Swifties upset with Billboard’s reason to put Beyonce on #1 in 'Greatest Pop Star' list over Taylor Swift

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Beyonce has officially been crowned the "Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century" after months of speculations. 

As Billboard’s months-long "Greatest Pop Star" countdown came to an end by declaring Beyonce the winner, it fueled another online battle between Beyonce’s fans, who call themselves the Beyhive, and Taylor Swift’s Swifties. 

When Taylor Swift, who has records of multiple hits and the biggest concert tour ever, was named the runner-up in the "Greatest Pop Star" list, Beyonce becoming the winner has left Swifties furious. Now that Billboard has finally revealed the reason for their ranking, Swift’s fans did not take the explanation kindly.

Beyonce tops the 'Greatest Pop Star' list

Acknowledging what several fans were already thinking, Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger wrote, “While Taylor Swift is the century’s biggest pop star by the numbers — from album sales to streams to touring dominance — our editorial staff has chosen Beyoncé as our No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of the Century, based on her full 25 years of influence, evolution and impact.”

Thus, the outlet boiled the decision down to the difference between the number of active years of the two megastars. 

“Few artists this period can match her in any of the most critical basic categories of pop stardom – commercial success, performance abilities, critical acclaim and accolades, industry influence, iconic cultural moments – and absolutely no one can equal her in all of them,” wrote the reporter in the Billboard article. 

Acknowledging that Taylor Swift was the only pop star to give Beyonce stiff competition for the crown, Unterberger wrote, “Even Taylor Swift, the lone artist who really challenged Beyoncé for the top spot on these rankings – and who does have a clear statistical lead on Bey in many key categories; more on that later – simply hasn’t been around for long enough to be able to match the expansiveness of her quarter-century of dominance.”

Later in the article, it was revealed that Beyonce has 12 Billboard Hot 100s No 1s, and 10 No 1 albums in the Billboard Hot 100 albums list. 

Taylor Swift's fans upset at Billboard's reasoning for naming Beyonce #1 pop star

Nevertheless, Swifties were not happy with the reasoning as they took to social media to criticize Billboard's decision, claiming that most of the younger pop stars are influenced by Taylor Swift.  

One of the social media users left a snide remark, writing, "In other words, Taylor should’ve started her mainstream music career during her middle school years 😭😭😭."

Someone else added, "A whole lot of words to say regardless of facts, numbers & charting.. we are going to choose Beyonce."

"Admitting they picked her based on vibes is hilarious 😭," mused someone else.

Another user added, "Imo majority of new pop girlies are inspired by taylor not beyoncé."

"Taylor deserves the spot, we dont care," a Swiftie wrote.

Another social media user stated, "So they picked her based off of twitter vibes ….yeah okay 😭."

One fan of the 'Cassandra' singer remarked, "This is not going to make swifties happy. As per Billboard rules and consideration Taylor was not considered number one because she was born late?"

"Everyone knows Taylor is the biggest pop star and no one can beat her," another fan campaigned for Swift.

Another netizen obliquely added, "Translation: Beyonce was willing to pay us more money for this title."

However, several other fans painted a different picture as well, as many of them sided with Beyonce as well.

One of them commented, "Taylor is only bigger based on what billboard said(sales, streams and tours)...and nothing else. She doesn't evolve...her previous album is similar to the current album. Singing is similar...same ol' same ol...she's very impactful financial wise."

"Billboard basically said, "Taylor owns the charts, but Beyoncé owns the culture"," shared someone else.

Another fan noted, "Meanwhile Taylor was in elementary school as Beyonce was starting her years of influence and impact."

A fan of Beyonce wrote, "#Talentwon because it’s more than just about the numbers. We’ve been saying that. The amount of cultural impact Bey has had this year alone is astonishing and despite all the lies and backlash she still receives today yet she rises and remains humble through it all. A true QUEEN!"

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