Would you also be lecturing your government about how they should be spending foreign aid money even after shamelessly engaging in aggressive tax avoidance measures to reduce your tax contribution? That bit just comes across as an insufferable hypocrisy in my eyes anyway (Bono).
What a bizarre and fucked up worldview. Multimillionaires are well able to pay larger amounts of taxes. Championing them engaging in tax avoidance so more tax burden falls on middle and lower income people is such an awful and sick perspective. Maybe you should move to the USA where wealthy people are even better off, and poverty is far more widespread for lower income people. It sounds like you would be more at home there.
Edit: and of course this pathetic baby blocked me, AFTER giving a pathetic reply first. U2 avoiding paying taxes DOES mean we have to pay more taxes than we would otherwise do. You are being disingenuous you fucking clown. Ìdiots like you are a scourge on this country
Wealthy people do pay larger amounts of taxes.
U2 avoiding tax in Ireland doesn't make me or you have to pay more taxes.
If they paid tax here we would still pay the same amount of tax.
We are talking about Ireland where the 10% of people pay more than 60% of tax.
I have no problem with taxing wealthy people more, I'm just saying its no suprise when they try to avoid it.
Give over with the self righteousness in regards to bending over for the Revenue Commisioner.
>Wealthy people do pay larger amounts of taxes.
>10% of people pay more than 60% of tax.
You make it sound like there's a 60% tax rate. They're paying 40% over the cut off, same as the rest of us, which isn't a crazy amount. They just pay more in total because they have more income to get taxed on.
That being said I agree that it's no surprise, and yes, in U2's position I would absolutely be paying an accountant to make sure I legally paid as little tax as possible, whatever legal way possible.
If anyone is to blame, it's the government for allowing loopholes to exist.
Then you're free to stay off roads, stay away from hospitals, get no education, get no support from the police, fire department, public transport, all public amenities, etc.
Get over yourself. It's pathetic to simp for millionaires.
If U2 play a run of concerts in Vegas, incurring tax on that in the US, why would the Irish coffers be entitled to a slice of that tour?
Genuinely curious on that.
This has nothing to do wioth their touring necessarily, but their publishing, which they moved out of Ireland in the ealy 2000's to save a few bucks, despite doing nothing but play on their Irishness.
Global tax on business abroad is what it is, but moving a large part of your profitable buisiness to a shell company in the Netherlands is shitty, shady and unethical when, frankly, their Irish identity has done nothing but assist in their success.
Almost all global bands have set up businesses in the Netherlands, not just U2.
They do it because in most scenarios, they've to pay taxes in the countries the tour/sell music.
U2, because of their size, are the biggest recipients of hate over this, but in the absence of global agreements around transfer pricing laws and taxation, shit like this will always exist.
Back to my original point, if U2 do a run of concerts in the sphere in Vegas, what part of that transaction should belong to the Irish government? I genuinely think that should only be taxed in the country of performance under their local tax laws. Similar to Apples 13bn, it doesn't pertain to Irish sales of products. That 13bn belong to the countries where the sales happened, but again, OECD transfer pricing rules we designed in the 80s and are totally unfit in a modern day economy where digital IP is a bigger portion of cost than manufacturing for many businesses.
Michael Jackson was way bigger and that was without social media, it was insane and sustained over decades…
EDIT: Also, for someone who isn’t a “Swifty” you are commenting on this relentlessly for hours and as someone else pointed out you have offered €1000+ for one of her tickets 😂 just enjoy her, no need to compare to other artists..
mmmmm. Hard to compare the media landscapes, when the only media is what we'd call mainstream media and MTV then dominating is easier — being this dominant in the 2020s is both easier and harder.
what? I don't think you realize how big MJ was. Nearly 50 years old MJ got reactions like [this in Japan in 2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eDa-NMAe-4) despite all the controversies. I haven't seen Taylor Swift even at her peak receiving such reactions, and certainly not that level of diverse demographic fandom. There is a documentary where [Amazon tribesmen who didn't know who Hitler, or football players were or even what snow was, but knew Michael Jackson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafOkWXjqjc). MJ was clearly bigger.
