#taylor swift did what she did because someone sold her masters

[eversgreens]

when i say record labels don’t gaf about artists i mean that

[roo-bastmoon]

The Great Radio Debate: Roo's (limited) Understanding of this Issue UPDATED

Disclaimer: Sensitive topics are discussed below the cut; please do not incite drama, speak hate, or engage in bullying. This is a collection of my thoughts about what is currently happening with regard to Jungkook's single SEVEN and the implications it could mean for Jikook and ARMY. If you click below this cut, you are assuming responsibility for your own behavior and agreeing to engage with my blog and others respectfully, or you will be blocked.

We now by know that Jimin's music was not promoted to radio. We know this because when we went to request it from various major radio stations, it was not an option in the drop-downs; we had to manually type it in. Being "sent / promoted / serviced to radio" means a compressed file is sent from the company to radio stations so DJs can play high-def spins that are universally compatible with their station's set up.

None of Jimin's songs for Face were serviced:

The airplay audience was the lowest for any song this decade:

The controversy around Jungkook's SEVEN began last week when one DJ tweeted the following:

As we now know, "serviced to radio" means they sent a compressed file (which they SHOULD have done for Like Crazy English Version, but didn't). They did service to radio for Butter and Dynamite and it was a huge help. Even Yet to Come was serviced, so it cracked Top 50 on the charts, but none of Face's songs were sent, which makes zero business sense any achievement on that chart amazing.

Because even when serviced, it doesn't guarantee spins... "Add" means they hope radio stations will add the song to rotation:

But then the DJ had to go and say this:

So they have already sent SEVEN to the radios, hoping for spins. And now one person is publicly saying the song absolutely will get spins immediately. This heavily implies payola, because why else would a song without demand or requests immediately spin multiple times on everyone's shows the second it was released?

I feel (I, Roo Bastmoon, personally think and feel) Seven is being pushed this way for two reasons:

Billboard's recent changes around what kind of sales (physical, digital, bundled) will counts on the charts puts songs without radio play at an extreme, nigh-insurmountable disadvantage; even with excellent streams (which are heavily culled and filtered), it will be hard to break into the top 50.

Additionally, Taylor Swift's Speak Now re-release has dropped this week and will be gunning for the charts next week when Jungkook debuts, and that is a personal problem for Scooter Braun.

For those not familiar (as I surely wasn't; I live under a rock), Taylor Swift felt compelled to leave her old management company back in 2018. To do so, she had to abandon the rights to any original music she made with them. They kept her masters and sold them off to Scooter Braun.

Each time someone wanted to play one of her original songs, they had to ask his permission and pony up money for a license fee. Scooter Braun also managed Kanye, and I'm sure everyone knows the Beyoncé is the Greatest of All Time award show fiasco that led to some bad blood between those two artists, so it added insult to injury for Taylor.

Taylor has now re-recorded everything and released Speak Now: Taylor's Version. Of COURSE her fans are motivated to support her and get every single song they can into the highest position on the Hot 100 for as long as possible... and frankly, I am not a Swiftie but I can't blame them because if someone did that to BTS, I'd make it my life's mission to chart them as a big Fuck You, too.

But it does put a lot of pressure on Jungkook's single, because now it's very likely been weaponized in a personal dick-measuring contest where Scooter is concerned. Not sure if I mentioned it but I truly hate that man so I'm not sure I can be impartial when talking about him but I will try.

So Jungkook's single has been set up so far with pre-orders on iTunes and compressed files to radio, which is a first for any member's solo work. He also has a debut stage on Good Morning America, which has a huge range beyond k-pop.

So far, none of this is foul play. It is a company doing its best to represent and set up the best conditions for its artist under changed circumstances. You can make a case for favoritism, clearly, but at the end of the day, companies are about making profits and sometimes they grossly underestimate what has potential and what the market wants.

The issues fans are facing now around Seven lie in:

1) the neglect around Jimin's Like Crazy English Version, which is still so stable that it could be smashing charts if only it would get radio play so this just seems to make zero business sense and be more of a slight than anything else, so Jikookers are left wondering what that means for the relationship and,

2) the fear that Hybe America under Scooter Braun has abandoned BTS' founding values and taken the easy way out by paying to play on radio, which would severely damage credibility that BTS worked so hard to build as an organic, fan-driven success.

I think we'll have to wait to see how many sales, streams, and spins Jungkook gets to figure out if payola was likely. Maybe that one DJ was tweeting his own assumptions like they were facts. Or maybe Hybe has now decided to do payola. If that is so... not gonna lie, I will be extremely disappointed. I will need to take a break and figure out what this means for me as a fan.

The next question is how much did Jungkook know about all this? There seems to be two camps of thought here: one says the boys are involved in every step of the way and choose everything that happened around their releases.

(I know Jimin is very humble but I HIGHLY doubt he ever said to his company "Please rush my release in between other releases so I get physically sick trying to keep up with it; please never restock my physicals in WeVerse and don't send a file for the English song I studied for to US radios; and please also never post about my world record nor celebrate my albums' success in any way; yes, I worked 10+ months on this very personal opus but I absolutely don't want any of that." I very, very much doubt the ways Face was handled after Hot 100 #1 was Jimin's choice. This also makes me doubt if all the ways Seven will be handled will be Jungkook's choice.)

The second camp of thought is that the artists have absolutely no say in the marketing and promotion styles of their work, and that they are kept out of sales matters altogether. And here's the limit of my understanding, because I've not seen or read much on Hybe / BigHit's strategic plans around distribution for either BTS' group or solo works.

(Side Note: I have seen them set up TXT for a Billboard Top Ten, only for their collab to come in at #135, which shows a gross misunderstanding of their market right now--as well as disregard for their artists' feelings and reputations. My heart goes out to those boys; they worked hard.)

But drawing on my own experience decades ago when I used to work in entertainment out in LA, I can tell you, even as Chief Editor, plenty of my media content was changed without anyone informing me--back-cover blurbs, cover designs, release dates, shelf talkers, pop ups, print runs, print houses, store placements, advertising, interview articles--at some point in my former career, all of those things got changed around and I found out after the fact, on my own projects. Which pissed me off but I'd signed NDAs and couldn't do a single thing about it. And the authors / creators didn't know until *I* had the hard job of informing them. And they couldn't do anything about it because they were under contract.

So I think the level of members' involvement in solo works is somewhere in between. I think as artists and performers, BTS members can have a great deal of say in their look, styles, lyrics, choreo, merch, and venues. But not total say. Definitely not deciding-factor say.

I think the company can make them water down their lyrics, change up the choreo, and flat-out tell them no when it comes to music videos, performance venues, pretty much anything budget-related. They don't even have to explain why; it's their budget and their bottom-line. (In the old days, it seems like the members could freely express opinions around the works and even challenge management when it came to creative content. Maybe that is still true.)

As far as Jungkook's involvement in Seven's style, we have a stylist going on record about how some of the options were their ideas and that Jungkook had a lot of input on the look and feel, so it was a mixture:

For this reason alone, the fact that things like mud were added to clean pants or spikes to a jacket after Jungkook had input makes me truly feel this was his way of honoring Jimin and Face. It just seems like something our Jungkook would do--he may not always say it, but he's always watching Jimin-ssi.

As for sales and marketing strategies? The boys may never get looped in. Or they may be told the plans, but not invited to give input. Or they may sit down and plan it all out to the last detail with each department. I genuinely don't know. And because I don't know, I will not be assuming the worst of Jungkook or any member until I have all the facts. That is anti behavior, in my mind, and I just cannot stomach it. I can never bring myself to believe the worst of anyone until they fully and consistently show me that's who they are.

We've spent ten years with these guys. They are flawed human beings, yes, but not cheats, not assholes. I think they omit plenty of details but I don't think they straight-up lie to us. I don't think Jungkook would ever look his staff and executives in the eye and say "Yes, I want you to illegally pay money under the table so this single will top the charts." Jungkook is competitive, but also a stickler for fair play. You spend any amount of time watching Run, and the only time he "cheats" is when he wants to be with Jimin (lol) and he's pretty endearingly obvious about it; guy has almost no game face.

Okay but joking aside, I'm honestly very worried for JK. It sort of feels like he's being set up. Many questions have arisen over the stylistic choices for Seven. There's the fan frenzy around having a hot female protagonist in his video. And now the question about how much radio play Seven will get, and why. That's a lot of controversy to hang on a young man's shoulders. Especially in light of the recent book that's come out, in which it's clear now that the company and the artists are aware of hate-trending hashtags in English. GOD THAT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

To me, it feels (it feels--as in, my gut is telling me this; I have no receipts) like the company is using JK to experiment with a different way of doing business--a way that may stray from their founding values.

