Dr. Taylor Allison Swift, American singer-songwriter and current headliner of the Eras Tour, you might know All Too Well after being seen everywhere and maybe even seeing her in the moment on tour. Isabella Hooten, a senior, says, “I’ve mostly watched live streams through TikTok, but I have seen clips uploaded to YouTube as well.” Unless you were a fan or a “Swiftie,” you would have no real clue as to what has happened. Taylor has made large impacts recently through record-breaking new releases and winning awards through her songs. Even her opening city, Glendale, renamed itself ‘Swift City’ for the week. Similarly, having streets renamed after her and having cities like Arlington, Texas, hand over keys to the city because of her immense popularity

This media takeover started when Taylor began making leaks for her tenth studio album, Midnights. This short series, Midnight Mayhem With Me, was to excite the fanbase for the upcoming album by releasing the name of one track each time. This was a full two weeks prior to the release of the album and was successful. On October 21st, Taylor Swift released the album Midnights, which was soon heard on many big radio stations everywhere. Her song “Anti-Hero” became one of the most requested on the stations. Not only did she garner attention on the radio, but she broke the record for most streams of an album in a day with 184.7 million streams on Spotify. She continued breaking records, such as having all ten top ten spots on the Billboard Hot 100. While gaining attention for this winning streak, Trevor Noah joked with Taylor about lowering the price of eggs at the Grammys. In the following days, they did indeed fall by 13% before rising again, which Swifties took credit for.

Now that Dr. Taylor Swift was rising up after some time out of the limelight, she pulled together her first tour in five years. With the announcement of the Eras Tour, many were excited and ready to wait for tickets. When ticket sales came out, Swifties broke the popular ticket website Ticketmaster. Within an hour, the site crashed. Many people left unable to get the tickets they had waited for. Katherine Terese, a senior, spoke about the upsetting shutdown: “It was very frustrating. Ticketmaster crashed a number of times, and it took me six hours to even try to buy tickets. Spencer had gotten through the cue very early on and had floor tickets in his cart, but it crashed, and he never saw tickets again.” “Guess it was just something that stayed just in your wildest dreams,” claimed Spencer.

With the intensity of being able to go or not, Swifties decided on sharing as another way to enjoy the concert. Katherine Terese, a senior, decided to do exactly that with her ticket purchases: “The first time I got through the queue, there were only two tickets left in the entire stadium, and they were for the last row in the nosebleeds, but I bought them because tickets at that time were going for $20,000. I then decided to join the queue for a different show date, just in case I got through. I ended up getting two more tickets in a slightly better section for that show. I could have kept the original tickets, but I had just spent $600 knowing that Isabella Hooten wanted to go more than anything. Natalie and I also discussed reselling them to cover the large cost of our own tickets, but in the end, that didn’t feel right to me. It was more important that the people I know and love get those tickets. We did upcharge them by about $50 to cover fees added by Ticketmaster, but we certainly didn’t make a profit. I am very happy with that decision. I have never once regretted it.” She did it. She did it.

Quickly, videos of the concert are being shared everywhere, even by people live streaming from their seats on various platforms. Each weekend, Swifties who had either not gotten tickets or were excited about Taylor coming to their area in future weeks would tune into the live streams to see more of their favorite songs. Many were even just enjoying the technical aspects: the choreography, sets, costumes, and even stunts throughout the show, such as the dive into the stage before the Midnight Era. Katherine Terese, a senior, mentioned that she watched the videos made on the Eras tour in preparation for the show she would be attending. Katherine found videos everywhere with warnings on policies like traffic, merch lines, bags, and more, hoping she would not end up on The Outside. But all of this wasn’t even the full experience of the show, which was live streamed by a great many people in attendance.

Spencer Payne, a senior, opened up about how he felt about the live streaming: “I think it’s good that people are giving those who were not able to attend or want to see what their (concert) will be like, which is cool.” When asked about how connected he felt now that he was able to see what was happening, even though he was not able to get tickets originally, he shared some different sentiments: “I feel more disconnected due to the fan culture established around her.” It can be intimidating at times with the mass amounts of fans she has, sometimes making the numbers of people intense. Because of this, people have lots of different opinions on live streaming.

While some are feeling several drawbacks to possible oversharing, others are seeing it as an approach to soaking in the experience. Isabella Hooten, a senior, found it a bit more exciting: “I love being able to see the shows I’m missing out on, but I do feel a sense of jealousy when I lose out on some of my favorite songs. I’ve loved Taylor for years, and seeing the interaction, dedication, and love she has for her audience is incredible,” she says. “Not many artists are as active as she is with her community, and it’s amazing to feel a part of that.” For Isabella Hooten, it is more of a dream-like—possibly even a lavender-haze—moment for her to enjoy: “I’ve loved Taylor for years, and I’ve always dreamed of being able to see her on tour. This tour specifically is one I would’ve been devastated to miss, as she’s performing songs from all of her albums. It’s honestly a dream come true to be able to see her sing some of my most-loved songs from over the years.”

There are ups and downs to live streaming the tour; for some Swifties, it can be a way to make guesses as to what she will do next. Some people may get annoyed by the fanbase; however, for the remaining, it is more important to be able to see her live after all this time, in an Enchanted performance.

https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/taylor-swift-breaks-36-year-old-madonna-record-with-eras-tour-articleshow.html