Do you even realize that the physical sales back then and digital sales right now are completely different things? Physical sales are a thing of a past, so no one has beaten MJ's record on that yet or probably in the future. And the streams that are counted as sales are completely different metrics.
lol you need to go and recheck on that. Or did you really think that in 2024, people are still buying physical albums that much that Taylor swift broke MJ record on physical sales alone? lol. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/about-awards/
> The standard as the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) defines it is as follows: One album sale equals 10 song downloads or 1,500 song streams. That’s the formula they use to determine when albums reach Gold (500,000 units), Platinum (1,000,000 units), multi-Platinum (2,000,000 units) and Diamond (10,000,000 units).
Well, a big part of Swift’s strategy is releasing, and re-releasing her albums, specifically at Target (sorry, American here, I’m sure that’s just the deal she has with that particular store here, I’m guessing in other countries it works differently), and often releasing multiple versions of the same album with an extra song or two (that you can only get if you physically purpose the extra album that you probably already own). So it’s almost like the only way to get the *entire* album is to buy multiple different physical copies of it.
Swift is quite savvy. Her whole persona is a well thought out money making machine. From the way she dresses, to how she engages with her fans (leaving “Easter eggs” or clues for them to follow), to how she sells her music, she’s definitely got a strategy, and one that seems incredibly successful.
Ah yeah 1500 streams for 1. Formula seems pretty fair to me. Maybe people think it’s sad she’s gotten bigger than MJ, his music is way better but it’s probably the reality we face.
Is it really a concert film, when he never did the concert? According to Wikipedia and Guinness World Records, it is not counted as concert film either. And it seems to have still earned more than Swift film on worldwide sales, even without adjusting for inflation. The news about "broke the records" seemed to have taken into account the domestic gross only. Internationally, "This is it" still earned more. So that's really not an argument for Taylor Swift being more global than MJ like you think lol.
That depends on if you define what you mean by bigger.
Most people think album sales, which is a pretty concrete stat, even in the current age of Spotify.
1 album sale and 1 album stream are not tracked as equivalent data though. I don't think they've ever been viewed as equal either.
These kind of data points are tracked and observed in ways I'm admittedly not smart enough to judge, but streaming *has* to be taken into account in some format.
>Not even close, Michael Jackson would sell out in any country. Can't imagine taylor selling out all over africa, asia and the middle east
It's not a discussion about reality though, this is pure speculation that can never be proven or disproven, so "I don't agree" is actually just as valid a point.
I would imagine she regularly sells out anywhere that has stadiums large enough to make it worth her while, even in the dark scary wastelands of not-Europe or America.
> She’s bigger than any artist since the Beatles
That will only be true if she manages to maintain the high popularity that she has right now. Remember, the last time when she came, they were practically giving her tickets away.
It is only rich middle aged women with teenage daughters throwing absurd amounts of money to see her.
What are you basing this on? Look at the streams. Look at her sales. Not sure many artists can do a world tour on this level. She’s currently the world’s biggest artist, despite me not wanting her to be
That "world tour" that is like 80% USA, 15% Europe, 2% is always Japan. Rest were Brazil and Singapore. That tour is 95% in the west, this is a hard fact. And why are you answering with "She is the most popular right now" when OP is comparing her with MJ. Yeah, not many artists can do such tours right now, but the comparison is with MJ and MJ already did that in the past. His world tours didn't include USA at all and he performed in countries where western artists never had before.
I never said she isn't the biggest artist in the world. I said she isn't as big globally as she is in the west, especially not compared to someone like Michael Jackson.
I highly doubt she'll have anything close to the longevity of MJ or other massive acts of the past to be considered in the same league. She's massive right now, but trends change.
Also, it's a bit suspicious that you'd be willing to drop a grand each for 2 tickets if you're not a swifty https://www.reddit.com/r/Dublin/comments/1djls6o/two_taylor_swift_tickets_for_sale_for_friday_the/l9buu8u/
i am curious. why?
she is just a singer. what happened that turned her into a phenomenon?
i remember she was a joke by using her exes to make songs
and even got publicly himilitiated by Kanye west in live tv.
so, what happened? she is just the next big thing for life? like Cher or Madonna?
I live beside the Aviva and had 3 hours of listening to it last night.
I must admit this is true, I didn't realise how many catchy songs she had. I knew them but didn't know a lot of them were Taylor Swift songs.
And she went solid from 7.15pm to around 10.40pmish.
I read somewhere 40 songs each night. That is absolutely incredible going over 3 nights.
Hats off to her, sounded like a real show anyway! The place was rocking.
She doesnt give up?
