Comparrision Paper

Andrew Houghton
11/30/2015
There are two pop stars that stand out in the world of music: Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. Both are powerhouse female vocalists that are widely popular and known throughout the world. They are both extremely influential to the music industry and to their passionate philanthropic endeavors. However as similar as they may seem, they began their careers in two different genres of music and each have extremely different takes on standing out and inspiring their audience.
If one were to attend both of these artist’s concerts, it would seem hardly comparable. Taylor Swift started in the industry as a young teenager known for her innocent look and narrative lyrics of her life. In contrast, Lady Gaga came to light in her 20s with a very unique and provocative presentation of herself in the way of her various costumes and personas. For example, Taylor’s signature look consisted of sundresses and cowboy boots. On the other hand, Lady Gaga did not have a signature look, but continued to surprise her audience with her creative costumes including an outfit of plastic bubbles and a meat dress. Taylor’s music started in the country genre and gradually led into the pop genre, whereas Gaga led the electronic dance-pop genre in the start of her music career and has moved forward into the jazz genre. Taylor’s voice is soft and kind in its inflection, unlike Gaga’s abrupt and harsher tone in voice. In addition to their difference in music styles, there are their music videos. Taylor’s videos have maintained her sweet and innocent persona, which is very unlike Lady Gaga’s videos that feature the central themes of sex, violence, and power. These two artists could not be on more opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of appropriate and inappropriate messages portrayed in their videos, which affects the audience and fan base of both women. Taylor would most likely attract to the younger generations as well as older generations, whereas Lady Gaga would have a...