Passionate fan pluralities replace mass majorities in sustaining top artists

Evidence

In a fractured media landscape, stans helped consolidate hegemonic cultural power around a few top artists. To stay at the top, stars no longer needed mass majorities, just passionate pluralities. Stans’ dedication and overconsumption made these artists safe bets for major tours, TV show appearances, and product sponsorships. By propping up established artists over newcomers, stans contributed to cultural inertia. Madonna reinvented her sound and style to maintain relevance in the 1980s and 1990s. Taylor Swift, buoyed by loyal Swifties, achieved lasting pop dominance from 2012’s Red with only cosmetic stylistic changes atop her established songwriting formula. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 537

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces the cultural inertia / flattened single-era theme the reader is tracking as the signature Marx identifies.