasing a number of store exclusives. The result is perhaps the lone contemporary artist who can both stream as well as Drake and sell as well as an Adele, the exemplar for what commercial success as a recording artist looks like in 2023. –Andrew Unterberger

4

She Changed the Way Artists Look at Engaging With Fans

 

Remember the old days when artists walled themselves off from fans, preferring enigmatic over approachable? Taylor dispensed with all that early in her career, becoming one of the first major acts to not just use social media as a messaging tool but as a way to directly communicate with fans. She extended that sense of intimacy and connection on platforms like Twitter and Instagram to IRL situations as well, like with personalized gifts and letters to members of the Swiftie community, secret listening parties at her house for upcoming album releases and meet-and-greets during her sold-out tours. And who can forget that time she invited hundreds of fans into her house for baking and dancing? Taylor's mastery of engagement also involves surprising the hell out of fans with unexpected new music (see: Folklore) — all the better in her quest to prevent leaks — and holding various contests allowing fans to engage in direct ways with promotional campaigns. This is all to say that Taylor's devotion to Swifties (and theirs to her) has changed the way artists prioritize fan engagement and has laid solid the groundwork for other acts to build meaningful connections with their own supporters. –Marc Schneider

5

She's a Tour-de-force

 

Taylor's dominance of the touring industry goes back more than a decade: when Swift's acceptance speech was famously interrupted by Kanye West at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift was in the middle of her sophomore Fearless tour, performing in front of 1.2 million fans across the United States, U.K and Australia, earning $66 million in ticket sales. In 2010, at the age of 21, Swift headlined her first stadium show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. and has returned every tour since, including three stops in May 2023 on her Eras Tour, for a record 13 concerts at the stadium that's long been home to the New England Patriots.

Swift would go on to cross the $100 million mark in 2011 with her Speak Now Tour and generate an impressive $150 million with the help of longtime promoter and family friend Louis Messina from the Messina Touring Group, and go on to generate $250 million in sales for her 2014-2015 1989 World Tour. The success of each tour was proof of just how much fans valued Swift's music, and the "Blank Space" singer wasn't the only one noticing. Scalpers were also watching and looking for easy opportunities to make a quick buck, buying up affordable tickets meant for fans and flipping them on the secondary market. For her 2017 Reputation Tour, Swift would pilot a new technology developed by Ticketmaster aimed at keeping tickets out of the hands of scalpers. –Dave Brooks

6

She Prompted Major Ticketing Reforms

 

Scalpers love Taylor almost as much as her fans, and it's that pesky truth that has planted her at the center of many of the concert industry's reforms and strategies over the years to conjure a more fair marketplace. Long before the infamous crash of her Eras Tour ticket presale, which has prompted dozens of Federal and state bills and a high-profile Senate grilling of some of the touring world's top execs, Swift synced up with Ticketmaster on strategies to minimize scalping. Before 2018's Reputation Tour, she partnered with Ticketmaster's then-new Verified Fan program to create SwiftTix, which had fans register in advance for an opportunity to buy tickets during the presale, with their place in line partially boosted by purchasing fan merch and posting about the tour online. Additionally, Swift and her team have employed dynamic pricing, where ticket prices fluctuated based on demand.

Today, securing advance registration for an opportunity to buy tickets, along with seat-by-seat pricing based on market demand, have become staples of most high-demand tours. The war on bots, scalpers and random technical issues — see the recent snafu in France — clearly isn't over, but Taylor's on the frontlines. –MS

7

She Showed an Artist Can Change (Genres) 

 

It's worth noting that Taylor was never just a country artist. Though her 2006 self-titled album was released and marketed as a country record, the set was decidedly pop-leaning, adhering to a template set by Nashville forebears like Shania Twain and Faith Hill. She continued on that trajectory with Fearless, Speak Now and Red — the latter of which was noted as a transitional record, prepping fans for her turn to full-bore pop on 2014's 1989. With the possible exception of the then-divisive Reputation — which pulled from electropop, trap and even hip-hop and has since undergone something of a re-evaluation — Swift's fanbase only seemed to swell with each evolution. On her back-to-back pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore, Swift experimented with an indie folk/rock sound that served to broaden her fanbase to more alternative-minded audiences. The result is a discography that seems to hold space for nearly every kind of listener — no doubt helping her career-spanning Eras Tour become arguably the must-see blockbuster of the year. –CE

8

She's an Elite Marketer

Throughout the easy-to-delineate phases of her music career — country, pop, folk and re-recordings — Taylor and her team have flexed their brand and marketing prowess in too many ways to count (or explain in a listicle blurb). She understands her audience and has cultivated an iron-clad personal brand through her genuine connection with them. With each transition in sound and vibe (like going from the youthful pop of 1989 to the angry pop of Reputation and then back to the light for Lover) she has tailored her style, her color palette, her persona as a winner (taking back her intellectual property) to fit the story she's telling at that point in time. Her enduring relevance has a lot to do with her constant reinvention through personal storytelling and the kinds of strategic album releases, promotional campaigns and larger-than-life tours that don't neatly fit industry narratives. Case in point: with her Taylor's Version series of re-recordings of Big Machine-era albums, she has pulled off a coup of re-marketing her own career to a new generation of fans, while forging an even deeper connection with long-haul Swifties. –MS