And there's so much potential for this to blow up in JK's face. There are solos who will insist he's stealing Jimin's style. Antis who will insist he's cheated on the charts. Insecure shippers who will lose their minds if anything flirty goes down with Han So-hee on screen. K-poppies, Swifties, and local racists all insisting on undermining his creativity, talent, and character because they fear the competition.

This release on Friday has the potential to be a blood bath. And I just don't trust the company to have his back and take ownership of their part in this, if so. From everything I've seen about Jungkook, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

My biggest question mark is how Jimin will respond to all of this. If he comes on live one day and says in a flat tone something like: "I was really surprised to see how similar Jungkookie's concept was to my own." or "How interesting that Seven got sent to radio--good for him, good for him. I wonder how that happens?" Then I'll take that to mean Jimin wasn't looped in on JK's plans and he doesn't feel great about it; that won't sit well with me.

Then again, if Jimin raves about Seven and plays it on live or joins JK in New York and mentions how flattered he was that they share the same style, how they click, how proud he is of JK's hard work and asks please ARMY give it a lot of love? Then I'll infer he was definitely looped in, this is a homage, and JK's actions were always above board. I will assume that because I will never doubt Jimin's integrity. If Jimin approves, I will approve. Jimin has earned my complete trust.

So this week is a very tense one (for me at least). But it does provide quite the distraction from the stress tests and specialist consults I have lined up, I'll give you that. Never a dull moment. (I am so ready for this fandom to have some dull moments.)

In the end, I'm going to chose to believe in the very best of our members until there's solid evidence to think otherwise. As of now? I think the only dirty cheater in the mix is the music industry at large. I know the entertainment world is corrupt, but Jesus, they are so blatant about it all.

Anyway, we may not get radio data for several days or weeks after the initial drop date, so I'm prepared to hang in there for a good bit. And if there is evidence of payola and JK knew about it... I'm gonna need time to process that and figure out where I go from there, as a Jikooker, as an ARMY. I will honestly be shocked.

One thing you'll never see me do is spout hatred for human beings. I will likely rant about the company. And there are plenty of people Scooter Braun that I viscerally dislike. But I'm making a commitment now not to spread dehumanizing hate speech on the timeline.

That's not what BTS or Jimin would ever want. That's not what I want for myself, especially if my days in this life are limited. I don't need that kind of toxicity or karma.

Am I furious about all the crap that's gone down for Jimin (and other members too, to a lesser degree)? You bet your buttons, as my Nana used to say. I could rage and froth all day about it.

But I also remember who came online over and over to say Jimin's name, play Jimin's songs, mimic Jimin's interviews, giggle at Jimin's video clips, and invite Jimin into his life.

And based on moved lamps and dog scratches and Jimin bulking up, it's likely Jimin has accepted those invitations.

Whenever we do get to glimpse Jimin with Jungkook, he seems as endeared and besotted as he always has.

I trust Jimin to know if someone did him dirty, and to act accordingly. I do not believe any aspect of the Jikook relationship is performance.

For those reasons, I'm gonna be withholding judgement until all info around Seven comes in.

I hope you will too, but I understand if you feel differently and I'm not on this Earth to judge other people's viewpoints or experiences. I just ask that if you want to be friends with me here, you try to be civil in your words and actions, even in the sway of big feelings. Every person behind the screen is a work in progress; we are all fighting invisible battles; there are many sides to each story.

All any of us can do is our best with what we are given. Let's wait and see what Jungkook (and Jimin, and the company) give us.

If you made it this far through my ramblings, kudos! I welcome ideas, so feel free to comment--but just remember, rudeness will be removed. There's no space for meanness on my blog.

Love and deep respect to you all,

Roo

UPDATED:

So, it would seem the DJ who is hyping JK's Seven is also open to playing Like Crazy. This would imply it's been sent to some radio because before I remember he tweeted that he needed the compressed file in order to play it on his station (I am sorry I didn't save that link but he was talking about Hobi and Jimin if I recall, back at the time!).

UPDATE 2:

The radio stations that took requests (including the one mentioned above) back at that time were playing the music video version available to the public, not a compressed file sent by the company:

And when I check on this linktree of top radio stations in the US, Like Crazy does not come up as any option in rotation. I have to manually request still, after four months of being stable on the charts.

So if Jungkook gets immediate spins and requests immediately come up in rotation... is that because radio stations really love Jungkook? Or is this a company "networking" deal? (And in any case, would JK be involved in that aspect?) Everything still remains to be seen. Let's be patient and try our best not to assume the worst.

Many thanks for JMDBJK for mentioning in the comments the likelihood that a title track would be sent out, which prompted me to go look soon as I could get to my computer. I really do value anyone willing to take the time to help me learn more info about this industry!

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Swift definitely had a chance to buy her masters just not for the price she wanted. At first she said she didn't know about selling and was caught off guard with this information, but former owner of the label said she did get message about it prior to selling happening, plus her father is/was share holder in that company, so he had to be informed about it. So we already know she's not saying the truth. Most likely she wanted to buy just her masters, but Borchetta did tied deal of label+masters, for which he cannot be really blamed, it makes sense for him to sell it like that, because it gives him better options and price.

Also artists not owning their masters, not being able to buy their masters, someone else buying their masters for profit - those are literally industry standards. For example in the 80s Michael Jackson bought ATV label with entire The Beatles' catalogue actually thanks to McCartney's advice. He bought it for $47.5 million, sold half in the 90s for $95 million and after his death the other half was sold for $750 million. Since buying this deal was basically funding his very expensive lifestyle. Right now just the catalogue of The Beatles is estimated to be worth about $1 billion. It's just business. By buying Big Machine with Swift's masters Scott Brown didn't do anything special or nefarious as Swift tried to portay this. He was just making a deal and soon after sold it again for profit, just that.

Swift felt slighted for not getting what she wanted the way she wanted and figured out that from capitalistic point of view it is a good situation to once again pull out victim card and weaponize her cult fanbase against her "opponents" and against itself's wallets as well, since she knows they're gonna buy anything and everything from her even without playing victim. Lies and greed, pure capitalism.

Yep. 100% agree- especially with that last part. She wants so bad to have the world view her as an innocent victim of circumstances.

It makes no fucking sense. Frankly, she's not stupid, even though I don't believe her to be a creative genius, I admit she is a smart businesswoman. (not an ethical one- though).

I just don't understand how she fools the whole world into thinking she didn't know the deal was going down, and that she was never approached with an offer to buy her own catalouge.

First of all, of course they would approach her- the business world is about money, and anyone doing business with Swift knows she has a lot of money. So, how is it logical to assume they didn't even offer her a chance to purchase the music?

She clearly ran with the narrative that they somehow cheated her out of her own rightful property, because it's the point of view that enables her to rally the fan based against the mean corporate overlords. She carefully crafted it all to look like a personal attack on her, and her music, by playing the "Im just a girl who didn't know any better and got overlooked by the sleazy businessman" card. She knows this will land on people's heartstrings because- lots of people do get screwed over by businessmen. However, those people are not Taylor Swift who has decades of experience- a world-renowned reputation, and God knows how many people working for her. She has all the power she could ever want- and yet wants to make herself look powerless.

It begs the question, why? She requires the image of powerlessness in order to ratify her fanbase into trying to protect her.

Truly- you said it- She wants to make it look like Scott was doing something nefarious, when, in fact, he was just doing his job. Music Industry professionals engaging in multi-million-dollar business deals over some of the most popular music in the world? Color me shocked and appalled.

It's so disingenuous of her to paint the situation like this especially when considering her own economic and social power against that of the other players in this drama.

Now we have to deal with her re-records, which, honestly, some of those "from the vault" tracks should have stayed in the vault.

[notoriousbeb]

The My Tears Ricochet Deep Dive

While this song obviously has a clear reference to Taylor’s masters being sold to Scooter Braun in November 2019, I don’t think that’s the full story being told here.

When she released Folklore, Taylor shared via Instagram that “My Tears Ricochet” is about an “embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession.”

Now, why is she fallen? Because her work has been taken from her. Okay, one question answered. ✅

Now, who is the “embittered tormentor obsessed” with Taylor? Scooter Braun, of course…But see, I actually don’t think it’s that simple. I get why that’s the obvious first choice, though.

(Back story for new kids who don’t know why Scoots is trash: In July 2016, Taylor was outcast and called a snake due to a leaked phone call by Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West. Scooter was Kanye’s manager. Then Kanye put out the video of the song in question from the call—featuring a naked Taylor lookalike. Then Justin Bieber posted that video to Instagram with a photo showing him on a video call with Scooter and Kanye. The caption said, “Taylor Swift what up.” So, they’re all three supreme douche-canoes of the highest order).

However, I think Scooter’s top priority (as always) in buying Taylor’s masters was simply to make money. And if he pissed her off while doing so, that was probably a delightful bonus. But I wouldn’t say he bought her masters because he was obsessed with her. This deal was nearly three years later, and nothing had popped off between the camps in the interim.