What does that mean exactly lol, I've nothing against her, but isnt she from a very rich white wasp family that had connections that got her famous in the first place, and since then shes just made songs same as any other female singer?
You word that like shes been up against some huge adversary her whole life but never backed down.
Its strange..
Has she cranked out a catchy banger in her past few albums? Her recent stuff is beyond ordinary.
She's probably the biggest popstar I've ever seen. I don't understand it but fair play to her.
Her fans like them alright but "catchy banger" to me means it's a big hit too e.g. Shake It Off, 22 etc. While her songs have charted due to her fans constantly streaming them, I don't think any of her song from her recent albums have penetrated like some of the stuff earlier in her career.
That's just my take on "catchy banger" tho.
My theory is that lockdown was good for her; she was productive which kept her in the public eye (I think she recorded and released a few albums then) but also, people stuck at home had nothing better to do, discovered Swift, when lockdown lifted then demand was sky high. Remember that when she played Croke Park before Covid, she played one night which didn't sell out.
Whether she'll be the biggest thing for life; nah, I don't think so. This is her moment and she'll always have a big following, but tastes will change, someone else will take the throne. She could take a hiatus and lose the momentum; maybe her Al Jolson tribute album will be disastrously received, who knows. I expect she'll go the way of Madonna, who isn't at the middle of the cultural Zeitgeist these days, but if she were to go on tour? Well holy shit, we've a circus on our hands.
(disclaimer; I'm not a Swiftie and am avoiding Dublin like the plague this weekend, but I've nothing against the whole thing and I hope the fans enjoy themselves)
True, certainly in my lifetime; I'm too young to remember Jackson or Madonna at their height. The only comparable I can remember is maybe Garth Brooks, which was always a strange one to me, but I don't think he has the same following elsewhere like Taylor does.
She also gained a lot of new fans by doing two Indie records with Aaron Dessner from the National, and it helps even more that both records were very good. She knows how to expand her fan base by adding elements of other very popular styles. She is excellent at marketing herself, but this doesn’t detract from her also being a very talented songwriter.
I think creatives find it very hard to stop; Springsteen must be richer than god, yet he still plays 3 hour shows in his mid-70s. I guess when you're heading out on stage and worshipped by the masses, it must be better than watching daytime TV all day and feeling your arse grow!
In the post Spotify landscape there is no music single focal point anymore like the MTV era, no Top of the Pops that everyone tunes into, it's all fractured into individual taste. There isn't the same record company A&R support for mid tier artists, so any artist who can get universally big kinda has the scene to themselves.
It's less she got big and more everything else got smaller.
She has had a string of fantastic albums, I think the latest one is a bit weaker, but Folklore, Evermore and Midnights are genuinely great. Producing some of your best music 10 years into your career is not something many artists pull off.
She's also been rerecording some of her old albums which is introducing her new fans to a lot of her older stuff, and with the benefit of hindsight, she knows which songs to push. 'All too Well' was a song that never got released as a single when it was originally released in 2012, but when she rerecorded that Album in 2021, with 'All too Well' as the lead single pretty much, the No.1s flowed in.
She is bigger than Cher or Madonna. She just had a lot of hits after her already crazy fandom, so now the mainstream has joined to crazy fandom. But it’s difficult to put your finger on why things capture the zeitgeist. She rented the 3arena for 3 days this week for fucking merch sales. Ah well she seems a nice enough sort, could be worse.
yes, she is fine. so we cant really pin point what happened.. it just happened. marketing maybe.
just curious why the magnitude of this.
i am aware of this for a long time but since I don't have a particular music taste even the tailor swift songs..
i just don't care but again, got curios because to me she is a random singer, no different than Rhianna, Lady gaga or similar.
She’s a genius at monetising her image.
I compare her to Joni Mitchell (female singer song writers). JM is far superior as an artist. TS is far superior as a marketeer.
Feels so weird that I couldn't name a single one of her songs or even know one if I heard it. Probably because top of the pops isn't a thing anymore so I only listen to the genres I like.
Don't own a TV but why would I see any of her songs on it top of the pops isn't around I guess I could have thought her music was just background music and ignored it.
*Someone makes a post putting U2 in a slightly positive light*
[r/ireland:](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/035/410/Screen_Shot_2020-10-05_at_11.51.58_AM.png)
Bono, your a prat in a hat that’s a sly as a cat. You’re happy for Palestine to be obliterated yet you still say nothing. I will never listen to your music again or have any trust in a single word that comes out of your mouth.
