On Becoming a Taylor Swift Fanboy

Week #23

Hello! I’m Aaron Kardell. In this Sunday newsletter, I pick one random topic weekly to go deep on and have some disparate quick hits at the end.

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Several posts back, I gave you all a peek into 20 of the draft titles I have queued up to write about in future posts and asked for feedback. While I only heard from a handful of you, what was striking to me was the lack of any substantive overlap in your responses. I got requests to write about or further discuss 8 of the 20. Most of those topics were related to finance, relationships, or startups.

The only one that multiple people requested, though? This week’s topic: “On Becoming a Taylor Swift Fanboy.” So here I am, staring at a blank space, unsure what I will write.

My Fandom

I used to hesitate to admit that I liked Taylor Swift's music. While I typically gravitate towards indie or alternative rock, my musical interests are eclectic. On any given day, I could switch it up and listen to Muse, Kendrick Lamar, The Civil Wars, Chance the Rapper, The Black Keys, Bon Iver, Crowder to The Foo Fighters, and classical jazz.

Still, despite my eclectic interests, I felt like being a fan of one of the biggest pop stars in the world didn't quite fit with my musical identity. But that all changed in 2020 with the release of Taylor Swift's surprise album, folklore.

From the first notes of folklore's opening track, "the 1," I was hooked. The stripped-down instrumentation and introspective lyrics were a departure from her previous work. I found myself drawn in by the album's moody, atmospheric sound. As someone who had always been impressed by her songwriting skills, I was blown away by the depth and nuance of the lyrics. Each song felt like a short story.

When evermore was released just a few months later, I was thrilled to have even more new music to dive into. While the album followed a sonic and thematic direction like folklore, it felt like a more confident and assured work. Her collaboration with Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon felt even more seamless on evermore.

As I delved deeper into her music, I became more and more of a fan. I spent hours listening to her back catalog, marveling at how she could craft catchy pop songs that also had emotional depth and substance. I gradually and then suddenly became an unapologetic Swiftie.

While I love Midnights, evermore is still firmly my favorite. The three-song set of marjorie, closure, and evermore may be my favorite set on any album.

The Eras Tour

When I heard that Taylor was going on tour, I was eager to try and snag tickets. I managed to get access to the Ticketmaster Verified pre-sale. I then sat in the online queue for over 7.5 hours before a spot opened. To do so, I had to keep my laptop open across multiple locations, and I paired it to my phone as a hotspot. I had tickets in my basket, and then the Ticketmaster site failed on checkout, and I was kicked out of line. I still don’t have tickets, and I’m frustrated.

Reports of The Eras Tour are now out. Even professional athletes don’t understand how she can physically pull off what she’s doing. A 44-song, three-and-a-half-hour set. No other artist of her stature has attempted to pull off something similar. Major artists often keep it to 22 songs or less, especially for extended months-long tours. Beyoncé’s Coachella set was 25 songs, and she’s since said she will never push herself that far again.

I’ve been watching ticket prices on Stubhub, hoping to go to a show in New York, Boston, or LA. It initially looked like ticket prices might drop, but in the last two weeks, prices have gone sky-high. Unless there’s a sudden price drop, I don’t think I will be there.

Taylor Swift, the Business Maven

While I enjoy Taylor Swift’s music, I’m equally impressed by her business skills. She’s one of the best marketers of our time. If you want to go deep on this, I recommend listening to the Acquired podcast’s Taylor Swift episode.

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This Week’s Quick Hits

• The two types of artists I have the most respect for are songwriters and comedians. Both share the ability to express a profound fundamental truth in a way that can hardly be communicated any other way. Who are your favorite songwriters and comedians?

• Last week I wrote about investor updates. While most of the post was addressed to founders, now that I’m doing a little more investing, I wanted to double back and say a word to investors I also forgot about. When I would send some updates, I’d get many encouraging replies, yet I’d send others and hear radio silence. As an investor, consider replying to a high percentage of updates you get with a word of encouragement. It means more to founders than you know.

Photo by Raphael Lovaski on Unsplash