I have more on this tormentor/obsessor/muse, concept; but first, back to Folklore. Upon its release, Taylor also revealed in a YouTube livechat that it was the first song she wrote for the album. And that leads me into a bit of timing discussion.

I think Folklore was the result of a few seismic events in Taylor’s life: a run-in with Harry at Ed’s wedding in December 2018 (which I think helped to spawn his second solo album, Fine Line); followed by talking to him during early quarantine in March 2020 in Los Angeles when the Lover tour got postponed and then cancelled; the pandemic itself pushing her, like many of us, into some serious introspection; and, of course, the sale of her masters to Scooter in 2019.

Since this is the very first song Taylor wrote that ended up on Folklore, my speculation is that perhaps it was penned in those first couple of days of the pandemic, before she reconnected with Harry in LA.

Fine Line would have been newly released—just three months prior—and on her birthday no less.

Which leads me back to the tormentor and obsessor. You know what I might find tormenting, if I were Taylor? If I’d been waiting for this one guy to grow the fuck up for years and then (perhaps after we ran into each other at our good friends’ wedding?), he confessed to me that he still wanted me but, even at 25, he still didn’t have his shit together (please see, “Renegade,” “To Be So Lonely,” and “Peter”).

Then, after I piece myself back together following snake gate, some epic twat who bullied me online back then buys my work out from under me from the guy I thought I had a good working relationship with (Scott Borchetta) and while I’m dealing with that bullshit my ex I’m still pining for releases album on my birthday with songs seemingly about us and how he still wants me.

Yeah, that’d have me plenty tormented. And feeling like, since his first album was also quite “a tip of the cap” to me (his words) as well that, yeah, someone was a little obsessed with me.

So, anyway, the lyrics:

We gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room And if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes, too

We open at the funeral Taylor told us about. Then referencing a potential cremation. If she’s burning, so is he. Because they’re twin flames? Because they’re so close?

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you ‘Til my dying day

Does this sound like someone talking to either a bully or a former business associate? To me it sounds like a very messy, very difficult, former lover.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

I can see how people could think this was about Scott, but not Scooter. But T herself said this whole thing was about one muse: The embittered obsessor attending her funeral.

Anyway, my take: it’s a lover she couldn’t let go of easily, so it ended messy.

And now he’s out promoting an album full of songs about them, pretending it’s not, because he’s a gentleman. But while he’s acting like she’s nothing to him, they both know what he said to her in private, and what those songs are really about, and no matter how much she cries and waits and wants him to grow up and come get her he just can’t — or won’t.

We gather stones, never knowing what they'll means Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring

This is a Biblical allusion to Ecclesiastes 3:5: “A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.” I think she’s referring here to an idea revisited again in “loml,” that she thought she’d be safer and maybe get the life she wanted with someone more stable, versus being in a relationship that left her starry eyed, like she was with Harry…and that’s how she wound up with Joe for six years.

You know I didn't want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene

Ah, would it really be a Haylor lyric breakdown if we weren’t talking about ghosts and haunting at some point? 👻 They obviously haunt one another because they can’t shut up about each other. (Not that I’m complaining!)

Two Ghosts: “We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty.” ....Ready for it?: “Wonder how many girls he loved and left haunted.” Cardigan: “I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs.”

You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me

Even while doing the press for Fine Line, H was wearing her ring. Should we talk some more about the Haylor ring? Or burying and graves? Nah. I think these posts sum it up very well.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

I think these lines could be a reference both to things he’s said to her and in his songs about her, particularly the pointed ones. “Lights Up,” for one, which to me, reads like an argumentative back-and-forth about why must things change in a relationship against the backdrop of fame. It also seems to include a tie to “Peter” with “I’m never coming back down,” as compared to “I didn’t want to come down.”

And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones

And where is home in this case—and so many others? Each other.

And I still talk to you When I'm screaming at the sky And when you can't sleep at night You hear my stolen lullabies

I imagine this is her picturing him listening to her old albums, as she hadn’t done her rerecords yet. Also, again, doesn’t this all seem a bit…intimate and dramatic for a business relationship? Like, picture this moment in the Eras Tour in your mind, please, and tell me with a straight face that you’d sing like this for your former boss. It certainly doesn’t seem like anything you’d say to someone like Scooter. Why would she ever want to talk to him at all?

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same Cursing my name, wishing I stayed You turned into your worst fears And you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years And you're cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

So, this is where we get into the “embittered” part of Taylor’s original description of the song’s muse—the person visiting her funeral. Why is he bitter? Because he lost her. She didn’t stay. Perhaps because his own bad behavior pushed her away. “All the light couldn’t put out the dark running through my heart?” “I know you were way too bright for me. I’m hopeless, broken.” Also, and again, please see, “Renegade,” and “To Be So Lonely,” and “Peter” and also “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.”

[stuckinapatriarchalbullshitland]

The Sacrificed Lion 🦁//ft. Kaylor

Disclaimer: I'm not openly a Kaylor shipper, but I followed Taylor and Karlie's relationship story for a while so even though I'm not that familiar with the actual history of the girls, this post is purely for recreation purposes

I'm going to start by saying that I don't think this "theory" in my head is something new, because I'm sure that the Kaylor shippers of a lifetime already know about this or at least they have speculated about it.

And it's a theory about the breakup of the Kaylor relationship.

The official story tells that there was a specific reason why Kaylor broke off their relationship. For a betrayal

A betrayal of Karlie towards Taylor where it is said that Karlie leaked information that helped Scooter Braun sell BMR and incidentally also Taylor's entire catalog, from her self-titled album to Reputation. Six eras that SB managed to have thanks to her affiliation with Karlie's "husband" Joshua K and obviously Karlie herself.

With this, Karlie Kloss became the number one enemy of Taylor and therefore also of the Swifties. Which obviously makes all the sense in the world, but…

What if that was what Taylor needed to do to get to where she is right now? Not for nothing Taylor is a Mastermind. A mastermind in the music industry.

Business, folks.

I'm going back in time. To the Reputation era or, dare I say, before that. When Taylor got caught up in her drama with Kanye and where she ended up branded as a snake. I know it could have been much earlier, but I don't have exact dates because I wasn't in any music fandom at the time. I was an ordinary woman who believed every narrative the industry sold, including the one about Taylor being the villain in the story. Time where the hate towards Taylor was frightening, especially influenced by all her public relations.

What happened to Taylor after her debacle with Kanye?

She appropriated the symbol of the viper and made it her own.

What happened to Taylor after her debacle with Scooter B and the sale of her music catalogue?

I think you already know where this post is going.

Taylor's drama with SB left Taylor Swift as the winner. She made re-recordings of her music catalog a hit and in my wild theory I think Karlie was actually an ally of Taylor, not an enemy. But to achieve that purpose someone would have to sacrifice. The lion had to be sacrificed to the beasts.

What did the lion do?

She MARRIED one of the beasts.

Karlie was there, folks. On the enemy side. She was always there, doing her business with the beasts, but she did it for the greater good. It has always been said that to survive in the industry you have to learn to swim with sharks and Taylor Swift gives a lecture on that because we have already seen it. There's a reason why she also seems like someone powerful in the industry.

I've been around these music fandoms long enough to understand that most (if not all) artists are governed by long- or short-term narratives and plans that always end in a new album, concert, debut, music.

Of course, not all narratives have that goal, but most do. Shake up the hornet's nest a bit, create controversy for the fans to talk about because it all gets so boring.

An artist has more than one face, one facet. An artist is what he/she is in front of the public and his/her art and what he/she is when the concert lights go out and they go home to live their real lives that they protect with everything they have even if many times they also filter a minimum of that life to give life to art.

I know all this verbiage may sound a bit confusing, but after analyzing all this drama it still strikes me that the timing between Taylor's fight for her masters and Kaylor's breakup coincided with the marriage of the lion and the beast. All in a couple of years. Coincidence? I don't believe it.

Especially considering that Taylor had been wanting to own her Masters for years. Years in which she had the support of who was even the first to listen to the 1989 album.

Karlie appearing at Taylor's concert was a surprise to me at first, but then I thought about everything I knew about the girls and analyzed how Karlie had come to that concert. The lion in the middle of the subjects, not next to the archer/queen. Her being like another audience knowing that she would be seen and not only seen but disowned.

Karlie knew it, folks. After all this time and all that standing water under the bridge. Karlie knew her risk and took it. And then another curious detail of that apparition.

The fall from grace of the Trumpet and quite possibly of all his accomplices. The K beasts. A freaking nice timing…

This timing has brought me back to the Kaylor fandom that, although I never followed, was fun to know. Just like Camren.