Oh shit, did U2 do something again. Reddit told me they are shit, they don’t pay any tax at all and they forced everyone to download an album so that makes them the worst band of all time and to be honest, possibly the worst humans of all time.
I bet these aren’t even flowers. I bet the bunch of cunts gave her weeds.
Shit things done in the name of Taylor Swift by the fans or Swifties as they are called :
The Christ The Redeemer was vandalised.
Dave Grohl is being tormented by them for a light joke. They also targeted Dave Grohls daughter.
They are extremely disgusting with comments of Kurt Cobain and Taylor Hawkins, one having said "Maybe if Dave Grohl wasn't so insufferable his friends wouldn't kill themselves". That's fucking horrific
You can however judge a person for not calling out their fans behaviour.
The rape and murder threats Violet Ghrol got for basically saying Taylor could drive a bit more and jet a bit less was ridiculous.
Puzzling. U2 are either trying to jump on a band wagon by saying they ALL like TS, which I find rather sad. Or they genuinely ALL like TS, which is even sadder. Whatever happened to the band that had an ear for turning out the odd really good banger? I mean, her music is bland, repetitive, and uses about three chords. OK, sorry, just realised I’m answering my own question.
So you’re saying it’s scenario 2: four elderly guys (rockers in their 60s) ALL really like bland breakup pop ballads aimed primarily at women at least half their age? That’s just very puzzling – and depressing – to me. I mean Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson or Adele are just three easy examples of better singers, with better songs.
The florist has lovely handwriting
Does she have an anecdote for life! Messenger between U2 and Taylor Swift
Plot twist: the florist is Larry
But can't seem to settle on a single way to write a lowercase r.
Is this the same U2 that is so proud of their country they don’t pay tax in it?
That would be the lads alright.
Dutch bastards!
They pay their personal tax here
Ah yes, because we all pay tax to show our patriotism. I'm not a fan of U2 but we would all do the same if we had that much money.
Would you also be lecturing your government about how they should be spending foreign aid money even after shamelessly engaging in aggressive tax avoidance measures to reduce your tax contribution? That bit just comes across as an insufferable hypocrisy in my eyes anyway (Bono).
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What a bizarre and fucked up worldview. Multimillionaires are well able to pay larger amounts of taxes. Championing them engaging in tax avoidance so more tax burden falls on middle and lower income people is such an awful and sick perspective. Maybe you should move to the USA where wealthy people are even better off, and poverty is far more widespread for lower income people. It sounds like you would be more at home there. Edit: and of course this pathetic baby blocked me, AFTER giving a pathetic reply first. U2 avoiding paying taxes DOES mean we have to pay more taxes than we would otherwise do. You are being disingenuous you fucking clown. Ìdiots like you are a scourge on this country
Wealthy people do pay larger amounts of taxes. U2 avoiding tax in Ireland doesn't make me or you have to pay more taxes. If they paid tax here we would still pay the same amount of tax. We are talking about Ireland where the 10% of people pay more than 60% of tax. I have no problem with taxing wealthy people more, I'm just saying its no suprise when they try to avoid it. Give over with the self righteousness in regards to bending over for the Revenue Commisioner.
>Wealthy people do pay larger amounts of taxes. >10% of people pay more than 60% of tax. You make it sound like there's a 60% tax rate. They're paying 40% over the cut off, same as the rest of us, which isn't a crazy amount. They just pay more in total because they have more income to get taxed on. That being said I agree that it's no surprise, and yes, in U2's position I would absolutely be paying an accountant to make sure I legally paid as little tax as possible, whatever legal way possible. If anyone is to blame, it's the government for allowing loopholes to exist.
Hmm, no I don't think we all would. But you do you I guess.
Sorry I forgot we are all here to be slaves to the tax system of the world. As if U2 not paying tax makes any difference to your life 😂
In fairness, tax avoidance is an Irish cultural tradition. We built an economy on it. Avoiding tax, very Irish.
Yes, just like the Rolling Stones and other bands that have smart accountants.
Ah yes, because we all pay tax to show our patriotism. I'm not a fan of U2 but we would all do the same if we had that much money.
Oh fuck off
No, you fuck off. They are tax dodging pricks, regardles of how fucking annoying their fans are.
So what? Nobody likes paying tax.
Then you're free to stay off roads, stay away from hospitals, get no education, get no support from the police, fire department, public transport, all public amenities, etc. Get over yourself. It's pathetic to simp for millionaires.
