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To Taylor, Love Reality

Gennyvera Pacheco |
June 23, 2015 | 3:44 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Swift enjoying the success of her 1989 tour (via WikiCommons).
Swift enjoying the success of her 1989 tour (via WikiCommons).
Hey Taylor, how’s it going?

Looks like you have your hands full with the practically guaranteed success of a world tour. And of course, who can ignore your Tumblr plea to Apple? Even the title of the article struggles to forget.

I have been keeping up with a slew of articles, and I so want to back you up on this issue. See, I jumped on the T-Swift bandwagon upon hearing “Shake It Off.” Prior to that, I was much more passive in my acknowledgement of you. I would sing along to your arguably overplayed songs on the radio and even improvise some wacky choreography to go along with them. 

But it was the carefree nature of “Shake It Off”-- the empowerment of knowing what you’re about and shrugging away all outside judgment. Bravo. That message coming from a public figure, specifically a young woman, along the positive impact it could bring to others, amazed me. I went out and bought my own physical copy of "1989" after hearing rave reviews about it online. 

Then the Spotify vs. Taylor debacle happened, and I took issue with this statement you wrote, in particular:

“Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”

“Valuable things should be paid for.” Really? Okay fine. It seemed like a fair argument coming from someone who works hard and makes their living off of their music, their “art.” I decided to shake it off. Pun fully intended.

READ MORE: We Can't All Be Taylor Swift: Why The Industry Still Needs Music Streaming

A few months later, during my daily visit to BuzzFeed, I find this article on the front page. (Please note: this is also after a merry Swiftmas season, where you personally picked out, wrapped, and sent gifts to a number of your fans.) Perhaps it was not those very fans who you made very happy during the holidays that were now receiving cease-and-desist letters from your legal team. 

But the deeper meaning, Taylor! What about the artistry of it all?! Your fans selling merchandise on Etsy with your lyrics emblazoned all over them was inspired by you, as you must have been inspired by other artists as well. In terms of monetary figures, the Etsy seller in the article was barely making a profit. Where’s the value of their work and their art? 

Or is it only relevant when it’s affecting your wallet?

After you voiced your distaste of Spotify’s business model, CEO Daniel Ek wrote a blog post in response to your critique. I’d like to echo his commentary on the current state of the music industry: it’s changing. Apps like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music are trying to understand it and find a way to provide music legally while still being profitable and giving you your rightful dues. The world is not working against you or the smaller indie artists you mentioned in your Apple post, but rather for you.

“Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing,” you remarked. I agree. Indeed, that would be an entire quarter of the year where you or any other artists would not be compensated for streaming. However, looking at it within the context of this past year and this "1989" era makes it difficult for me not to be even the slightest bit disheartened and wonder how transparent your intentions are.

READ MORE: Apple Music And What It Means For The Industry 

Sharing my opinion like this does hold a significant amount of naiveté. I am not fully considering the elephant in the room called copyright when discussing the Etsy problem, nor am I absolutely grasping the economic model of a streaming service. In truth, this argument of mine is mostly funded by optimism and hope that the bitter taste left in my mouth from this will go away.

With a well-established record label and a tour going on, now is the chance to practice what you preach and shed some light on lesser-known artists. Why not get a different local musician to open for each of your shows? Why not get some new artists signed onto Big Machine Records? Yes, you have your own things going on at the moment, but these are things to consider in the near future. 

As a fan, all of this news just feels wrong to me. It was refreshing to see an artist acknowledging the crazy things fans do and showing appreciation for their constant support. Doesn’t that have value, too? Do your fans who cannot pay for a monthly subscription or an album not carry any weight in this?

The valuation of monetary compensation feels cold, and it indirectly devalues the ever-changing structure of the industry, as well as the effort and dedication from fans with and without the resources to purchase an album. I hope you or anyone reading this will consider this stance. 

-Gennyvera

Reach Staff Reporter Gennyvera Pacheco here.



 

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