Finally, a video. From Karlie, I think it could have been an advertisement? But in the video, there is a phone call that says "Lover". Then a woman appears who approaches Karlie while Karlie has a knife with which she threatens her Lover, but then Karlie leaves the knife on the table.

I don't know if that video reflects this entire post, but as I have told my great friend @nikcolmaravi, no one will get it out of my head that a large percentage of everything that happened to Taylor related to the drama of her musical catalog had to happen from that way. I think if it didn't happen like this, she wouldn't be at the goal she has achieved so far.

Thanks for reading and I apologize for any mistakes or things I have left behind.

I was about to translate and edit this post when I remembered another detail. Dear John. My friend Nikco told me about Dear John about the song that goes to John Mayer. He told me that Taylor had asked her fans not to send hate to John for that song because it was not something she would like. And one more time. Business. You sign or are in any kind of relationship with Taylor and you literally have a bullseye on your head. That may also apply to Karlie.

And last and most important. This post never tried and never will try to minimize the real suffering of Taylor Swift regarding her legal battle for the authorship of her masters. To no degree or under any circumstances. I know very well that the industry has been a bitch to Taylor and all the artists that try to survive within it and I have no doubt that Taylor had to learn the hard way. And suffer to get to where she is. Did she have help? Of course. I know who her father is and what he did for her when she first started, I won't deny it. Taylor was born with privileges and she knew how to use them to her advantage, not just being daddy's girl.

I may not like her music that much, nor am I a big fan of hers. But I can know a good music entrepreneur when I see one and I think her numbers with this Eras concert says it all.

Beasts, lion, archer figuratively.

[wishineverhungupthephone]

I really dont understand why Karlie is receiving all this hate and criticism honestly like the double standards and misogyny bro?

So like when Ed Sheeran/ J*hn M@yer worked with 🛴its all good but when Karlie Kloss did shes suddenly responsible why Taylors Masters was sold? Karlie and other artists under the contract with 🛴 couldnt speak out against him because they had a contract… And if they did leave him and spoke out against him they would still have to pay him the remaining time the contract lasts. But Karlie who is unable to speak out against him left him as fast as she could and was never seen with him ever again after their contract. Meanwhile Ed Sheeran is still continuously seen with him during 2021. But hey, that doesnt seem to be a problem🤷‍♀️

And just because shes married to a Kushner doesnt mean she follows and holds the same political values they do. She has made this very publicly clear and she cannot just change the political views of her partners family.

Tell me one more time your not misogynistic but continue to hate on her and calling her a “bitch” and someone “with the audacity” to come to the Eras Tour when Taylor Swift herself has made it clear how the word “Bitch” is really demoralizing and she is against it. If you go against of Taylors values (against homophobia and misogyny) and call yourself a swiftie and would do anything for her BFFR. The least you could do to start is accepting her values and minding your own business i mean none of us really knows whats happening behind the scenes of Taylors life, we only see what she wants us to so dont even tell me that its “for Taylor” or “something she would want” because she doesnt need us criticizing her friends and say were defending her when she doesnt need the defending.

Karlie doesnt deserve all the hate she gets when we know nothing about what truly went down

(sorry for the bad english)

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

Scooter is a highly manipulative person who is also an enabler of sorts when it suits him. I think to characterize him as only someone who wronged Taylor Swift by buying her masters doesn’t fully take into account what he’s done with many of his clients even the ones he still has a relationship with such as Justin Bieber. There is a great article encapsulating some of his good and bad points in the Business Insider but it’s behind a paywall. Here is a recap in case people want to know what is said. https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/122854380.html

I think this might set people off... OKAY here goes...

Firstly, I'm going to add something to part of your ask because I've read that Business Insider article, and unlike it I prefer a more balanced approach...

"According to some, Scooter is a highly manipulative person who is also an enabler of sorts when it suits him."

The whole Swift/Braun situation is very nuanced, which VOX covered quite impartially back in 2019...

As a side note, they have a fab quote from one of Taylor's then friends (not sure if they still are but considering recent controversy, I find the quote very humourous) ...

I think today, many people are thinking the same of Todrick.

One could argue that all Braun did was make a savvy business deal that benefited him. A deal that Taylor didn't like and started a PR campaign (with the support of friends) against him despite many people backing Braun. Now what she claimed about him might have been true, but I don't think what he did (when buying her old record company) was a terrible thing. She (in her own words) had the opportunity to purchase said masters, but obviously she wanted to keep going on about Braun, so the deal didn't happen and he sold them off to someone else.

My guess, Braun is merely a ruthless but talented businessman, who was quicker to the punch than Taylor.

OH and here's the original Business Insider Article (my uMatrix extension helps be bypass the paywall):

The article tries to be balanced, but clearly is an article intended to paint Scooter in a poor light, which is even more interesting when you consider the writer of the piece has written several articles about Swift, mostly in a positive light and terms... and why might you ask may that be the case, well it seems she's a big ole Swiftie...

"SILMAN: ...As for my hopes, well, I guess I'd just say that Salon has had so many entertainment writers who I admire hugely come through its doors over the years, so I just hope to be able to uphold that legacy of quality, and to contribute my own voice as well (and of course, by “my own voice” I mean lots of coverage of Taylor Swift and her cats)." - Source

[lalalaura5190]

Okay, now that I’ve had some time to digest this week and finally form thoughts and words on my experience, feelings and opinions, let’s dive in.

First let me start with this, I am 32 years old. I have been a @taylorswift fan since i was in high school. I can tell you exactly where i was the first time i heard Tim McGraw, gym class, during a badminton tournament, but that’s besides the point.

I am the youngest of three kids, and while we never financially struggled, we didn’t have extra funds for things like concerts, and i never asked because i didn’t want to be disappointed.

Up until this year, i have never been financially able to go to a TS tour. Because living in south central PA, it’s not just concert tickets; it’s gas to get to Philadelphia, tolls on the turnpike, a hotel room, food and everything else that comes with traveling out of town. So one concert easily turns into $1,500.

This year, i was finally in a position to afford a weekend concert, and, shockingly, was chosen for presale. To say that i was excited, is an understatement. However at 10am on Tuesday, my excitement quickly turned to distain. I sat in the queue for over 4 hours. Was kicked out multiple times, couldn’t find any of the Philadelphia shows, and when the shows finally did load, couldn’t get passed the first quarter of the queue line, was ready to give up. And when i finally did get in, I discovered nothing was left. See, i needed 3 tickets. One for me, and two for my best friends and fellow swifties.

None of us were able to get tickets. The experience literally sent me through the stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. What was the most upsetting to me, was seeing over 6,000 for the Philly shows tickets being resold on stub hub, some for over $10,000.

The cancellation of general sale was like a sucker punch to the stomach. The math didn’t add up. How were 2.5 million tickets already sold? And how many presale codes were sent? (Spoiler alert, 1.5 million codes were sent). And how did ticket master not change their predictions based on the fact that Taylor had just broken every album release, streaming, and billboard chart record?

Now, let me be clear. I don’t hold anything against Taylor. This was 100% a Ticketmaster issue. Presale codes should have been required in or order to enter the queue, and presale should have happened in waves to ensure the site could handle the waves of fans/scalpers trying to buy tickets.

Taylor’s response to the ordeal broke my heart. You could tell she was pissed at Ticketmaster, upset for the fans that weren’t able to get tickets, and humbled by the 2.5 million tickets. But artists shouldn’t have to make a statement in regards to another companies responsibilities. The pressure and frustrations/anger she was receiving from her fan base was uncalled for, and felt very 2016.

Ticketmasters response was an absolute joke. They blamed the mass amount of Taylor’s fans, bragged about records, and made excuses for the way things were handled. As someone who works in sales/customer service, i don’t care what happened, i care about the measures that are being taken to fix the system that failed, and how Ticketmaster plans to ensure that this won’t happen again. None of that was mentioned in their statement.

So now, where does that leave us? still, ticketless, but i trust Taylor, i believe that she truly cares about her fans and i honestly think that she was the one that cancelled general sale because she didn’t want general sale to happen without the appropriate changes being made to the system. Am i right? Who knows. But that thought brings me a little bit of hope.

So now, we wait. And hopefully when ticket sales do resume, I’ll be able to secure 3.

Love,

Laura - A Swiftie.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

I posted 1,131 times in 2021

445 posts created (39%)

686 posts reblogged (61%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.5 posts.

I added 438 tags in 2021

#humor - 103 posts

#stuff - 52 posts

#fanfiction - 46 posts

#love nikki - 41 posts

#lnduq - 40 posts

#ln - 39 posts

#genshin impact - 35 posts

#writing - 33 posts

#watermelonsmellinfellon - 26 posts

#ugh! - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 126 characters

#did you know that there are still some portions of the twilight fandom who hate on bella and kristen over the whole rob thing?