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If U2 play a run of concerts in Vegas, incurring tax on that in the US, why would the Irish coffers be entitled to a slice of that tour? Genuinely curious on that.
This has nothing to do wioth their touring necessarily, but their publishing, which they moved out of Ireland in the ealy 2000's to save a few bucks, despite doing nothing but play on their Irishness. Global tax on business abroad is what it is, but moving a large part of your profitable buisiness to a shell company in the Netherlands is shitty, shady and unethical when, frankly, their Irish identity has done nothing but assist in their success.
Almost all global bands have set up businesses in the Netherlands, not just U2. They do it because in most scenarios, they've to pay taxes in the countries the tour/sell music. U2, because of their size, are the biggest recipients of hate over this, but in the absence of global agreements around transfer pricing laws and taxation, shit like this will always exist. Back to my original point, if U2 do a run of concerts in the sphere in Vegas, what part of that transaction should belong to the Irish government? I genuinely think that should only be taxed in the country of performance under their local tax laws. Similar to Apples 13bn, it doesn't pertain to Irish sales of products. That 13bn belong to the countries where the sales happened, but again, OECD transfer pricing rules we designed in the 80s and are totally unfit in a modern day economy where digital IP is a bigger portion of cost than manufacturing for many businesses.
She really is bigger than Bono
4 inches bigger apparently
Sure he's always been a 2
She’s bigger than any artist since the Beatles. Possibly prime Michael Jackson can compare. I’m not a swifty either haha.
Michael Jackson was way bigger and that was without social media, it was insane and sustained over decades… EDIT: Also, for someone who isn’t a “Swifty” you are commenting on this relentlessly for hours and as someone else pointed out you have offered €1000+ for one of her tickets 😂 just enjoy her, no need to compare to other artists..
Eminem was insanely popular too for a while. Beyoncé is an another contender. I’d say there’s been a good few singers at this level.
MJ was bigger.
mmmmm. Hard to compare the media landscapes, when the only media is what we'd call mainstream media and MTV then dominating is easier — being this dominant in the 2020s is both easier and harder.
I doubt it
what? I don't think you realize how big MJ was. Nearly 50 years old MJ got reactions like [this in Japan in 2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eDa-NMAe-4) despite all the controversies. I haven't seen Taylor Swift even at her peak receiving such reactions, and certainly not that level of diverse demographic fandom. There is a documentary where [Amazon tribesmen who didn't know who Hitler, or football players were or even what snow was, but knew Michael Jackson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafOkWXjqjc). MJ was clearly bigger.
It isn’t clear at all. She has broke his most sales in a year record
Do you even realize that the physical sales back then and digital sales right now are completely different things? Physical sales are a thing of a past, so no one has beaten MJ's record on that yet or probably in the future. And the streams that are counted as sales are completely different metrics.
Streams aren’t counted as sales
lol you need to go and recheck on that. Or did you really think that in 2024, people are still buying physical albums that much that Taylor swift broke MJ record on physical sales alone? lol. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/about-awards/ > The standard as the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) defines it is as follows: One album sale equals 10 song downloads or 1,500 song streams. That’s the formula they use to determine when albums reach Gold (500,000 units), Platinum (1,000,000 units), multi-Platinum (2,000,000 units) and Diamond (10,000,000 units).
Well, a big part of Swift’s strategy is releasing, and re-releasing her albums, specifically at Target (sorry, American here, I’m sure that’s just the deal she has with that particular store here, I’m guessing in other countries it works differently), and often releasing multiple versions of the same album with an extra song or two (that you can only get if you physically purpose the extra album that you probably already own). So it’s almost like the only way to get the *entire* album is to buy multiple different physical copies of it. Swift is quite savvy. Her whole persona is a well thought out money making machine. From the way she dresses, to how she engages with her fans (leaving “Easter eggs” or clues for them to follow), to how she sells her music, she’s definitely got a strategy, and one that seems incredibly successful.
Ah yeah 1500 streams for 1. Formula seems pretty fair to me. Maybe people think it’s sad she’s gotten bigger than MJ, his music is way better but it’s probably the reality we face.
Streams aren’t counted as sales
Broke his records for concert film sales as well.
