Here’s Why Taylor Swift Is Winning While Kanye’s Career Rots
A female billionaire and a manchild whose career is flopping. Is it all marketing?
So, let’s talk a little bit about Taylor Swift. I’m not sure whether people noticed this, but she’s absolutely winning at life. She’s worth a billion dollars, has rabid fans the world over, and is now dating a super sweet dude.
Honestly? Go her. She took opportunities and ran with them. Most people don’t do that. Even if you don’t like her music, you gotta respect that chutzpah and gumption.
Kanye was, at one point, far more famous than Taylor. To be fair, he was also self-made while Taylor Swift already came from a family of great wealth. Despite it all, Kanye is now an outcast in Hollywood and Taylor is the “It” girl.
Kanye has had his shoes pulled from major designers, scores rejected for remixes by people like Ozzy Osbourne, and fans disavow him. So, what happened? What is the X-factor that made Taylor so popular and Kanye so…not?
Kanye is living proof that “go woke, go broke” is a lie.
Kanye was a Trumpist to the core, and he’s been an open Nazi for a while. He openly hates Jewish people and while he’s apologized for it, the damage was done.
If he had just shut the fuck up with his bigoted bullshit, a lot of his fans would still be around him. I personally know several Jewish kids who stopped supporting him and stopped listening to him after his statements insulted them.
While Kanye alienated his base, Taylor did the opposite…She came out for tolerance and support of major causes for equality. The numbers and outcomes are clear. Hate is not attractive, no matter how much talent you have.
Taylor carefully crafted an image of a woman who cares about her fans, while Kanye didn’t.
Kanye and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian are fairly notorious for snubbing their fans. In fact, Kim herself was known for berating fans. Kanye was not much better and it really shows when he’s out in public.
Taylor, on the other hand, did the opposite of those two. She’s famously generous with her time. She’s painted pictures for fans, showed up at their weddings or birthday parties, and even given people personal shout-outs.
In the world of public relations and fame, few things matter as much as catering to your fan base. Your fans are literally your bread and butter. You better love them as much as they love you.
Fans will react well to stars who actually react to their love, interact with them, and show love right back to them. She even had a gift-giving bonanza known as “Swiftmas” when she personally gave gifts to fans.
Look, for all I know, Taylor Swift might not actually care about her fans at all. But, she also might. That doesn’t change that her image was carefully crafted around caring about fans. Fans resonated and that built up brand loyalty.
Kanye also made a point of showing that not all press is good press.
Yes, people are talking about him. Yes, it keeps him relevant. No, it’s not translating to money the way it once did. A little scandal can boost you in the public eye and even fashion you into a counterculture personality.
Too much of it? It can blackball you. The wrong scandal can also ruin you and make you a persona non grata in most business contracts. That’s exactly what happened with Sinead O’ Connor in the 90s — though she didn’t deserve it.
When Kanye started spouting off Nazi shit? Yeah, he earned the bad press and all the brands that pulled out their contracts. Kanye West is one of the only people on the planet to build an empire worth billions, only to lose his billionaire status years later.
Contrary to popular belief, there is only so much that PR agents can do to straighten out a reputation. It’s not like the days of yore when a scary-worded letter or a threat from Hugh Hefner would make other media outlets shut up.
These days, you have to listen to your PR agents’ advice and you have to be able to keep your cool. Kanye couldn’t do that. Taylor could.
Taylor Swift also nurtured connections in the industry, while Kanye burned bridges.
For all the stuff I read about Taylor Swift, one thing stands out to me. Everyone who meets her seems to like her as a person — fans, press members, assistants, and even fellow musicians.
Kanye? Well…his first major scandal happened when he interrupted Taylor’s award acceptance speech. And then he sulked and said he was suicidal because people were mean to him.
That lost him a lot of respect from industry professionals. He married Kim Kardashian and quickly turned into an abusive, unhinged mess — at least according to the press. It’s hard to tell what’s real with the Kardashians.
But, he also alienated most media professionals by saying antisemitic stuff, homophobic stuff, and more. A former friend of mine’s dad worked with Kanye. Kanye was so petulant with him that he actually tells horror stories about his diva behavior to friends.
Needless to say, the number of people who want to work with him are few.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that Swifties tend to stick together.
You know, I never see Kanye fans being good to one another. Maybe I’m wrong and I’m just not seeing the right ones, but that’s been my personal experience.
Taylor Swift really works hard at trying to keep her fandom positive and supportive of both her and other fans. I think that’s one of the reasons why her fandom is as loyal as it is. It’s not the music as much as it is the community for some people.
Or, maybe it’s just because karma’s a bitch.
You can’t expect people to spread hate, encourage trolling, and behave badly and still have people like them. The people who tend to be the most hateful tend to see their fans flee.
No one wants to hang out with negative people. So, maybe Kanye should learn from Taylor…if he’s even capable of showing that level of maturity, anyway.
...and the skaters gonna skate, skate, skate, skate, skate
They all have addled pates, pates, pates, pates, pates
Shake it off.
Those are missing lyrics. I swear. 💜💜💜
It's like Goofus and Gallant, but with music megastars