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Here is a piece e of advice from someone who has been obsessed with writing for the past 15 years... If all you're going to do to the swear words or dirty things in your story is censor them with *, #, %, &, and the like, don't even bother using such language. You can be vulgar without swearing.

No one wants to read a sentence like this every paragraph.

"That m*th#%f&v%#$ makes me want to k*11 every f*@%1#$ one of his g0##@%# kind."

That is a level of taxing that nobody wants to deal with.

EDIT: Someone mentioned the hell it'd be on screen readers.

Can you imagine listening just fine and then suddenly you hear this?

"That M asterisk T H pound sign percent F and sign V percent pound sign dollar sign makes me want to K asterisk number one number one every F asterisk at symbol percent number one pound sign dollar sign one of his G zero pound sign pound sign at symbol percent pound sign kind."

120 notes • Posted 2021-06-06 05:43:33 GMT

#4

So I’m still seeing a lot of people not understanding why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first 6 albums she doesn’t own the Masters to. How does it actually devalue them? being the main question I see. Especially when the copies are going to be exactly/almost exactly the same?

Taylor writes all of her music. She owns the Publishing Rights to the lyrics and melodies basically. But the very first original Recording of the music, which all other copies are then made from, she does not own. So think of Shake It Off as an example. Her former label owned the original Recordings of all the songs from her first 6 albums(before selling to Scooter Braun who then sold to Shamrock Holdings when he got next to no money from them). 

btw, no one will sell her the Master Recordings. She can afford them but these men do not want a woman to own her work which is why her Masters have been passing hands with borrowed money instead of their own money because unlike her, they can’t afford to pay with their own money. So they borrow from genocidal terrorist organizations instead, which means those organizations get a cut from every sale of her old Masters which they then use to bomb Yemen. It’s a mess.

So Taylor recently re-recorded her Fearless album. The original is the most awarded Country album in history. It’s Diamond. What the new version is for, is basically making the other one useless to the one who owns the Master Recordings on it.

Say, for some odd reason, the director of the next MCU film wants Shake It Off in the movie. They’d have to approach the owners of the song for permission to license the exact length of music they want to put in the film. It’s a taxing process to go through. Now, because Taylor owns the Publishing Rights, she has the final say. Shamrock Holdings owns the Master Recording of Shake It Off, and they can say yes, but the MCU director still has to ask Taylor’s permission now since she owns the lyrics and melodies. Taylor can say no. This means, that the original version of Shake It Off will not be allowed to be in the MCU film.

BUT, she can give them permission to use the lyrics and melody if they have someone else do a cover of Shake It Off. In this case, only Taylor gets paid. The old men who own her music and won’t sell it to her, get nothing. THIS is how her old albums will be devalued. 

Lupita Nyong’o asked Taylor personally to use Shake It Off in her film Little Monsters. The owners of the song, BMGL(at the time) were giving them problems about getting the rights to use the song in the film, so Lupita contacted Taylor personally and Taylor said yes to using the lyrics and melody, overriding BMLG’s authority on the matter. That’s why Lupita plays it on ukulele and sings it herself.

Shake It Off and Blank Space are two of her biggest hits and yearly get thousands of offers to be licensed for film and television. With the re-recordings, Taylor can say no using the Masters she doesn’t own, and suggest using the ones she does own.

This makes the $300 Million sale, damn near worthless. See, streaming brings in little money and only really gets you exposure. For someone seen as the biggest pop star in the world, she no longer needs exposure to bigger audiences. This leaves physical sales and licensing to films and tv shows. But if Taylor’s fans are refusing to buy her old music so the money doesn’t go to anyone who backstabbed her, then they aren’t getting money from the sales of the albums. And if Taylor keeps saying no to everyone wanting to use those versions in their films, then the owners of her Masters get no money that way either.

It’s big Fuck You basically. It’s a long process to do all of this but if these men would rather borrow money from terrorists rather than just sell her the Masters, then she’s going to render their investments invalid.

It’s like Tumblr being bought for $1 Billion and then being sold for $3 Million after only a few years, because the investment brought forth no fruit.

146 notes • Posted 2021-03-26 11:13:34 GMT

#3

Our Landlady Made Us Pay for Her Expenses But Won't Give Us a Break

So the van was borrowed and came back in need of repairs. Also, the person who borrowed it got a ticket and said nothing about said ticket. This was 15 days ago. We found out today. It's not cheap.

Step-dad was laid off because he got inured on the job and now needs knee surgery. They refused to handle it and as such he lost his insurance and needs a lawyer.

The rent is ridiculously high and so much shit needs fixing but the landlady keeps making excuses. She's trying to force us to keep the ACs at 70 degrees all the time because her Central Air is set to 70 degrees and we aren't allowed to change it. She won't fix the plumbing. She won't fix the kitchen issues. She is a nightmare to deal with.

So yeah, the gofundme thing was started and like, it's even worse than even I know and I know a lot.

Mom is going to try to sell her violin and her grandmother's jewelry. Probably her comic collection too. She's got some rare items and things just aren't working out for us.

[LINK] to the gofundme which I have no hope in. I don't know why step-dad thought this would work but people aren't like him. He's naïve and thinks that if he helps others they'll return the favor some day which just isn't true. He does shit behind mom's back, giving others money, fixing their cars, lending them expensive tools that aren't his to lend, and they are never there when he needs help. All he does is ruin our problems further.

150 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 02:04:32 GMT

#2

8 Days Left

We've run out of time.

For about a week there, we had a sort of plan but it didn't work out. The landlady refused a lease in order to help us deal with back pay as well as looking for financial help for various associations that require lease info, as such, she's not getting any more money out of us.

She wouldn't let us pay our bills in person. She always demanded the amount be given to her directly. When asked if the prices were really what she claimed, she threw a fit. Claimed we were being rude despite how suspicious it is that she wouldn't even let us contact the companies personally.

She is still having her family members stalk us. She calls every day complaining about something or other.

The plan we'd been going with fell through. Once again, we cannot rely on anyone we seem to know personally, over several years.

Mom's maternal family is useless. They are wealthy. They married into wealth and do not work at all. But when it comes to helping their own family out, they don't do that. This bitch was my Nana's sister and she and her spawn are so against helping their own family financially that they didn't even help with Nana's funeral when she died. This bitch came out of the same vagina and supposedly loved Nana to pieces, and couldn't be bothered to help her destitute niece handle her dead sister's affairs.

The only time they want to help is when they have some kind of comment on Facebook about how I am too lazy and need boot camp to get me into shape physically and mentally. They've never offered to help us and always bring up not giving people handouts. They go on multiple cruises and vacations a year but the idea of helping family is just impossible. They claim everyone is greedy but them.

Mom has only managed to sell her grandmother's heirloom bracelet(which had to go to groceries) and my sister's guitar(which went to electric). Less than $300 between them both. No one wants the violin or the keyboards. We have limited edition comics but no one is interested. Fine china that no one cares about.

We've been trying to sell shit and it's not working out.

We have exactly $1.08 in the Paypal. I have $5 in an Amazon gift card. I'm doing surveys but it's not really helping.

We basically need money to just put our things in a storage unit now.

Step-dad's friends are still making excuses and he's still believing them. They claim they either, don't trust links on Facebook, the link doesn't work, or it leads to a different page entirely. Several people here have tested the link out for me on various devices and browsers. They are lying. I don't know why they just won't admit that they don't want to help.

Just say no. Dozens of grown men have been leading this idiot on for almost 3 months. And no matter what we say he's still defending them.

As for step-dad's issues, several law firms have gotten back to us about his injury. Yes. He has a case. His former job owes him a lot of money they're trying to get out of paying. BUT, no one wants to take his case because it's not financially beneficial to THEM.

Finally, the IRS is still giving me problems about the 2nd and 3rd stimulus checks they owe me. The nearest office over an hour away has been closed all year because of the global panorama. I have no way of 'proving my identity' because they refuse to accept online or phone call verification. Every time I call I get the same bitch who gives me a spiel about how despite the letter saying to call that number specifically, no one there can actually help with stimulus check related issues, despite it being only for the missed stimulus checks.

Both of them would really help out but of course nothing can go our way, right.

I feel bad that my sister has to deal with this when she just started her job yesterday. She's gonna go stay with her friend on the 4th while we do whatever.

So once again, here is the gofundme.

Here's my Ko-Fi. I am accepting commissions but I only have a few days left where I'll be able to take them so it'll have to be quick if anyone's interested. We won't have internet access let alone a place to sleep. I'll keep the Ko-Fi open for donations but other than that I won't be able to reliably swing it and I wouldn't want to let anyone down.

Thanks for listening to my whining. Sorry I haven't been able to post my happy stuff in recent months but homelessness is really kicking my ass.

185 notes • Posted 2021-09-26 21:48:24 GMT

#1

Can someone make an Among Us Mod where after every meeting, the Imposter changes?

