A feminist rant about the media coverage of the Taylor Swift phenomenon; media outlets covering the music industry with inclusivity; the rebellious spirit of adolescence; a fish-bicycle: these are featured in Papier pixel.
Something absolutely extraordinary happened to me last month, an experience I've been officially waiting for a few months and unofficially since birth. On Sunday, May 12, I attended Taylor Swift's concert in Paris. It was her fourth consecutive date, I thought she'd be tired but my star gave everything to the forty thousand pairs of eyes who came to see her, including mine but also Travis Kelce's, Bradley Cooper's, Gigi Hadid's, Louane's, Thomas Pesquet's and Patrick Bruel's. All this to say that I will never be the same person since that Sunday, May 12, and that's why this edition of Papier Pixel will be a Taylor special.
This epiphany sparked a question in me: why didn't French media give more importance to this event, or at least, why didn't they use it as a prism—that is, as a cultural object through which to view society? "The Eras Tour", Taylor Swift's global tour that began in March 2023, includes 152 concerts with four dates in Paris for a total of 160,000 spectators and two in Lyon for 100,000 spectators. Lasting 3 hours and 20 minutes, the show covers all of the artist's albums. According to AFP, it's the first tour in history to have generated over one billion dollars in ticket sales, a figure that is expected to more than double by the end of the tour in Canada next December.
While a few articles have touched on the political impact and economic impact of concerts on host countries, I found no comparative analysis between "The Eras Tour" and other major international tours, past or present, in the cultural media. As for Taylor Swift, I have in fact read more economic or political pieces than cultural ones in the pages of those same cultural media outlets. It seems more serious, no doubt. Treating the singer as a golden goose rather than as a cultural phenomenon allows one to maintain a certain distance.
On the specialized media side, while Numerama covered this news from a technological angle, reporting on the chaotic ticket sales on TicketMaster and the massive spread of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift earlier this year, among ecology-focused specialized media, aside from this analysis by GEO on the superstar's alleged sustainability efforts, I don't see much. For example, many fans order their sequined outfit for the evening from Chinese fast-fashion site Shein. Why are these outfits so important to the concert experience and, more importantly, what are the alternatives?
I also didn't see much of a feminist angle. Yet there would be plenty to write about the narrative of independence constructed by the singer, her model of resilience, the feminist narration of her songs, or fan culture as a space of sisterhood among young girls. Again, not a word about her influence on social norms.
Not everything about the Taylor Swift phenomenon is glitz and glamour. Many social issues could have been explored. So what's holding things back? Perhaps the cultural and musical differences between France and the United States. Yet the enthusiasm of more than a million people trying to get tickets to her concerts in France undermines that argument. I'd lean more toward a lack of specialization on the subject. In the United States, several media outlets hired journalists to cover the cultural impact of pop stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. On social media, the opening of these positions was so poorly received that it seemed these newspapers had burned the Munich Charter and danced around its ashes.
I doubt that this kind of job offer could ever exist in France. First, journalists who are experts in American pop culture are rare. There is a misconception that American pop culture, while influential, does not interest the French public as much, thus underestimating the depth of fan engagement in France.
Finally, let's be clear: French media are influenced by gender biases that minimize the importance of female artists and feminist issues in a male-dominated industry.
On this last question, fortunately, I spotted a few media outlets that are helping to change the game — see below in the Radar section. But let's continue for a moment with the Taylor Swift case. For several months now, the magazine Vogue, from the Condé Nast group, has been covering news related to the singer with finesse under the pen of Lolita Mang, a cultural journalist who has worked in the newsrooms of Trax and Tsugi. Behind-the-scenes looks at Paris concerts, critical analysis of her latest album, an intimate interview alongside Jack Antonoff, the discreet producer of the superstar… While the angles are conventional, the journalist's expertise and interest shine through in every line. In her articles, Lolita Mang describes the emotional tone of each song's lyrics, the melancholy of a woman who has become public property, the construction of her personal narrative, her relationship with the divine, with love, with death.
In a newsletter from the feminist magazine La Déferlante, I read this:
" In February 2024, a study by the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees) revealed a sharp increase in hospitalizations of young girls for suicidal behavior. While the phenomenon is complex to analyze, one likely explanation lies in the gender-based and sexual violence they experience structurally. Notably on social media. "
Young girls are not doing well. And it's them who listen to Taylor Swift. Not all of them, of course! On that subject, I warmly recommend this episode of the podcast Zoom zoom zen about Swifties, with pop culture journalist specialist Morgane Giuliani. But I don't know, I think we could actually listen to what they have in their hearts. Maybe we'd benefit from asking ourselves why young girls see themselves so much in the story Taylor Swift tells about love, friendship, violence, depression, resilience, grief, doubt, anger. In short, let's get back to basics: why do her albums and concerts sell so well? What do people go there looking for?
I believe Taylor Swift can be a genuine subject for analyzing and understanding the new generation. Rather than spending hours dissecting reports trying to understand young people's habits and their relationship with information, it would be better to start genuinely paying attention to their passions.
It's on the radar
Shall we continue exploring this on paper and pixels? I've spotted a few ideas from engaged media outlets and the music scene to help ensure inclusivity.
★ Teen spirit: The upcoming issue of Gaze, a magazine on the female gaze, will focus on teen spirit, " the rebellious spirit that inhabits us in adolescence and sometimes never leaves us ". The table of contents mentions the role of music for young girls. There should be an article telling the story of Billie Eilish through the eyes of her biggest fan.
★ The queen of queens: In its March newsletter, the online media Écoute Meuf looked back at the wave of hate directed at Aya Nakamura when her name was mentioned to perform at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Under the pen of its co-founder Rudy Jean-Baptiste, Écoute Meuf explains: "I don't know if Aya Nakamura should sing at the Olympics, that's not the question. I would like, unlike many, to let her choose because that's precious. They're bothered because here we speak in slang, we speak our way and sometimes we have nails as long as our ambitions and outfits as light as our dreams. To my little sisters, look at success, how beautiful it is and how much it looks like you. To Aya, the queen of queens. On behalf of Écoute Meuf, the most unconditional support and the most sincere thanks. " This is an opportunity to remind ourselves how much Écoute Meuf, a media outlet that highlights women in the music industry, is a quality source of information.
★ We love rap with a message: Beyond being a beautiful object that reads from both sides — their inclusive cover features both a woman and a man in the spotlight — the magazine Mosaïque, which specializes in rap, never fails to take a stand. Following Israeli airstrikes on Rafah on May 27th, the media shared on social media several fundraising campaigns in support of Palestinian populations. One of them, launched by the label Houma Sweet Houma, consists of a donation platform whose proceeds will go to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
★ Good catch: Watch out, newcomer to the music press ecosystem: Poisson Vélo ! The media takes its name from the feminist slogan "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle", since picked up everywhere at protests, in bar bathrooms and of course in quite a few songs. Zoé Pinet and Lorène Bienvenu, its co-founders, aim to explore rock and indie scenes with a committed eye, by showcasing artists through interviews, features and live sessions, all on Instagram, following fanzine codes. A launch party scheduled June 7 at the Motel, in Paris.
★ Fan culture : British rock band The Last Dinner Party created a space on the Discord messaging platform to interact more easily with its fans. There you'll find channels to discuss art, music and books with band members, share tour photos, find concert companions or exchange tickets. A media outlet committed to community engagement would be smart to borrow their idea.