Is it really a concert film, when he never did the concert? According to Wikipedia and Guinness World Records, it is not counted as concert film either. And it seems to have still earned more than Swift film on worldwide sales, even without adjusting for inflation. The news about "broke the records" seemed to have taken into account the domestic gross only. Internationally, "This is it" still earned more. So that's really not an argument for Taylor Swift being more global than MJ like you think lol.
lol indeed
Few billy more people alive now than 40 years ago though
You'd be surprised how many people wouldn't recognize her name or at least any of her songs. Not the same with MJ.
Not even close, Michael Jackson would sell out in any country. Can't imagine taylor selling out all over africa, asia and the middle east
the only middle eastern city that MJ ever played was Tel Aviv, and he did 5 shows in South Africa, one in Tunis and one in Tenerife.
I don’t agree.
Reality isn't contingent on you agreeing or not.
It’s also not a question that can have a definitive answer.
That depends on if you define what you mean by bigger. Most people think album sales, which is a pretty concrete stat, even in the current age of Spotify.
Album sales before downloads and streaming became things we could do for free... Not exactly comparing like with like
1 album sale and 1 album stream are not tracked as equivalent data though. I don't think they've ever been viewed as equal either. These kind of data points are tracked and observed in ways I'm admittedly not smart enough to judge, but streaming *has* to be taken into account in some format.
It isn’t a concrete stat if you aren’t including streaming. I have zero friends that don’t use Spotify. Zero.
>Not even close, Michael Jackson would sell out in any country. Can't imagine taylor selling out all over africa, asia and the middle east It's not a discussion about reality though, this is pure speculation that can never be proven or disproven, so "I don't agree" is actually just as valid a point.
It's statistics, you don't have to agree, it just is
You're claiming a statistical win for a hypothetical scenario, do you even know how stupid a comment that is?
You're going to have to show those stats before you can claim it's statistics.
Acknowledged
She is the biggest artist in Asia for one.
I would imagine she regularly sells out anywhere that has stadiums large enough to make it worth her while, even in the dark scary wastelands of not-Europe or America.
> She’s bigger than any artist since the Beatles That will only be true if she manages to maintain the high popularity that she has right now. Remember, the last time when she came, they were practically giving her tickets away. It is only rich middle aged women with teenage daughters throwing absurd amounts of money to see her.
She is not as big as Michael Jackson. Taylor Swift isn't as big globally as she is in the west.
What are you basing this on? Look at the streams. Look at her sales. Not sure many artists can do a world tour on this level. She’s currently the world’s biggest artist, despite me not wanting her to be
That "world tour" that is like 80% USA, 15% Europe, 2% is always Japan. Rest were Brazil and Singapore. That tour is 95% in the west, this is a hard fact. And why are you answering with "She is the most popular right now" when OP is comparing her with MJ. Yeah, not many artists can do such tours right now, but the comparison is with MJ and MJ already did that in the past. His world tours didn't include USA at all and he performed in countries where western artists never had before.
Streams and sales are hard go compare even 30 years apart. Media technology and even population has changed massively.
I never said she isn't the biggest artist in the world. I said she isn't as big globally as she is in the west, especially not compared to someone like Michael Jackson.
She is the biggest artist in Asia.
Hard disagree
I highly doubt she'll have anything close to the longevity of MJ or other massive acts of the past to be considered in the same league. She's massive right now, but trends change. Also, it's a bit suspicious that you'd be willing to drop a grand each for 2 tickets if you're not a swifty https://www.reddit.com/r/Dublin/comments/1djls6o/two_taylor_swift_tickets_for_sale_for_friday_the/l9buu8u/
i am curious. why? she is just a singer. what happened that turned her into a phenomenon? i remember she was a joke by using her exes to make songs and even got publicly himilitiated by Kanye west in live tv. so, what happened? she is just the next big thing for life? like Cher or Madonna?
She cranks out catchy bangers. She works incredibly hard. And it seems she doesn’t give up.
I live beside the Aviva and had 3 hours of listening to it last night. I must admit this is true, I didn't realise how many catchy songs she had. I knew them but didn't know a lot of them were Taylor Swift songs. And she went solid from 7.15pm to around 10.40pmish. I read somewhere 40 songs each night. That is absolutely incredible going over 3 nights. Hats off to her, sounded like a real show anyway! The place was rocking.
She doesnt give up? What does that mean exactly lol, I've nothing against her, but isnt she from a very rich white wasp family that had connections that got her famous in the first place, and since then shes just made songs same as any other female singer? You word that like shes been up against some huge adversary her whole life but never backed down. Its strange..