Like, there is only 1 Imposter in a lobby of 10 people.

And when the first meeting is called, if the lobby doesn’t successfully vote off the Imposter, then the Imposter changes to someone else in the next round.

And this continues until there is only a 1v1, or the Imposter is voted off.

Can you imagine the content YouTubers/Streamers would have?

222 notes • Posted 2021-01-11 04:16:06 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[theprologues]

Jojo Siwa having the courage to come out is proof Taylor could have done the same years ago. How long is she going to keep hiding behind a beard? The “she can’t because she has conservative fans” excuse is tired at this point.

Go into the grocery store right now ask someone (socially distant and with masks) if they know who Jojo Siwa is? If they are under a certain age they may or may not know. Guarantee if you ask them if they know who Taylor Swift is they will say yes any age. 

Taylor is in a completely separate ballgame. I’m happy for Jojo that she has had the courage to come out right now so young and with such a large fanbase. You can not compare her to Taylor. Everyone has a separate journey. Taylor is not in her teens she’s not even in her 20s anymore. When she was it may have changed the outcome of her career if she did come out. Imagine if she came out in Speak Now era? Debut? I’m sorry but this is the world we live in. If her masters weren’t sold to Scoobs last year she most likely would have come out. All we can do is support her and other people still in the closet. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her. She’s trying her best and in her defense she’s come out multiple times already. 

Conservative fans are one thing I think it’s important to remember we had Tr*mp in office up until last week. No matter how progressive we think we are we still had him as our President for the last four years he was VOTED into office. He didn’t win popular vote but I’m just saying conservatism has been on the rise with the far-right trying to dissolve our democracy this month!! People are not as “open minded” as we’d like to think they are. The right people are but the right people are following along her journey right now. 

Respect her journey. 

[tswiftdaily]

In the 2010s, she went from country superstar to pop titan and broke records with chart-topping albums and blockbuster tours. Now Swift is using her industry clout to fight for artists’ rights and foster the musical community she wished she had coming up.

One evening in late-October, before she performed at a benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Taylor Swift’s dressing room became -- as it often does -- an impromptu summit of music’s biggest names. Swift was there to take part in the American Cancer Society’s annual We Can Survive concert alongside Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Camila Cabello and others, and a few of the artists on the lineup came by to visit.

Eilish, along with her mother and her brother/collaborator, Finneas O’Connell, popped in to say hello -- the first time she and Swift had met. Later, Swift joined the exclusive club of people who have seen Marshmello without his signature helmet when the EDM star and his manager stopped by.

“Two dudes walked in -- I didn’t know which one was him,” recalls Swift a few weeks later, sitting on a lounge chair in the backyard of a private Beverly Hills residence following a photo shoot. Her momentary confusion turned into a pang of envy. “It’s really smart! Because he’s got a life, and he can get a house that doesn’t have to have a paparazzi-proof entrance.” She stops to adjust her gray sweatshirt dress and lets out a clipped laugh.

Swift, who will celebrate her 30th birthday on Dec. 13, has been impossibly famous for nearly half of her lifetime. She was 16 when she released her self-titled debut album in 2006, and 20 when her second album, Fearless, won the Grammy Award for album of the year in 2010, making her the youngest artist to ever receive the honor. As the decade comes to a close, Swift is one of the most accomplished musical acts of all time: 37.3 million albums sold, according to Nielsen Music; 95 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (including five No. 1s); 23 Billboard Music Awards; 12 Country Music Association Awards; 10 Grammys; and five world tours.

She also finishes the decade in a totally different realm of the music world from where she started. Swift’s crossover from country to pop -- hinted at on 2012’s Red and fully embraced on 2014’s 1989 -- reflected a mainstream era in which genres were blended with little abandon, where artists with roots in country, folk and trap music could join forces without anyone raising eyebrows. (See: Swift’s top 20 hit “End Game,” from 2017’s reputation, which featured Ed Sheeran and Future.)

Swift’s new album, Lover, released in August, is both a warm break from the darkness of reputation -- which was created during a wave of negative press generated by Swift’s public clash with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian-West -- as well as an amalgam of all her stylistic explorations through the years, from dreamy synth-pop to hushed country. “The skies were opening up in my life,” says Swift of the album, which garnered three Grammy nominations, including song of the year for the title track.

She recorded Lover after the Reputation Stadium Tour broke the record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour late last year. In 2020, Swift will embark on Lover Fest, a run of stadium dates that will feature a hand-picked lineup of artists (as yet unannounced) and allow Swift more time off from the road. “This is a year where I have to be there for my family -- there’s a lot of question marks throughout the next year, so I wanted to make sure that I could go home,” says Swift, likely referencing her mother’s cancer diagnosis, which inspired the Lover heart-wrencher “Soon You’ll Get Better.”

Now, however, Swift finds herself in a different highly publicized dispute. This time it’s with Scott Borchetta, the head of her former label, Big Machine Records, and Scooter Braun, the manager-mogul whose Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Label Group and its master recordings, which include Swift’s six pre-Lover albums, in June. Upon news of the sale, Swift wrote in a Tumblr post that it was her “worst case scenario,” accusing Braun of “bullying” her throughout her career due to his connections with West. She maintains today that she was never given the opportunity to buy her masters outright. (On Tumblr, she wrote that she was offered the chance to “earn” back the masters to one of her albums for each new album she turned in if she re-signed with Big Machine; Borchetta disputed this characterization, saying she had the opportunity to acquire her masters in exchange for re-signing with the label for a “length of time” -- 10 more years, according to screenshots of legal documents posted on the Big Machine website.)

Swift has said that she intends to rerecord her first six albums next year -- starting next November, when she says she’s contractually able to -- in order to regain control of her recordings. But the back-and-forth appears to be nowhere near over: Last month, Swift alleged that Borchetta and Braun were blocking her from performing her past hits at the American Music Awards or using them in an upcoming Netflix documentary -- claims Big Machine characterized as “false information” in a response that did not get into specifics. (Swift ultimately performed the medley she had planned.) In the weeks following this interview, Braun said he was open to “all possibilities” in finding a “resolution,” and Billboard sources say that includes negotiating a sale. Swift remains interested in buying her masters, though the price could be a sticking point, given her rerecording plans, the control she has over the licensing of her music for film and TV, and the market growth since Braun’s acquisition.

However it plays out, the battle over her masters is the latest in a series of moves that has turned Swift into something of an advocate for artists’ rights -- and made her a cause that everyone from Halsey to Elizabeth Warren has rallied behind. From 2014 to 2017, Swift withheld her catalog from Spotify to protest the streaming company’s compensation rates, saying in a 2014 interview, “There should be an inherent value placed on art. I didn’t see that happening, perception-wise, when I put my music on Spotify.” In 2015, ahead of the launch of Apple Music, Swift wrote an open letter criticizing Apple for its plan to not pay royalties during the three-month free trial it was set to offer listeners; the company announced a new policy within 24 hours. Most recently, when she signed a new global deal with Universal Music Group in 2018, Swift (who is now on Republic Records) said one of the conditions of her contract was that UMG share proceeds from any sale of its Spotify equity with its roster of artists -- and make them nonrecoupable against those artists’ earnings.

During a wide-ranging conversation, Billboard’s Woman of the Decade expresses hope that she can help make the lives of creators a little easier in the years to come -- and a belief that her behind-the-scenes strides will be as integral to her legacy as her biggest singles. “New artists and producers and writers need work, and they need to be likable and get booked in sessions, and they can’t make noise -- but if I can, then I’m going to,” promises Swift. This is where being impossibly famous can be a very good thing. “I know that it seems like I’m very loud about this,” she says, “but it’s because someone has to be.”

While watching some of your performances this year -- like Saturday Night Live and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert -- I was struck by how focused you seemed, like there were no distractions getting in the way of what you were trying to say.

That’s a really wonderful way of looking at this phase of my life and my music. I’ve spent a lot of time recalibrating my life to make it feel manageable. Because there were some years there where I felt like I didn’t quite know what exactly to give people and what to hold back, what to share and what to protect. I think a lot of people go through that, especially in the last decade. I broke through pre-social media, and then there was this phase where social media felt fun and casual and quirky and safe. And then it got to the point where everyone has to evaluate their relationship with social media. So I decided that the best thing I have to offer people is my music. I’m not really here to influence their fashion or their social lives. That has bled through into the live part of what I do.

Meanwhile, you’ve found a way to interact with your fans in this very pure way -- on your Tumblr page.

Tumblr is the last place on the internet where I feel like I can still make a joke because it feels small, like a neighborhood rather than an entire continent. We can kid around -- they literally drag me. It’s fun. That’s a real comfort zone for me. And just like anything else, I need breaks from it sometimes. But when I do participate in that space, it’s always in a very inside-joke, friend vibe. Sometimes, when I open Twitter, I get so overwhelmed that I just immediately close it. I haven’t had Twitter on my phone in a while because I don’t like to have too much news. Like, I follow politics, and that’s it. But I don’t like to follow who has broken up with who, or who wore an interesting pair of shoes. There’s only so much bandwidth my brain can really have.

