Taylor Swift and the Era of "Peak Pop Star"

Recently considering Taylor Swift's extraordinary present stature within pop culture even as celebrity as a whole seems to be in decline I suggested that she had an advantage in making a name for herself just a little while before the hyper-fragmentation of pop culture. This may be all the more the case for, if she is known to appeal more strongly to some demographics than others, her still managing to have a broad appeal in some degree, a point Erik Schreiber, recently reviewing Swift's new album, The Tortured Poets Department, made when remarking her popularity as likely having something to do with her work and her persona and her performances "offer[ing] something to everyone: a little bit acoustic and country, a little bit electric and urban, a soupçon of sexiness, a pinch of feminism, and a lot of spectacle."

Coming along in a time when a mass audience could still be won, she appealed for it, and won it.

This seems less plausible today--as we are reminded by every list of the "most popular" stars, and strain to spot anyone who came along after the Great Recession.