[Eóghan Scherzy]

Potato? Potahtoe?

[St. Charles]

Originally posted by Dark Horse

not taking a risk is considered a risk based on the circumstances

Well, then it's a toss-up. Enough people blindly stan them to the point where it almost didn't matter what they released.

[St. Charles]

And also, WANEGBT was like 87% pop and 13% country. Songs like 22 and IKYWT were 100% pop. The era may as well have been a pop one.

[dirrtydiana]

Neither. Adele could've released a track of her farting for 2 min and it'd have hit #1.

Shake it off is just roar which ripped off Sara so..

[Misanthrope]

Originally posted by St. Charles

Well, then it's a toss-up. Enough people blindly stan them to the point where it almost didn't matter what they released.

i feel like this definitely applies with hello.
it didnt really matter what she released so long as it was her voice.
i mean unless she made a random left turn and put out a trap song or something. then maybe people wouldve jumped ship. but its not like that was going to happen.

[LoKoPaNdA]

Neither lol

[Misanthrope]

Originally posted by St. Charles

And also, WANEGBT was like 87% pop and 13% country. Songs like 22 and IKYWT were 100% pop. The era may as well have been a pop one.

calling WANEGBT country is like calling an avril lavigne song "rock". its not of the genre just because it references it in some slight way. its insignifcant. like my great great grandmother being half italian doesnt make me italian

[hellocory]

Originally posted by St. Charles

And also, WANEGBT was like 87% pop and 13% country. Songs like 22 and IKYWT were 100% pop. The era may as well have been a pop one.

This version wasn't #1 country hit

[Tom Vercetti]

These songs aren't risky at all, but riskier? Not sure. Probably Hello because of the time between that and Adele's last 21 single.

[Letemtalk]

Neither is risky, but when you've already had a #1 with a Martin and Shellback song, releasing another one is about the least risky thing you can do.

Adele waited a long time between albums, so I guess there might have been at least some element of risk with Hello.

[Crazy Lights]

Neither of these are risky.

[Adele Addict]

I think "Shake It Off" was riskier because it kind of solidified Taylor as a full-on pop artist, and I think she knew how big of a risk that was because she'd lose some of her country fans. Not that the country music community turned their backs on her like they did someone like the Dixie Chicks, but they weren't happy that they were losing one of their biggest artists to pop, I'm sure. In that sense, I think it was risky, but it was bound to do well on the charts no matter what.

"Hello" was risky in the sense that Adele was following up the biggest album in forever, and she'd been out of the spotlight for so long. I'm sure she kind of saw it as, "Well, this could make or break my career," and she's even said that she was shocked that that many people still cared. But it was in her comfort zone and didn't stray enough to affect her core audience the way "Shake It Off" affected Taylor's audience, so I think "Shake It Off" was a bit riskier, in that sense.

[Shaliydah88]

Neither... Like, at all.

[Prismy]

Um, WANEGBT, IKWYT and 22 were all hits before SIO, how the hell is SIO a risk for Taylor?

It's not like the country stans made those songs hits anyway. She already sold out before SIO.

[Nightingale]

Originally posted by Misanthrope

this argument annoys me so much because it felt like every era was her pop era since she got massive attention back when. red felt like a pop era, its not like anyone thought it was country. so when her team made this big fuss about her crossing over to pop I was like what? are people really buying this? are people really making this a thing? because wtf was we are never getting back together and trouble then? and 22? give me a ****ing break.

Of course she had pop songs before but she was always labeled as a country artist that just happened to have pop songs. I know labels shouldn't really matter but truth is that in the industry the way you are labeled has a great affect on your audience and the way your music is consumed. Even though Red was really pop, her label was still trying to fool everyone into thinking it was country as seen through the token country elements in her really pop song like WANEGBT and 22 that now barely even appear in 1989.

I understand she was always pop but before 1989 was released everyone was going "She's going to alienate the country audience aka the one that buys albums and won't be able to sell a million first week!!!111!!"

[mikeyace16]

Neither. WANEGBT is the riskiest single either of them have ever released.

[WestCoast]

The people in here saying Red should be considered a pop album when the majority of the songs are country...

OP: Shake It Off is riskier. It was the lead single from Taylor's first pop record and there was a lot of pressure from her label, the fans, the critics, etc. She had an entire career to lose releasing Shake It Off. She could have lost her fans, the adoration from critics who would have likely all turned their backs on her and her label would have likely lost total trust in her forcing them to be more controlling.

Whatever Adele would have released would have gone #1 and been huge regardless but I still feel like she played it safe with Hello. Had she released Send My Love or Water Under The Bridge however..

[superben]

Shake It Off

It's risky to release such a horrible song as the lead.

[Letemtalk]

Originally posted by hellocory

RED is considered a country album on iTunes, by The Grammys, WANEGBT was huge on country radio, she released Begin Again there too, etc.

1989 was her first time completely abandoning country and literally everyone here thought she would underperform because she was alienating her fanbase and the general public

She might have fooled her friends on the Grammy committees who allowed her to submit RED as a country album, but the Grammy voters knew better and gave the award to Kacey Musgraves instead.

[Kkamjong]