FanSided 250: Streaming helped Taylor Swift take the top spot
Streaming was Taylor Swift’s secret weapon on the 2020 FanSided 250 list.
The FanSided 250 list was full of musical groups, solo acts, and stars alike. For 2020 though, the top spot was awarded to Taylor Swift. In a year full of so many ups and downs, Taylor Swift managed to make the most of this year.
Obviously, we’d be remiss to not mention not one but her two surprise albums that released this year. Even though Evermore happened after the list was published, it still counts here.
Not only did she release two completely different albums, but she also released two different projects on streaming services. If that wasn’t enough, Taylor also continued to take on Scooter Braun who owns all of her masters for her previous albums. She also didn’t shy away from sharing her own political opinions and made her way back into the spotlight in this storm cloud of a year.
We also would have seen Taylor Swift head on a small tour if the world hadn’t changed as we know it. Ultimately, things could have been a lot different for Taylor but she made the best of it despite “not a lot going on at the moment.”
With most of us stuck in our houses, then we had no choice but to give Taylor Swift our attention via her music and her two projects that were on streaming services.
Here’s how Netflix and Disney+ helped take Taylor Swift to a new level.
Even though Taylor Swift’s music opened the door, one of her biggest wins this year was a documentary on Netflix entitled Miss Americana. Released at the end of January, the documentary explored a lot of Taylor Swift’s life including things she had never shared before, giving fans and non-fans alike an inside look. It was particularly exciting to hear everything come from her own mouth.
For some, this was their foray into becoming a fan of Taylor Swift. While Swift started out in the country world, her gradual shift to pop and now, alternative music has been hard-fought. With a wide-spread documentary talking about her career and personal life, it opened the door to so many new people. Even for those who weren’t Taylor fans, it’s hard not to root for her as you watched everything she went through.
Releasing it on Netflix to boot was an impressive business idea. Millions have Netflix subscriptions or have someone whose account they’re using. It also brought fans who love and appreciate her to the streaming services. While the two don’t have a long-lasting partnership or anything, the decision to release Miss Americana on Netflix was brilliant and worked for both them and Taylor Swift.
As for her second project, Taylor shifted her focus just slightly by releasing Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions on Disney+. We have yet to truly see Taylor be featured in a concert film and this feels like the closest we’re going to get to it. While Miss Americana was focused on multiple facades of her life, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions was all about Taylor’s latest album release at the time, Folklore.
The documentary focused on basically every aspect of the album including the writing, producing, and working together while during a pandemic. It honestly proved how much Taylor Swift is dedicated to her craft and how hard she worked to make this album happen. It’s such an intimate look at an album that was essentially a surprise to everyone.
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Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions was the perfect release at the perfect time with the album being so many people’s soundtracks, quarantine happening and all of us wanting something for the cold winter nights.
Even though this one might not appeal as much to audiences, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions is the perfect companion to Miss Americana and is the next step in the journey of being a Taylor Swift fan.
Overall, streaming was just a small piece of the puzzle when it came to the huge year that Taylor Swift had in 2020. Nevertheless, it’s hard to deny the impact of Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.
No doubt streaming helped to create an even bigger buzz around Taylor Swift and the music she gifted us this year.