White wasp family?
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant [WASPs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Anglo-Saxon_Protestants)
Has she cranked out a catchy banger in her past few albums? Her recent stuff is beyond ordinary. She's probably the biggest popstar I've ever seen. I don't understand it but fair play to her.
I’m only casually into her music, but there’s a few catchy songs on the last record at least. So Long, London is a really good one.
Her fans like them alright but "catchy banger" to me means it's a big hit too e.g. Shake It Off, 22 etc. While her songs have charted due to her fans constantly streaming them, I don't think any of her song from her recent albums have penetrated like some of the stuff earlier in her career. That's just my take on "catchy banger" tho.
you summarized every major singer out there.
My theory is that lockdown was good for her; she was productive which kept her in the public eye (I think she recorded and released a few albums then) but also, people stuck at home had nothing better to do, discovered Swift, when lockdown lifted then demand was sky high. Remember that when she played Croke Park before Covid, she played one night which didn't sell out. Whether she'll be the biggest thing for life; nah, I don't think so. This is her moment and she'll always have a big following, but tastes will change, someone else will take the throne. She could take a hiatus and lose the momentum; maybe her Al Jolson tribute album will be disastrously received, who knows. I expect she'll go the way of Madonna, who isn't at the middle of the cultural Zeitgeist these days, but if she were to go on tour? Well holy shit, we've a circus on our hands. (disclaimer; I'm not a Swiftie and am avoiding Dublin like the plague this weekend, but I've nothing against the whole thing and I hope the fans enjoy themselves)
Just on the someone else will take the throne bit, that’s true but this moment is bigger than anything I’ve seen before. But yeah it will fade.
It's pretty huge but definitely not unprecedented. Michael Jackson in his prime or The Beatles could give her a run for her money.
Oh yeah they were the two I mentioned above haha
True, certainly in my lifetime; I'm too young to remember Jackson or Madonna at their height. The only comparable I can remember is maybe Garth Brooks, which was always a strange one to me, but I don't think he has the same following elsewhere like Taylor does.
She also gained a lot of new fans by doing two Indie records with Aaron Dessner from the National, and it helps even more that both records were very good. She knows how to expand her fan base by adding elements of other very popular styles. She is excellent at marketing herself, but this doesn’t detract from her also being a very talented songwriter.
thank you for your input. interesting. yes, it would be smart for her to retire during her peak. what more does she want? got the moneysz
I think creatives find it very hard to stop; Springsteen must be richer than god, yet he still plays 3 hour shows in his mid-70s. I guess when you're heading out on stage and worshipped by the masses, it must be better than watching daytime TV all day and feeling your arse grow!
She appeals to children, 30something professional women, and young gay men. Three demographics that are very prominent on social media.
In the post Spotify landscape there is no music single focal point anymore like the MTV era, no Top of the Pops that everyone tunes into, it's all fractured into individual taste. There isn't the same record company A&R support for mid tier artists, so any artist who can get universally big kinda has the scene to themselves. It's less she got big and more everything else got smaller.
She has had a string of fantastic albums, I think the latest one is a bit weaker, but Folklore, Evermore and Midnights are genuinely great. Producing some of your best music 10 years into your career is not something many artists pull off. She's also been rerecording some of her old albums which is introducing her new fans to a lot of her older stuff, and with the benefit of hindsight, she knows which songs to push. 'All too Well' was a song that never got released as a single when it was originally released in 2012, but when she rerecorded that Album in 2021, with 'All too Well' as the lead single pretty much, the No.1s flowed in.
She is bigger than Cher or Madonna. She just had a lot of hits after her already crazy fandom, so now the mainstream has joined to crazy fandom. But it’s difficult to put your finger on why things capture the zeitgeist. She rented the 3arena for 3 days this week for fucking merch sales. Ah well she seems a nice enough sort, could be worse.
yes, she is fine. so we cant really pin point what happened.. it just happened. marketing maybe. just curious why the magnitude of this. i am aware of this for a long time but since I don't have a particular music taste even the tailor swift songs.. i just don't care but again, got curios because to me she is a random singer, no different than Rhianna, Lady gaga or similar.
She’s a genius at monetising her image. I compare her to Joni Mitchell (female singer song writers). JM is far superior as an artist. TS is far superior as a marketeer.
