this is the state of the music industry i guess... everything is enshittified.. music is no exception

maybe that survey only looked at gen z's over 18, but at my high school (graduated a couple years ago) taylor was considered "basic white girl music" and some girls would be teased at for listening to her. there's definintely some swifties at my college but the majority really aren't or hate on her, so i've always figured millennials liked her more

the thing about gen z is one of the most uncool things you can be is too "basic." when something becomes too popular, it's no longer cool or at least as cool. most people still mainly listen to popular/fairly popular artists, but there's a line you cross where you'll get called "NPC" or "tiktokified" or some shit, and having tastes seen as more "unique" (genuine or not, it's often just following internet microtrends like listening to Duster or something) makes you "cooler"

i was at a party a few weeks ago and someone played See You Again by Tyler the Creator and some people started clowning on him and saying he has "tiktok music taste" before playing Ken Carson lmao