9

She Changed the Way Label Contracts Are Written

With heavily publicized re-recordings of Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989 doing blockbuster numbers — and consistently outperforming the original albums on streaming services — several more artists have either released re-recordings of their own music (Switchfoot, Wheatus, Paris Hilton) or announced their intention to do so (Ashanti). According to some top music attorneys, that has spurred record labels to overhaul contracts to include language prohibiting new signees from re-recording their music for as long as 30 years — a significantly longer period of time than was the norm previously. While it's difficult to imagine almost any other artist replicating Swift's success on this front, the overwhelming triumph of her Taylor's Versions has clearly been inspirational not just to other artists but to label bosses, who are now clearly intent on preventing a similar situation from happening in the future. – CE

All this just for two negative reactions 

[Punky Rooster]

Without her, none of your faves would exist.

[Cloröx]

Born This Way*

[Cheers]

ENHYPEN, a South Korean boy group formed by Belift Lab, a joint venture between CJ ENM and Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE Corporation), has rapidly made its mark on the music industry since its debut in 2020. Here are some of the key changes and influences ENHYPEN has brought to the industry:

 

1. Global Fan Engagement through Social Media
ENHYPEN has harnessed the power of social media to build a global fanbase quickly. Their active engagement on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Weverse has set new standards for connecting with fans, showing how integral social media has become for fan interaction and community building in the music industry.

 

2. Utilization of Reality TV for Group Formation
ENHYPEN was formed through the reality survival show "I-LAND," produced by CJ ENM and Big Hit Entertainment. This approach to forming a group, with fans actively participating in the selection process, has influenced how new groups can be created and marketed, adding an element of fan investment and anticipation from the start.

 

3. High Production Quality in Music and Visuals
ENHYPEN's music videos, stage performances, and overall production quality have set high standards in the industry. Their visually stunning and creatively ambitious music videos have raised expectations for what new groups can achieve, highlighting the importance of high-quality visuals in the digital age.

 

4. Storytelling through Concept Albums
ENHYPEN has focused on concept-driven albums, weaving narratives and themes through their music and visuals. This approach to storytelling has influenced other artists to adopt more cohesive and thematic projects, demonstrating the power of narrative in creating a strong artistic identity.

 

5. Integration of Technology in Fan Experiences
ENHYPEN has leveraged technology to enhance fan experiences, including virtual concerts, fan meetings, and interactive online content. Their use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in performances and fan engagement activities showcases how technology can be used to create immersive experiences, setting new trends for the future of live music and fan interactions.

 

6. Cross-Cultural Appeal and Language Use
ENHYPEN has been effective in appealing to a global audience by incorporating multiple languages in their music and communications. Their multilingual approach, including songs in Korean, Japanese, and English, has helped them reach a diverse fanbase and set an example for other artists aiming for international success.

 

7. Impact on K-Pop's Global Expansion
As part of the new wave of K-pop groups, ENHYPEN has contributed to the genre's global expansion. Their success in international markets, including charting on Billboard and other global music charts, has further solidified K-pop's presence in the mainstream music industry and opened doors for other K-pop acts to achieve global recognition.

 

8. Merchandising and Fan Culture
ENHYPEN has successfully capitalized on the strong fan culture surrounding K-pop by offering a wide range of merchandise and exclusive content. Their innovative merchandising strategies, including limited-edition items and fan club memberships, have influenced how fan engagement and loyalty can be monetized.

 

9. Collaborations and Global Partnerships
ENHYPEN's collaborations with international artists and brands have showcased the potential for cross-cultural partnerships. These collaborations not only enhance their global appeal but also influence how artists can build bridges across different markets and industries.

 

10. Resilience and Adaptability
Despite debuting during the COVID-19 pandemic, ENHYPEN has demonstrated resilience and adaptability by finding new ways to connect with fans and promote their music. Their success in navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic has set an example for other artists and highlighted the importance of flexibility in the music industry.

 

Overall, ENHYPEN's rapid rise and innovative approaches have made a significant impact on the music industry, particularly within the K-pop genre. Their emphasis on high-quality production, global engagement, and the integration of technology has set new standards and trends that are likely to influence the industry for years to come.

[Headlock]

The ChatGPT essays in here 

[Odette Violet]

Girls Generation/SNSD/SJJD

 

-put South Korea in the map

-paved way for girl groups to be relevant on the same level as boy groups and even surpasses them 

-pionereed visual concepts, formations and choreography for girl groups

-longevity and broke the 7th year curse for girl groups

-made group comeback and individual careers possible for members who no longer within the same company

-first asian biggest pop group in the world 

-invented Korean Pop 

 

Edited July 7 by Odette Violet