LEGS
If a “fan” talks shit…Taylor owes them nothing. icon by @katetrish header by @watchitbegin
Taylor Swift may be a white feminist, but her feminism is not self-serving. Taylor Swift was slut-shamed constantly and relentlessly for doing the same thing that millions of people do: dating. She was slut-shamed for doing the same thing that most musicians who write their own music do: writing about her life. Taylor Swift finally spoke up about the misogyny SHE FACED, because it was PERSONAL TO HER LIFE and therefore INSPIRED HER MUSIC, and said that this is an attitude that hurts the industry and women all together. Tell me something, Taylor crusaders, when Nicki was talking about the VMAs being racist, was it not because she herself was neglected for an award? Was it not because she herself was facing racism in the industry so she decided to speak up about it? Isn’t that why most of you are feminists? Because you’ve faced prejudice and misogyny and racism and people reducing your worth based on one singular thing about you? And let’s be honest here, if Taylor Swift spoke up about the issues black women, queer women, transgender women face, would you really be applauding her? No. You’d be telling her to shut up because it isn’t her place. So do feminism a favor, and shut up. Your hatred for her isn’t about feminism. It’s about doing the trendy thing. It’s about lending support to the men who hate her and giving them a seemingly more valid excuse to tear down women that they don’t like, “in the name of feminism.” You’re moving us backwards.
So are we all supposed to be hating on Taylor Swift again? Is that what the summer of 2016 protocol calls for? Because God forbid that I’m out of fashion here. I mean when I was railing on Taylor Swift for saddling up with Max Martin on 1989 to manufacture derivative pop songs, I was chastised at large because didn’t I know that she stood up to Spotify and Apple, and how self-aware “Blank Space” was?
I thought Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift’s 1989 was a horrible machination of Swift fever run amuck. Yet who was I to criticize a record that had outsold all others and defined the sound of a generation? All of a sudden I had No Depression readers and hipsters who usually hate anything that’s popular giving me shit for my misguided notions about Ryan Adams’ brilliant homage to a musical goddess. Have I been vindicated now that Swift’s ex thinks she’s a messy bitch, and she got caught in a lie by a Kardashian?
Do you hate Taylor Swift? Well you better if you know what’s good for you, because she can’t deliver an artificial ideal of perfection, and because her failure makes us all feel better about ourselves.
I’ve been doing this shit since 2008, whether it was hip or not. Remember in 2010, when the collective world was wallowing in the ridicule of Taylor Swift after she screwed up her duet with Stevie Nicks on the Grammy Awards? Here was Saving Country Music’s response:
This is the vicious pop cycle, and sorry, but FUCK YOU, I won’t participate.
This is how it works: the mass public overly glorifies an otherwise average talent to make themselves feel “inspired,” and then when the fall starts for their starlet, it is meteoric, and fueled by the jealous, narcissistic hunger of the pop public, tearing that person down with all their spite, sinking their nails into their flesh and feeding like animals off their destruction to fill their vacuous egos. It is a sick, pathetic, and all too predictable cycle that I will not participate in.
And I won’t participate now.
So Taylor Swift is done, is she? You’re sure of that? There’s no return from getting bested by a Kardashian, and the entire sham of her marketing persona being made public? That’s your final answer?
That’s how we all felt in February of 2010. Eight months later she was releasing a record that she wrote all by herself, produced herself, and sold 4 ½ million copies on the way to winning two Grammy Awards for her song “Mean”—a song specifically targeted to her detractors post the 2010 Grammy debacle.
“But the cycle ends right now
‘Cause you can’t lead me down that road
And you don’t know, what you don’t know…”
The cycle did end, and no, we didn’t know. Then it was Red in 2012, and 1989 in 2014, and all of a sudden Taylor Swift was the biggest music star in 25 years and you even had Ryan Adams fans singing Taylor’s praises and defending her work, despite Taylor relinquishing more and more control of her music to others over this period. But it was popular to like Taylor again. Until it wasn’t.
