Will Taylor Swift Reign Supreme in the Year 2124?
with John McWhorter
Why do people still listen to Beethoven, Wagner, Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Mississippi John Hurt, and the Beatles while nearly all of their contemporaries have faded into obscurity? And which of today’s artists are destined for that kind of immortality? Those are two of the big questions in the cultural realm, and a reader put them to John in our most recent subscriber-only Q&A session. Take a look as we have some fun speculating and prognosticating.
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Great discussion. Makes me want to rewatch Score: A Film Music Documentary Amazon link for anyone curious about it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B074187ZVM/ref=atv_hm_vid_7_c_B8g7Qw_1_5
Mendhilssohn revived JS Bach, who otherwise may have been forgotten. Johnny Cash went from popular, to almost forgotten, to hugely popular cross-audience. Documentaries like "Summer of Soul" and "Get Back" made artists more popular to new audiences.
The hard part of answering this question is not just the quality of music, but predicting advancements in technology. In a few years we'll be enjoying hologram concerts from dead artists in our living room. 100 years from now we may have such a huge percentage of centenarians that classical, jazz, & folk might be dominant. As popular as Taylor is among her dedicated fans, I think she needs to evolve beyond her current type of pop songs and appeal to a larger audience to be widely listened to 100 years from now.