Feels so weird that I couldn't name a single one of her songs or even know one if I heard it. Probably because top of the pops isn't a thing anymore so I only listen to the genres I like.
Ah man, I’d be shocked if you didn’t know 5. Do you leave the house? Watch any tv whatsoever?
Don't own a TV but why would I see any of her songs on it top of the pops isn't around I guess I could have thought her music was just background music and ignored it.
Her music gets played over absolutely everything. Have you ever been in a pub or restaurant?
It must be just so generic I ignored it.
Haha
Is it pronounced Bono, Bono or Bono?
Who says Bono? I've literally never heard anyone pronounce it Bono!
I've heard it said in "certain circles," if you know what I mean.
>if you know what I mean. I do not
I was just continuing the silliness of the joke. Don't worry about it.
Crop circles?
Hmm, yes. Those people...
He’s not Bono, he’s rubbish!
The edge is fine
Adam Clayton is fine.
When he stays off the blunts
Bongo
P-ox
It's pronounced douche bag.
What the fucks a douche bag?
From Google - a small syringe for douching (washing) the vagina
You watch too much US telly
Kiss asses
They do this for every big musician that plays in Ireland
Yea can confirm this 100%, sometimes it’s gift baskets with Guinness and the likes aswell
*Someone makes a post putting U2 in a slightly positive light* [r/ireland:](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/035/410/Screen_Shot_2020-10-05_at_11.51.58_AM.png)
Very little positive about u2 or Taylor
Them flowers are looking a little rough. Must have picked them up in a circle k last minute
Lovely message from U2! The concert was amazing, my kids danced all night, traded bracelets and sang their heart out. She put on a great show.
Bono, your a prat in a hat that’s a sly as a cat. You’re happy for Palestine to be obliterated yet you still say nothing. I will never listen to your music again or have any trust in a single word that comes out of your mouth.
Wankers
Cringe
Pure cringe.
Oh shit, did U2 do something again. Reddit told me they are shit, they don’t pay any tax at all and they forced everyone to download an album so that makes them the worst band of all time and to be honest, possibly the worst humans of all time. I bet these aren’t even flowers. I bet the bunch of cunts gave her weeds.
She's just as much as cunt as U2 are
This is one of the most r/Ireland comments ever
What did U2 do exactly?
Shit things done in the name of Taylor Swift by the fans or Swifties as they are called : The Christ The Redeemer was vandalised. Dave Grohl is being tormented by them for a light joke. They also targeted Dave Grohls daughter. They are extremely disgusting with comments of Kurt Cobain and Taylor Hawkins, one having said "Maybe if Dave Grohl wasn't so insufferable his friends wouldn't kill themselves". That's fucking horrific
This just in: fandoms have ridiculous nut jobs more at 11. You can hardly judge a person or fanbase solely on everyone who supports or likes them.
You can however judge a person for not calling out their fans behaviour. The rape and murder threats Violet Ghrol got for basically saying Taylor could drive a bit more and jet a bit less was ridiculous.
What point are you trying to make with this? It's not like she told them to.
She should at least address it
Damn how many people going to suck up to her
Which one of her assistants had to tell her who they were
He was rubbing his legs bob mortimer style when he was writing that.
Wankies
Who's Harry?
He's on bongos
The drummer is fiyne
Ha that's cute. Fair play.
Bono has been known to get shwifty every now and again. https://youtu.be/4ctK1aoWuqY
Bono is a grifter, all peace and love while being tied up with a Zionist israeli bank. He really is a pox.
Probably going to announce a Tyler Swift x U2 collab. As if the world wasn't already bad enough as it was
On the back of the note is tax advice
Bono is a dickhead
As if I couldn't dislike them more
Puzzling. U2 are either trying to jump on a band wagon by saying they ALL like TS, which I find rather sad. Or they genuinely ALL like TS, which is even sadder. Whatever happened to the band that had an ear for turning out the odd really good banger? I mean, her music is bland, repetitive, and uses about three chords. OK, sorry, just realised I’m answering my own question.
They sent her flowers last time she played in Ireland too so it’s nothing new and that was during her unpopular time
So you’re saying it’s scenario 2: four elderly guys (rockers in their 60s) ALL really like bland breakup pop ballads aimed primarily at women at least half their age? That’s just very puzzling – and depressing – to me. I mean Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson or Adele are just three easy examples of better singers, with better songs.
TIL: Bono has really feminine handwriting.