It’s the Tiger Woods effect. Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neil, and any number of other high-profile athletes could be known for running around on their wives and be forgiven by the public because they have never set up a false image of perfection. But Tiger was supposed to be this vessel of virtue. Like Taylor. Like Tom Brady. And as soon as a scratch in the veneer shows us that lo and behold, they’re human, it’s hip to join the dogpile. It’s sport.
Perhaps Taylor Swift is a messy bitch. But show me a great artist who wasn’t?
So what exactly are we supposed to do now that Taylor cheesed off her ex-boyfriend and got caught in a semi-lie by Kim Kardashian? Do we regret 1989‘s Grammy for Album of the Year like Marisa Tomei’s Oscar? Are you really surprised that all of the staged Instagram photos were a facade? You really didn’t know this before? You think it’s any different for Ryan Adams or anyone else? Or is it really surprising to us that Taylor got angry for being called “that bitch” in a song, and had the image of her naked body splayed all over the internet in a video? Wouldn’t you get a little bit out of your skull in that instance?
Of course Taylor Swift is more marketing than man. And now that her music is an artifice of hired gun hitmakers like Shellback and Max Martin, she doesn’t even have that to fall back on like in 2010.
But counting Taylor Swift out? Not I.
Whether Swift is being couched as the biggest superstar in decades, or public enemy #1 on Twitter, she has always remained who she is: an average girl. That’s not a knock. It’s her average-ness that is at the heart of her appeal, and her genius is understanding this. She’s gorgeously average. It’s the vulnerability that she’s willing to expose through her songs that makes them connect with so many. Because we’re all flawed. Like Taylor. We just hate when she reminds us of that in the real world, so we take it out on her instead of ourselves.
Taylor Swift: *stays in her lane, lives her life, doesn’t say a word about anything*
Internet: This white bitch should use her fame to speak about issues.
Taylor Swift: *Speaks*
Internet: Why can’t she just shut the fuck up? Instead of talking about issues that doesn’t concern to her?
Taylor Swift: *donates money to a cause and doesn’t say a word about it*
People: But is she speaking about it? Money will not solve the problem.
Taylor Swift: *donates money to a cause and says something about it*
Internet: She’s trying to fix her image otherwise she would just donate the money without saying anything.
Taylor Swift is donating $1 million to Louisiana after torrential rains caused massive flooding in the state and killed at least 11 people.
Swift told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Louisiana residents “made us feel completely at home” when she and her touring crew kicked off the U.S. dates of her “1989 World Tour” in the state last year.
The flooding is some of the worst in Louisiana history, damaging at least 40,000 homes. More than 60,000 people have registered for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after widespread flooding hit the state.
Swift says it is “heartbreaking” to watch people be forced out of their homes. She’s encouraging people to “help out and send your love and prayers” to those suffering at this time.
I. Taylor Swift (Studio album): Country
1. Tim McGraw: Country
2. Teardrops on My Guitar: Country pop
3. Our Song: Country
4. Picture to Burn: Country rock
5. Should’ve Said No: Country, Pop rock
II. The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (EP):
Christmas, Country pop
III. Beautiful Eyes (EP): Country pop
IV. Fearless (Studio album): Country pop
1. Change: Pop rock
2. Love Story: Country pop
3. White Horse: Country
4. You Belong with Me: Country pop
5. Fifteen: Country pop
6. Fearless: Country pop
V. Speak Now (Studio album): Country pop,
Country, Pop rock
1. Mine: Power pop, Country pop
2. Back to December: Country, Country pop,
Orchestral pop
3. Mean: Country, Bluegrass
4. The Story of Us: Pop rock
5. Sparks Fly: Country pop, Pop rock
6. Ours: Country
VI. Red (Studio album): Pop, Country, Rock
1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back
Together: Bubblegum pop, Dance-pop
2. Begin Again: Country
3. I Knew You Were Trouble: Electropop,
Dubstep, Pop rock
4. 22: Pop
5. Red: Country
6. Everything Has Changed (ft. Ed Sheeran):
Folk pop
7. The Last Time (ft. Gary Lightbody of
Snow Patrol): Alternative rock, Folk rock
VII. 1989 (Studio album): Pop, Dance-pop,
Synthpop
1. Shake It Off: Dance-pop
2. Blank Space: Electropop
3. Style: Nu-disco, Funk-pop, Synthpop
4. Bad Blood: Pop
5. Wildest Dreams: Dream pop
6. Out of the Woods: Pop, Synthpop
7. New Romantics: Pop, New wave,
Synthpop
Other Songs:
1. Two Is Better Than One (by Boys Like
Girls ft. Taylor Swift): Pop rock, Soft rock
2. Today Was a Fairytale: Pop, Country pop
3. Half of My Heart (by John Mayer ft.
Taylor Swift): Pop rock
4. Safe & Sound (ft. The Civil Wars): Folk,
Alternative Country
5. Long Live (ft. Paula Fernandes): Country
rock
6. Eyes Open: Alternative rock
7. Both of Us (by B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift):
Alternative hip hop, Conscious hip hop,
Country rap
8. Ronan: Country, Soft rock
9. Highway Don’t Care (by Tim McGraw and
Taylor Swift): Country
10. Sweeter Than Fiction: Synthpop, New
wave
11. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (by Zayn and
Taylor Swift): Electro-R&B
She may be known for singing songs of romance and lost loves, but this musical sensation got her start performing the Star-Spangled Banner. Taylor Swift, the world’s top-earning celebrity, had some humble beginnings that turned into huge payoffs.
Swift raked in $170 million over the past year, earning her the top spot on the FORBES Celebrity 100 list, and has won ten Grammys throughout her career. Her colossal payday comes from her ‘1989’ world tour, but her work with brands like Apple, Keds and Diet Coke gave her an added bonus.
And her career is just 10 years old. Swift moved from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania to Nashville when she was 14 to pursue her dream of singing country music. She released her first album in 2006, when she was 16.
The album, ‘Taylor Swift,’ went platinum in 2011 and kicked started a series of successful platinum records, including ‘Fearless,’ ‘Speak Now,’ ‘Red’ and most recently, her first pop album ‘1989.’
Swift won the Grammy for Album of the Year for ‘1989,’ making her the youngest recipient of the award and the only woman to win it twice (she also won for ‘Fearless’). The record sold more than 9 million copies worldwide and was in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for an entire year.
While her success may seem effortless, it hasn’t come without controversy and drama. The on-going feud between Swift, musician Kanye West and now his wife Kim Kardashian West continues to dominate headlines. As does the media’s fascination with who Swift may or may not be dating.
But that noise does not slow or stop her. In fact, with songwriting credits on Calvin Harris’ hit “This is What You Came For,” and her long list of accomplishments, it appears she may just be getting started.
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“But that noise does not slow or stop her.”
I took a look at this article after I had seen so many opinions about it and wanted to give my 2 cents on it.
This was well thought out, and I think it’s nice to see someone outside of the Taylor fandom, or new to it, try to understand and not automatically buy into the negative narrative. Another things with that journalist, she is friends with a group of people who hate Taylor.
AUSTRALIAN singer Emmi had been couch-surfing around the world, writing tunes for other artists when one of her own recordings caught the ear of that influential hit-maker Taylor Swift.
After Swift included Emmi’s song Sleep On It on her New Songs That Will Make Your Life More Awesome playlist last year, it changed the London-based artist’s life.
The dancer, actor and singer suddenly found her song on everyone else’s playlists after Swift’s post which also spruiked tunes from other up-and-comers including Alessia Cara, Kehlani and Phoebe Ryan.