You’ve spoken in recent interviews about the general expectations you’ve faced, using phrases like “They’ve wanted to see this” and “They hated me for this.” Who is “they”? Is it social media or disparaging think pieces or --

It’s sort of an amalgamation of all of it. People who aren’t active fans of your music, who like one song but love to hear who has been canceled on Twitter. I’ve had several upheavals of somehow not being what I should be. And this happens to women in music way more than men. That’s why I get so many phone calls from new artists out of the blue -- like, “Hey, I’m getting my first wave of bad press, I’m freaking out, can I talk to you?” And the answer is always yes! I’m talking about more than 20 people who have randomly reached out to me. I take it as a compliment because it means that they see what has happened over the course of my career, over and over again.

Did you have someone like that to reach out to?

Not really, because my career has existed in lots of different neighborhoods of music. I had so many mentors in country music. Faith Hill was wonderful. She would reach out to me and invite me over and take me on tour, and I knew that I could talk to her. Crossing over to pop is a completely different world. Country music is a real community, and in pop I didn’t see that community as much. Now there is a bit of one between the girls in pop -- we all have each other’s numbers and text each other -- but when I first started out in pop it was very much you versus you versus you. We didn’t have a network, which is weird because we can help each other through these moments when you just feel completely isolated.

Do you feel like those barriers are actively being broken down now?

God, I hope so. I also hope people can call it out, [like] if you see a Grammy prediction article, and it’s just two women’s faces next to each other and feels a bit gratuitous. No one’s going to start out being perfectly educated on the intricacies of gender politics. The key is that people are trying to learn, and that’s great. No one’s going to get it perfect, but, God, please try.

At this point, who is your sounding board, creatively and professionally?

From a creative standpoint, I’ve been writing alone a lot more. I’m good with being alone, with thinking alone. When I come up with a marketing idea for the Lover tour, the album launch, the merch, I’ll go right to my management company that I’ve put together. I think a team is the best way to be managed. Just from my experience, I don’t think that this overarching, one-person-handles-my-career thing was ever going to work for me. Because that person ends up kind of being me who comes up with most of the ideas, and then I have an amazing team that facilitates those ideas.

The behind-the-scenes work is different for every phase of my career that I’m in. Putting together the festival shows that we’re doing for Lover is completely different than putting together the Reputation Stadium Tour. Putting together the reputation launch was so different than putting together the 1989 launch. So we really do attack things case by case, where the creative first informs everything else.

You’ve spoken before about how meaningful the reputation tour’s success was. What did it represent?

That tour was something that I wanted to immortalize in the Netflix special that we did because the album was a story, but it almost was like a story that wasn’t fully realized until you saw it live. It was so cool to hear people leaving the show being like, “I understand it now. I fully get it now.” There are a lot of red herrings and bait-and-switches in the choices that I’ll make with albums, because I want people to go and explore the body of work. You can never express how you feel over the course of an album in a single, so why try?

That seems especially true of your last three albums or so.

“Shake It Off” is nothing like the rest of 1989. It’s almost like I feel so much pressure with a first single that I don’t want the first single to be something that makes you feel like you’ve figured out what I’ve made on the rest of the project. I still truly believe in albums, whatever form you consume them in -- if you want to stream them or buy them or listen to them on vinyl. And I don’t think that makes me a staunch purist. I think that that is a strong feeling throughout the music industry. We’re running really fast toward a singles industry, but you got to believe in something. I still believe that albums are important.

The music industry has become increasingly global during the past decade. Is reaching new markets something you think about?

Yeah, and I’m always trying to learn. I’m learning from everyone. I’m learning when I go see Bruce Springsteen or Madonna do a theater show. And I’m learning from new artists who are coming out right now, just seeing what they’re doing and thinking, “That’s really cool.” You need to keep your influences broad and wide-ranging, and my favorite people who make music have always done that. I got to work with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Cats movie, and Andrew will walk through the door and be like, “I’ve just seen this amazing thing on TikTok!” And I’m like, “You are it! You are it!” Because you cannot look at what quote-unquote “the kids are doing” and roll your eyes. You have to learn.

Have you explored TikTok at all?

I only see them when they’re posted to Tumblr, but I love them! I think that they’re hilarious and amazing. Andrew says that they’ve made musicals cool again, because there’s a huge musical facet to TikTok. [He’s] like, “Any way we can do that is good.”

How do you see your involvement in the business side of your career progressing in the next decade? You seem like someone who could eventually start a label or be more hands-on with signing artists.

I do think about it every once in a while, but if I was going to do it, I would need to do it with all of my energy. I know how important that is, when you’ve got someone else’s career in your hands, and I know how it feels when someone isn’t generous.

You’ve served as an ambassador of sorts for artists, especially recently -- staring down streaming services over payouts, increasing public awareness about the terms of record deals.

We have a long way to go. I think that we’re working off of an antiquated contractual system. We’re galloping toward a new industry but not thinking about recalibrating financial structures and compensation rates, taking care of producers and writers.

We need to think about how we handle master recordings, because this isn’t it. When I stood up and talked about this, I saw a lot of fans saying, “Wait, the creators of this work do not own their work, ever?” I spent 10 years of my life trying rigorously to purchase my masters outright and was then denied that opportunity, and I just don’t want that to happen to another artist if I can help it. I want to at least raise my hand and say, “This is something that an artist should be able to earn back over the course of their deal -- not as a renegotiation ploy -- and something that artists should maybe have the first right of refusal to buy.” God, I would have paid so much for them! Anything to own my work that was an actual sale option, but it wasn’t given to me.

Thankfully, there’s power in writing your music. Every week, we get a dozen synch requests to use “Shake It Off” in some advertisement or “Blank Space” in some movie trailer, and we say no to every single one of them. And the reason I’m rerecording my music next year is because I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it.

Do you know how long that rerecording process will take?

I don’t know! But it’s going to be fun, because it’ll feel like regaining a freedom and taking back what’s mine. When I created [these songs], I didn’t know what they would grow up to be. Going back in and knowing that it meant something to people is actually a really beautiful way to celebrate what the fans have done for my music.

Ten years ago, on the brink of the 2010s, you were about to turn 20. What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time?

Oh, God -- I wouldn’t give myself any advice. I would have done everything exactly the same way. Because even the really tough things I’ve gone through taught me things that I never would have learned any other way. I really appreciate my experience, the ups and downs. And maybe that seems ridiculously Zen, but … I’ve got my friends, who like me for the right reasons. I’ve got my family. I’ve got my boyfriend. I’ve got my fans. I’ve got my cats.

[unmooredthoughts]

The Last Great American Dynasty

“We were both young when I first saw you, I close my eyes and the flashback starts I’m standing there…”

The nostalgic melody and the plucking of the guitar strings are enough to awaken the butterflies in my stomach. A perfectly crafted love story written by an exceptional storyteller. It has been years since the world was given the privilege to listen to the song that would redefine the whole country music genre. It was the turning point for a country girl who will sweep the whole world up its feet.

Sources: Teen Vogue & Pinterest

Fifteen years ago, a young girl wearing cowboy boots and brandishing an acoustic guitar entered the music industry, not knowing how big she’ll become. With her songs centering around relatable teenage love stories, high school sweethearts, and a small girl with big dreams trying to fit in a bigger world – she was a breath of fresh air amidst the rising popularity of hip-hop music.

Do you ever wonder what would it be like if the young girl with luscious blond locks and striking electric blue eyes that encapsulates complex emotions and intense passion never had a breakthrough?

Source: Insider

Taylor Swift. One of America’s greatest musical artists. Eleven Grammy Awards. Thirty-two American Music Awards. More than 50 million albums sold since her debut. Artist of the Decade. Her lyrical genius continues to leave everyone in awe, but what is still in store for us?

Beyond her brilliance and artistry, Taylor Swift is an icon of reinvention. In every diaristic song and personal lyrics, she unravels a piece of herself, never before seen by others. Her extremely intimate songs made her a prey. Growing up with the media ready to pounce on her every move, she mastered tearing herself down and bringing herself back up.

Entering the music industry at such a young age was like watching one’s death unfold before her eyes. Taylor Swift was subjected to a lot of mockery and invalidation. She was seen as a joke; as someone who is delusional. She was undermined by her fellow musicians because she was just a young country girl. Her achievements were deemed underserved.

