In Manila, Bestselling Author Malcolm Gladwell Has a Few Things to Say About Taylor Swift

Malcolm Gladwell ought to be a familiar name for anyone who’s even casually interested in sociology and psychology. Many of his books are bestsellers and, combined, he’s sold an estimated five million of them worldwide. It was his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference that made him a household name, but he has since gone on to share his thoughts on human behavior and the world around us in six other books. 

Gladwell today is also a podcast host and much sought-after public speaker. On Monday (September 4), he visited the Philippines for the first time upon the invitation of retail giant SM as the keynote speaker of the SM Tenant-Partners’ Summit at SMX. The author said he was given free rein to talk about whatever he wanted, and so he chose to discuss issues that connected his interest in the social sciences with that of his audience, which, of course, involves retail and knowing your audience.

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At one point during his speech, Gladwell brought up the phenomenon of Taylor Swift and how she has become possibly the most popular pop star on the planet today. Ticking off the many records Swift is breaking left and right—including her blockbuster Eras tour that is projected to gross as much as $2.2 billion, according to some estimates—Gladwell theorized that Swift’s popularity lies in the composition of her audience.

“I saw these incredible numbers of demographic breakdown of people who like Taylor Swift's music,” he said. “And we're looking at just at her American fans.”

Gladwell said that over half of Americans describe themselves as fans of Taylor Swift. With a current population of about 330 million, that’s about 165 million Swifties.

“If you break down that map, you will see that in every dimension, the people who describe themselves as fans of Taylor Swift match the overall demographic profile of the country,” he added. "So in America…half vote for the Democratic Party, and half vote for the Republican Party. Taylor Swift's audience is half Democrat, half Republican. Taylor Swift's audience is half female, half male. Taylor Swift's audience, half of them have an income over $50,000, half of them have an income under $50,000. Half of her audience was born before 2000, half was born after 2000. If you break down the racial and ethnic composition of her audience, it matches exactly the racial and ethnic composition of the United States. 

“(Her fandom) is a picture of the United States,” he said. “There is no other musical act, there is no other entertainer in the West right now for which that is true, whose fan base precisely matches the demographic profile of the country that they belong to.”

To further illustrate his point, Gladwell cited other artists and genres with very specific audiences.

“When the Rolling Stones play a concert, in the audience, it's a lot of old, wealthy, white people. If you go to a rap show in America, it is overwhelmingly African-American and urban and young. If you go to a country music show in America, it's Southern, it's Republican, and it skews old. Those are all dominant forms of music that appeal to a very specific slice of America. When you go to a concert like that, in one of those arenas, you see a lot of people like yourself. Now, that is a very comforting and friendly experience, to be surrounded by people like you. 

“But I think what Taylor Swift is telling us is that there is a very special kind of excitement, particularly among younger people, that comes from going to an event that represents everything about society. There's something joyful in going out to a mass participation event.”

Gladwell believes that, because the world is so divided today, people are beginning to crave a return to a kind of common, shared, open experience.

One other reason for Swift’s popularity, the author reasoned, is her so-called relatability.

“The younger generation is interested in something different from their interactions with fame or celebrity,” he said. “What they're looking for is relatability and authenticity.”

Gladwell said that a study found that the number one reason people love Swift is her music.

“And the number two reason is that she is, quote-unquote, relatable,” he said. “People look at Taylor Swift and they see some element of themselves. That is, it has been a very long time since there has been a rock and roll star whose principal appeal is that they seem ordinary to their fans. We're used to looking up at a rock and roll star, not at a rock and roll star.

“But something has shifted in the dynamics of celebrity over the last generation,” he added. 

Later, after host David Celdran echoed Gladwell’s thoughts about Taylor Swift back at him and jokingly said, “Taylor Swift for president,” the author shot back, “Taylor Swift for president! And she’d win, too.”