Taylor Swifit, rep and industry and audience Flashcards
(8 cards)
TS representation
-Country music brand, famous for being part of ‘white culture’.
-Stereotypical depictions of beauty:
White euro-centric beauty standards, and draws from fairy tale and Disney princess imagery which resonates with her largely female audience.
-The timing of one of Swift’s few collaborations with a woman of color (Ice Spice) was not well received, with some suggesting that Swift threw Ice Spice an opportunity to compensate for Healey’s racist comments on Ice Spice’s body and ethnicity. Tokenistic diverse rep to distance herself from allegations and racism.
-Her 2018 democratic support could seen oppositionally: She did this because it was popular to do so and isnt a risk, like participating in support of George Floyd and the BLM movement in 2020.
- She is an example of brand mainstream feminism which dosent acknowledge minority groups.
bell hooks
‘to be a feminist you have to be politically active’ : Feminist movement is dominated by a middle class white experience and does not take into account low race interplays with gender and class.
Entertainment Weekly was forced to apologize after come under fire for ‘rude and biased’ tweet about TS and Nick Minaj’s bitter online feud as they posted an unflattering image of Minaj, promoting outcry of their followers.
Gender theory
Judith Butler:
Dresses feminine with color palettes and uses her body as a muse. She appears to be gentle, caring and sensitive. Performs as a typical feminine persons
Mulvey:
Water on her body creates a sexual undertone with red lipstick. Engima around her sexual presence, and symbollic of Marylin Monroe.
Van Zoonen:
Portrays image of stereotypical women and reinforces societal views. She is a stereotypical as she conforms to beauty standards. However she is a woman in power and dosent have intersectional oppression.
Gilroy:
Reinforce idealogies with beauty standards and white culture. Constructed and idealogocial brand persona.
Taylor Swift Audience
millennials being 45%(27-42) , 74% white audience and 53% of all US students.
55% if avid Swifties are Democrats, compared to 23% who are politically independent and 23% who are republicans.
73% said Swift’s music is a driving forces of their support of her.
Under $50K earing: 49%
$50K-$100K: 25%
$100K+: 25%
Suburban: 53%.
Parasocial relationships: All American girl, relatable. Clean music, suitable for younger audiences. The use of TS bran to help build a sense of personal identity. Music is personal, and she invited them to her home to make cookies. Promotes parasocial relationships.
Tiktok
Company owned by Bytedance, that is horizontally integrated with out dance and music apps.
Gained popularity after it started targetting a more US and European audience.
Tiktok is a free liberalist market which helps small creators and businesses. Lack of regulation reflect the lack of moral integrity.
Ways of profit for Tiktok :
-In app purchases
-Content Creators make money through online stores which Tiktok takes 5% of
-Offers businesses: branded hashtags, company speicfic video effects, app opening screen ads, In-feed video adverts.
-Granular consumer profiles based on preference to sell to companies wanting to target audiences
-Cost per click on an advert is 2p, which generates income.
-Guarnteed average of 1 hour of user time daily per business wanting to advertise.
T.S can advertise her products and helps to bild her brand. Tiktok is highly fragmented in audience so it is easy to reach target audience under ‘swiftok’
Debates on Tiktok:
Trump’s presdincy has made it a highly political and clearly leaning app. Problems with fake news and lack of regulation.
How is social media regulated:
Is self regulated by viewers. Can be manipulated as people can often mass report even if the video is not offensive and rude, limiting free speech.
In UK the ‘Online Safety Act’ was passes in 2023 aiming to protect both children and adults from harmful materials. Was careful to balance the right of free speech.
Livinston and Lunt
Consumer:
- Tiktok uses highly intelligent AI in its algorithm to pursh content and target users.
-Free to download
-Tiktok allows third party advertisers to access users data.
-Tiktok’s parent company si Bytedance, a highly powerful and diversified Chinese Media outlet.
Citzen:
-Free to download
-Over 1 billion global users connecting people from all over the world.
-Tiktok algorithms can detect and block harmful content
-Anyone ages 13 and up can have a Tiktok account.
Jenkins
Includes personal details or ‘Easter Eggs’ for her fans to decode or speculate over to widen the fandom and develop para-social relationships. Promotes textual poaching
Cyber dystopianism: The belief that digital technologies have an adverse effect on society.
^^
Social Utopianisim : The belif that digital media can and is creating a prositive social chance : #metoo
Many refer to her as ‘mother’ online, suggesting an unhealthy para social obsession with her.