“My music, including my first single My Kinda Swag, seemed to really resonate with the US and I was getting featured on playlists,” Emmi said.
“Sleep On It ended up on this one called It Hurts Sometimes My Broken Heart, right next to an Adele track.
“When Taylor included it, I landed on so many other playlists, people who probably would not have given me the time of day before now knew who I was — even though she spelt my name wrong, which I loved. I wondered if I should change it to her spelling.”
Vera Blue is No. 2 on the charts thanks to collaborating with rapper Illy while her own tunes attract more than one million listeners a month. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Vera Blue is No. 2 on the charts thanks to collaborating with rapper Illy while her own tunes attract more than one million listeners a month. Picture: Tim Hunter.Source:News Corp Australia
Emmi’s fractured pop song scored more than one million likes on Instagram and landed in the top 10 of Spotify’s viral charts.
Music fans are increasingly turning to playlists to discover their next favourite artist and consequently influencing the charts and record label signings.
Spotify are vigorously lobbied by the major labels to feature their wares on the platform’s most popular playlists which include Just Chill and Indie Mix Tape, are heavy with local artists and have tens of thousands of followers.
The “editors” of their genre and mood playlists proactively promote the new tunes of independent and unsigned artists, often contacting the bands or their management to submit their track for streaming on the site.
Spotify can manipulate the attention of music fans by moving a track that is getting noticed up the order of the playlist.
And they will demote a track or move it to a different playlist if it gets too many skips.
Spotify’s Music Editor Alicia Sbrugnera said they listen to at least a 30-second snippet on every new song released each week to choose which tracks to feature to their audience.
She then helps promote the more popular tracks to international editors who are on the hunt for buzzworthy music from Australia and New Zealand thanks to the phenomenal successes of Lorde, Tame Impala, Sia and Vance Joy, another artist who benefited from a Taylor Swift shoutout.
Melbourne electronic pop duo Kllo booked shows in Europe and US after going viral on Spotify.
Melbourne electronic pop duo Kllo booked shows in Europe and US after going viral on Spotify. Picture: Supplied.Source:Supplied
“The international editors think Australia and New Zealand have the most exciting music coming out because they regard us as having one of the healthiest scenes in the world right now and they get incredibly vibed by the new tracks,” she said.
The biggest consumers of new music tend to be in the 18 to 24 years demographic, fans who also seek out fresh tunes via SoundCloud, Triple J’s Unearthed, Apple Music, Bandcamp and Youtube.
“They are the ones who tend to hunt out the most new music and save it to their own playlists,” Sbrugnera said.
Other local artists who have scored playlist-assisted boosts to their fan bases included Melbourne electro-pop duo Kllo, indie pop sensation Vera Blue and blue-eyed soul teen Joel Adams.
Kllo has had more than 10 million streams, most of them from America, with their latest single Bolide scoring 3.5 million listens in just over a month. Their online success has helped them to book tours in Europe and the US.
Vera Blue now has more than one million active listeners since the songs from her Fingertips EP migrated to Spotify playlists in UK, Germany, Canada and the US.
Teen singer songwriter Joel Adams has had more than 92 streams for his song Please Don’t Go. Picture Rohan Kelly.
Teen singer songwriter Joel Adams has had more than 92 streams for his song Please Don’t Go. Picture Rohan Kelly.Source:News Corp Australia
And Joel Adams found global buzz when a British editor picked his track Please Don’t Go for a pop playlist. It has now reached a phenomenal 92 million streams.
Meanwhile Emmi is landing on the radar of British tastemakers courtesy of her singles, My Kinda Swag, Sleep On It and the upcoming You Said You Loved Me, as well her collaboration with French DJ Feder on the track Blind, which has had more than 20 million streams.
“I like to tell stories and music is my biggest passion but being a dancer, I can choreograph my own videos with ideas that are quite thespian because of my acting background,” Emmi said.
