Do you know people who don't know Taylor Swift?

[buritobr]

Is there anyone in your family, school, college or workplace who have never heard about Taylor Swift?

I used to think that the share of people in the late 1980s who have heard about Madonna in countries which had universal access to TV was closer to 100% than the share of people who have heard about Taylor Swift nowadays.

In the late 1980s, the most important media were TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. There was a mass audience. When a celebrity was often presented on TV, almost everyone knows him/her.

Nowadays, there are social networks, spotfy, streaming services. There is no mass audience like in the time of the dominance of the TV. So, there are more music artists >10% of the people know but I though there were less music artists almost 100% of the people know.

But I checked in YouGov and saw that 97% of the adults in the UK have heard about Taylor Swift.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/explore/music_artist/Taylor_Swift

And you? Does all your social circle know her?

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I can't think of anyone who wouldn't have.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I would bet most of my extended family does not know who Taylor Swift is, even a few of my friends too. I can't say for sure because she just (almost) never comes up in our conversations. Her media phenomenon only filters through in a very reduced fashion in this country.

[Yeahsayyeah]

I couldn't name or even recognize one song as hers. Does this count?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I know she exists, her music isn't for me, and some of her fans are annoying, but that's it.

[President Johnson]

Not that I'm aware of. Maybe my 91 year old grandma and a bunch of older relatives in Greece like my uncle.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Maybe my Italian grandma.

[Samof94]

Is there anyone in your family, school, college or workplace who have never heard about Taylor Swift?

I used to think that the share of people in the late 1980s who have heard about Madonna in countries which had universal access to TV was closer to 100% than the share of people who have heard about Taylor Swift nowadays.

In the late 1980s, the most important media were TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. There was a mass audience. When a celebrity was often presented on TV, almost everyone knows him/her.

Nowadays, there are social networks, spotfy, streaming services. There is no mass audience like in the time of the dominance of the TV. So, there are more music artists >10% of the people know but I though there were less music artists almost 100% of the people know.

But I checked in YouGov and saw that 97% of the adults in the UK have heard about Taylor Swift.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/explore/music_artist/Taylor_Swift

And you? Does all your social circle know her?

North Koreans have never heard of her.

[MyLifeIsYours]

Go ask The Amish. They have to be one of the largest demographics that are clueless about pop culture.

[buritobr]

I couldn't name or even recognize one song as hers. Does this count?

I think this is a reality of many people.

Probably, in countries connected to the media, people who have never heard about Madonna, Michael Jackson and Queen in the 1980s and have never heard about Taylor Swift today are equally close to zero. But I think almost everybody in the 1980s know that "Like a Prayer" was a Madonna's song, "Thriller" was a Michael Jackson's song and "We are the champions" was a Queen song. Nowadays, I believe that not few people know who is Taylor Swift but can't name or recognize one song of her.

[TheTide]

Is there anyone in your family, school, college or workplace who have never heard about Taylor Swift?

I used to think that the share of people in the late 1980s who have heard about Madonna in countries which had universal access to TV was closer to 100% than the share of people who have heard about Taylor Swift nowadays.

In the late 1980s, the most important media were TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. There was a mass audience. When a celebrity was often presented on TV, almost everyone knows him/her.

Nowadays, there are social networks, spotfy, streaming services. There is no mass audience like in the time of the dominance of the TV. So, there are more music artists >10% of the people know but I though there were less music artists almost 100% of the people know.

But I checked in YouGov and saw that 97% of the adults in the UK have heard about Taylor Swift.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/explore/music_artist/Taylor_Swift

And you? Does all your social circle know her?

I think you were right in the first place, for the reasons you stated. As I think someone else here has pointed out, those YouGov surveys are good for measuring how famous a particular person is in comparison to another person, but probably less so for measuring how famous a person is in isolation. In any case, Taylor Swift is only one example. Someone mentioned a singer with the word 'bunny' in their name a while back and implied that the person was a huge celebrity. The YouGov US website only had this person at something like 66% familiarity.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Not that I'm aware of. Maybe my 91 year old grandma and a bunch of older relatives in Greece like my uncle.

Most of the adult people here in Greece have no idea who Swift is.
Her music has zero appeal to anybody who has graduated high school.

[Battista Minola 1616]

As for Madonna and other 1980s celebrities, I would be similarly shocked if my great-grandparents had been familiar with her at the time (let alone people older than them, as they were "only" in their sixties or seventies).

[buritobr]

As for Madonna and other 1980s celebrities, I would be similarly shocked if my great-grandparents had been familiar with her at the time (let alone people older than them, as they were "only" in their sixties or seventies).

I didn't talk to my grandparents about this topic, but I believe they have heard about Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen in the 1980s. There was no Internet, no pay TV, and almost everyone in Brazil used to watch TV show "Fantástico" on Sunday evening. "Fantástico" showed news, entertainment and also music video clips.

MTV was introduced in Brazil only in 1990. The audience of this channel was only middle class young people. When MTV was introduced, "Fantástico" stopped showing music video clips, and people who didn't have the intent to follow international pop music stopped having contact to international pop music.

[Ferguson97]

As in people who have literally never heard the name before? No, I don't know anyone who lives under a rock.