this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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Can someone explain the love for Taylor Swift to me? I know she makes music a lot of people enjoy. I've heard the stories of her giving big bonuses to those who work for her. I guess all I see is a billionaire with a great PR team.
I mean...
Isn't that enough? I don't see the appeal of K-pop either but I do understand that some folks get way too deep into some rabbit holes.
On a non-musical level she's either very genuine (private jet notwithstanding) or very good at appearing that way.
I don't see how a music star being genuine or not matters. I don't really care what her political or social views are, I care if her music is good or not. What really confuses me is why so many people get so interested in what celebrities have to say.
For policy, I look to politicians and journalists. For science, I look to scientists and academics. And so on. Looking for policy from a pop star is just stupid IMO.
In addition to some great comments, Swift seems genuine and sincere. There's a great video going around of her arguing with her dad, literally crying that she can no longer keep her mouth shut about injustices perpetrated by the right.
I know jack about her music, but my little kids were blasting something intensely catchy. "That's pretty cool! Who is that?" You guessed it, Swift.
She's a "self-made" female billionaire. Her money isn't from something like Walmart or Amazon, where it's obvious how she's exploiting people. It's clear she's very talented. And she seems smart and like she won't get pushed around by scummy music execs (Taylor's version).
Her music speaks to people and makes them feel like they're understood and like they understand her. When she got a lot of hate (because most things teenage girls enjoy get a lot of hate), plenty of people felt personally attacked, and that made them more defensive and appreciative of her. She poked fun at the stereotypes making her more endearing.
Does her parents money not count? She was born into money, she wasn't self made. Unless "self making" yourself from a millionaire to a billionaire counts.
look, if we didn't count billionaires who come from lesser echelons of rich people, we wouldn't have any 'self-made' billionaires at all.
I'm sure we could think of a few. Notch was some random slob who made Minecraft. Jk Rowling just wrote some mediocre books at an opportune moment, but neither of her parents went to college.
Not many billionaires start out from not being millionaires.
That's why self-made is in quotes. But many female billionaires are primarily heiresses little known or primarily known as a male billionaire's daughter/wife/ex-wife. Swift turning millions into billions is about as self-made as any other billionaire.
I would argue that someone who turns $1 million into $1.001 billion is self made, in that there is a billion dollars of gain attributable to that person's actions.
Yes, the opportunities available to someone who is allowed to pursue a dream at a young age without worrying about money is an advantage in show business (or really, any career field). But a lot of people seem not to realize just how many rich people there are. Something like 1 out of every 5 American households is worth more than $1 million in net worth, or 1 out of every 8 is worth more than $1 million without counting their primary residence.
In the end, Taylor Swift's wealth is pretty much entirely tied up in the intangible personal brand, which she can monetize basically at will, and the valuable intellectual property that she owns, a song/recording catalog that is worth probably over a billion in itself. She built it with help, yes. But she built it.
That's in contrast to people who own wealth that they didn't themselves build at all, like inherited equity or cash flow in valuable companies that they aren't actively working at, or that are valuable without their own involvement.
On the one hand, there's no such thing as totally self made. On the other, if there's a spectrum of how much wealth is actually earned through work, Taylor Swift's net worth is probably more self made than the typical billionaire.