“I’ve probably written thousands of songs by now but I feel I am yet to write my masterpiece and I hope I will always feel like that.”
And she remains forever grateful to Swift for including her on that viral playlist.
Anonymous asked:
analyzingtaylor answered:
She’s the most successful, most hyped person in entertainment……that makes one a cultural reference. It could be independent of sexism. That’s the kind of lyric you would have had about Michael Jackson or Madonna or George Michael at other points in time.
If I were a songwriter and was surrounded by a media and fan culture where Taylor Swift is getting all the attention and the headlines, I might write about her too, but not to get attention, solely because it’s what is on my mind as a creative person observing from the inside of a culture.
“Shake it Off” singer says opinions of expert tapped by David Mueller “are not based on facts, and his analysis contains multiple fundamental errors”
Tim Kenneally | May 15, 2017 @ 1:36 PM
Taylor Swift and the DJ she accused of grabbing her bare rear end during a concert meet-and-greet are butting heads over the expert witnesses who can testify in the case.
Last week, both the “Shake It Off” singer and DJ David Mueller filed papers seeking to exclude expert witnesses for each other’s sides.
Swift’s legal team is seeking to exclude Mueller’s expert witness, economist Jeffrey B. Opp, from testifying about Mueller’s financial claims in his lawsuit against the singer. In court papers filed in federal court in Colorado on May 11, Swift’s team contends that Opp “lacks qualifications as an expert witness, his opinions are not based on facts, and his analysis contains multiple fundamental errors. He is simply not qualified to offer opinions about Mueller’s prospects for future employment as an on-air personality or his ‘value’ as an on-air radio personality.”
Among the alleged errors in Opp’s report, according to the court papers: “Mr. Opp assumed that Mueller would have worked for KYGO for ten to fifteen years, based on Plaintiff’s representations that he hoped to work that long, despite Plaintiff’s contract containing a two-year contract term (and checkered employment history). Based on that hope, in addition to two other random data points, Mr. Opp calculated four different possible ‘total losses’ amounts. Mr. Opp does not identify which of his possibilities is ‘correct,’ instead, he presents numerous options for a fact finder to decide between.”
Swift’s legal team also contends that Opp has freely admitted that he “has ‘absolutely’ no expertise in the radio industry and is not a vocational expert on the radio industry.”
Meanwhile, Mueller’s legal team also filed legal papers on Thursday seeking to exclude testimony from an expert witness tapped by Swift’s side.
In his own papers, Mueller seeks to block Lorraine Bayard de Volo “who has a PhD in political science and is a professor of women and gender studies.”
Mueller’s side argues that Bayard de Volo has no experience as an expert witness, and has no apparent in psychology, but nonetheless “intends to opine that Mr. Mueller had the profile of a person likely to sexually assault women.”
Mueller’s filing quotes Bayard de Volo’s report as stating, “Throughout David Mueller’s pleadings in this lawsuit and his deposition testimony, he indicated that even before he met Ms.Swift, he felt his job security was threatened, his identity as a radio personality was threatened, and his masculinity was threatened. This perfect storm of threats to Mr. Mueller’s perceived status is consistent with the well-settled, academically accepted, perceived threats to status that motivate a man to commit sexual harassment or assault.”
“Those opinions are not based on sufficient facts or data, are not otherwise credible or reliable, and are not admissible,” Mueller’s legal papers read, adding, “Ms. Bayard de Volo’s opinion that men who are worried about their jobs or receive threats to their masculinity are likely to commit sexual harassment or assault will not assist the trier of fact. There are millions of men who worry about their jobs or receive threats to their masculinity every day and who never sexually harass or assault women.”
Mueller sued Swift after being fired for allegedly “grabbing Ms. Swift’s bottom” at a meet-and-greet at Denver’s Pepsi Center in June 2013. The radio personality, who goes by the professional name “Jackson,” has adamantly denied the accusation.
Swift subsequently filed a countersuit against Mueller in October 2015.
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