How Taylor Swift’s latest era may have changed her fandom forever

New York, New York – As Taylor Swift ushers in a new album era, Swifties have entered a new era of their own – one of uncharacteristic willingness to criticize the pop star.

The 35-year-old singer debuted her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, to sky-high anticipation last week.

When fans finally got to hear it, however, the excitement gave way to a bit of bewilderment.

The new record contained plenty of infectious pop songs destined to become chart-topping hits, but Swift’s lyricism – typically her strength – left something to be desired.

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Lines like “Every eldest daughter was the first lamb to the slaughter / So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire” led even the Swiftologist himself to declare, “That’s not good writing.”

As release week continued, the chatter gave way to headlines like CNN‘s “Finally, everyone can say bad things about Taylor Swift” as reviews skewered some of the album’s biggest weak points.

Swifties grappling with their disappointment were then greeted by repeated notifications from the Grammy winner’s management page, Taylor Nation, announcing several limited-edition CDs to join the more than two dozen variants of the record sold before The Life of a Showgirl even dropped.

Unlike other artists, Swift has ditched the tradition of releasing any lead singles, meaning that fans didn’t know exactly what they were even buying when the first copies were put up for sale.

The rollouts of Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department had already proved that Swifties have no problem putting their card down for just about anything with the singer’s name on it, but the third time might not be the charm, as The Life of a Showgirl has left many questioning whether it’s worth it anymore.

Since the album’s release, Swift’s social media pages have been flooded with plugs to buy yet another deluxe edition – So Glamorous Cabaret Version, The Crowd Is Your King Edition, Life is a Song Acoustic Version, you name it!

All of the new versions feature some perk not available on the others, be it an acoustic version or a voice memo from the song’s production. (None, however, contain any new songs.)

These marketing tactics are nothing new, and it’s not like anyone is exactly forcing Swifties to hit “purchase” each time. But the rather sour taste in many fans’ mouths only gets more bitter when one of her variant announcements hits their feed.

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“I get that no one is compelled by force to buy the variants but at what point do we also accept that Taylor isn’t exactly thinking of her fans when she pushes these out? It’s to push the sales numbers,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

“For someone so concerned about her legacy, it amazes me that she doesn’t realize (or more likely, doesn’t care) that she’s tarnishing her own,” another said.

“Yes, she’s going to get the biggest sales week of all time. But it’ll forever have a giant asterisk next to it, with people rightfully clowning on her for having 30+ variants to get there…”

So what does any of this really mean for Swift? In her words, she “welcomes the chaos,” saying, “The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping.”

Sure enough, the album is topping just about every streaming chart out there.

It’s unlikely that any of the die-hard Swifties – underwhelmed as they may be – will suddenly jump ship, but the rollout does risk damaging the “relatability” factor and deep connection with fans that has given Swift a crucial foundation for success.

While the pop star seems happy to shake off the critics, her bad blood with the Swifties may linger.