Out of all the female artists in the United States, Taylor Swift had her reputation trampled and sullied the most. She was dubbed as a serial dater and a playgirl because of her alleged hunger for dating men. She was mocked for writing songs about her former lovers despite the fact the other male musicians do too. However, she did not let it get to her – she used the media’s words to her advantage. She used her made-up persona they created – she became the predator. Then, Taylor Swift wrote one of her most iconic songs; a satirical pop song entitled Blank Space. Not one soul in the world would not know the lines “I’ve got a blank space baby, and I’ll write your name.”

Source: Tenor

But the flame of success could only last for so long – she got torn down again. After the Blank Space era, Taylor Swift had to reinvent herself. The once loved country girl who was considered as America’s sweetheart was hailed as a snake. This was her turning point, not just as an artist but as a person. No one physically saw her for a whole year – she was simply gone with the wind. She went on hiatus, deleted all her social media accounts and posts. To put it simply, the symbol of reinvention struggled to reset and restart.

During her year-long break, Taylor Swift had to deal with her inner struggles. She acknowledged her neglect for her body; she realized the immense pressure she has been putting on herself just to meet the beauty standards set by society. She found the love she had been seeking since she started singing about high school love stories. She found a lover worth sharing her sentiments and heartaches with. But most of all, Taylor Swift chose herself. She prioritized her mental health; she burned down the bridges between her and her toxic relationships. She neither stayed as the prey or the predator – she became the hunter.

Taylor Swift also developed the courage to finally speak her mind. Ironically, she was robbed of her freedom to speak out about her own opinions, beliefs, and advocacy due to the fear of being shut down. She was terrified that once the general public becomes aware of her own stand whether it may be on political or social issues, it would cause the downfall of her career. But Taylor Swift regained her voice – it was louder than ever. She advocated equality over genders and explicitly supported the LGBTQ+ community.

After a year of respite, free from the eyes of the media, Taylor Swift re-activated her accounts, and she posted a video of a snake – it was a teaser! A sneak peek at her new self. Once again, she made use of the thing they used to insult her and she turned it into a masterpiece. She released an album called Reputation, focusing on how the media undermined and outcasted her. She shared with the world how she found the love of her life; she professed how it will be different from her past relationships. The album itself is the manifestation of her genius mind; it became one of the best albums produce in the history of her career.

Alas, the queen of reinvention sits on the throne unbothered by the threats of future events. Taylor Swift can confidently battle them head-on; she wields the sword.

Gone are the days when her life was told from the point of view of others, she is now the storyteller. Her latest albums, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore exhibit how Taylor Swift can flourish and shine in the industry without having the need to reinvent herself. She started making up dream-like worlds and literary masterpieces through her songs. She finally reached the peak of her career but it does not stop there. Taylor Swift will continue to shine – she will not stop gleaming. She will not turn into a supernova because she is the cosmos itself.

“Who knows, if I never showed up what could've been.” - Spoken like a true ruler. She came like a whirlwind; she swept up the world by storm – she left a mark. She is made for greatness; meant to be in the spotlight. She wears the crown on top of her head, oozing with elegance, brilliance, and insurmountable skills. Taylor Swift is the last great American dynasty.

[path-of-my-childhood]

Billboard Woman of the Decade Taylor Swift: 'I Do Want My Music to Live On'

By: Jason Lipshutz for Billboard Magazine Date: December 14th issue

In the 2010s, she went from country superstar to pop titan and broke records with chart-topping albums and blockbuster tours. Now Swift is using her industry clout to fight for artists’ rights and foster the musical community she wished she had coming up.

One evening in late October, before she performed at a benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Taylor Swift’s dressing room became - as it often does - an impromptu summit of music’s biggest names. Swift was there to take part in the American Cancer Society’s annual We Can Survive concert alongside Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Camila Cabello and others, and a few of the artists on the lineup came by to visit.

Eilish, along with her mother and her brother/collaborator, Finneas O’Connell, popped in to say hello - the first time she and Swift had met. Later, Swift joined the exclusive club of people who have seen Marshmello without his signature helmet when the EDM star and his manager stopped by.

“Two dudes walked in - I didn’t know which one was him,” recalls Swift a few weeks later, sitting on a lounge chair in the backyard of a private Beverly Hills residence following a photo shoot. Her momentary confusion turned into a pang of envy. “It’s really smart! Because he’s got a life, and he can get a house that doesn’t have to have a paparazzi-proof entrance.” She stops to adjust her gray sweatshirt dress and lets out a clipped laugh.

Swift, who will celebrate her 30th birthday on Dec. 13, has been impossibly famous for nearly half of her lifetime. She was 16 when she released her self-titled debut album in 2006, and 20 when her second album, Fearless, won the Grammy Award for album of the year in 2010, making her the youngest artist to ever receive the honor. As the decade comes to a close, Swift is one of the most accomplished musical acts of all time: 37.3 million albums sold, according to Nielsen Music; 95 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (including five No. 1s); 23 Billboard Music Awards; 12 Country Music Association Awards; 10 Grammys; and five world tours.

She also finishes the decade in a totally different realm of the music world from where she started. Swift’s crossover from country to pop - hinted at on 2012’s Red and fully embraced on 2014’s 1989 - reflected a mainstream era in which genres were blended with little abandon, where artists with roots in country, folk and trap music could join forces without anyone raising eyebrows. (See: Swift’s top 20 hit “End Game,” from 2017’s reputation, which featured Ed Sheeran and Future.)

Swift’s new album, Lover, released in August, is both a warm break from the darkness of reputation - which was created during a wave of negative press generated by Swift’s public clash with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian-West - as well as an amalgam of all her stylistic explorations through the years, from dreamy synth-pop to hushed country. “The skies were opening up in my life,” says Swift of the album, which garnered three Grammy nominations, including song of the year for the title track.

She recorded Lover after the Reputation Stadium Tour broke the record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour late last year. In 2020, Swift will embark on Lover Fest, a run of stadium dates that will feature a hand-picked lineup of artists (as yet unannounced) and allow Swift more time off from the road. “This is a year where I have to be there for my family - there’s a lot of question marks throughout the next year, so I wanted to make sure that I could go home,” says Swift, likely referencing her mother’s cancer diagnosis, which inspired the Lover heart-wrencher “Soon You’ll Get Better.”

Now, however, Swift finds herself in a different highly publicized dispute. This time it’s with Scott Borchetta, the head of her former label, Big Machine Records, and Scooter Braun, the manager-mogul whose Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Label Group and its master recordings, which include Swift’s six pre-Lover albums, in June. Upon news of the sale, Swift wrote in a Tumblr post that it was her “worst case scenario,” accusing Braun of “bullying” her throughout her career due to his connections with West. She maintains today that she was never given the opportunity to buy her masters outright. (On Tumblr, she wrote that she was offered the chance to “earn” back the masters to one of her albums for each new album she turned in if she re-signed with Big Machine; Borchetta disputed this characterization, saying she had the opportunity to acquire her masters in exchange for re-signing with the label for a “length of time” - 10 more years, according to screenshots of legal documents posted on the Big Machine website.)

Swift has said that she intends to rerecord her first six albums next year, starting next November, when she says she’s contractually able to - in order to regain control of her recordings. But the back-and-forth appears to be nowhere near over: Last month, Swift alleged that Borchetta and Braun were blocking her from performing her past hits at the American Music Awards or using them in an upcoming Netflix documentary - claims Big Machine characterized as “false information” in a response that did not get into specifics. (Swift ultimately performed the medley she had planned.) In the weeks following this interview, Braun said he was open to “all possibilities” in finding a “resolution,” and Billboard sources say that includes negotiating a sale. Swift remains interested in buying her masters, though the price could be a sticking point, given her rerecording plans, the control she has over the licensing of her music for film and TV, and the market growth since Braun’s acquisition.

However it plays out, the battle over her masters is the latest in a series of moves that has turned Swift into something of an advocate for artists’ rights, and made her a cause that everyone from Halsey to Elizabeth Warren has rallied behind. From 2014 to 2017, Swift withheld her catalog from Spotify to protest the streaming company’s compensation rates, saying in a 2014 interview, “There should be an inherent value placed on art. I didn’t see that happening, perception-wise, when I put my music on Spotify.” In 2015, ahead of the launch of Apple Music, Swift wrote an open letter criticizing Apple for its plan to not pay royalties during the three-month free trial it was set to offer listeners; the company announced a new policy within 24 hours. Most recently, when she signed a new global deal with Universal Music Group in 2018, Swift (who is now on Republic Records) said one of the conditions of her contract was that UMG share proceeds from any sale of its Spotify equity with its roster of artists - and make them non-recoupable against those artists’ earnings.

During a wide-ranging conversation, Billboard’s Woman of the Decade expresses hope that she can help make the lives of creators a little easier in the years to come - and a belief that her behind-the-scenes strides will be as integral to her legacy as her biggest singles. “New artists and producers and writers need work, and they need to be likable and get booked in sessions, and they can’t make noise - but if I can, then I’m going to,” promises Swift. This is where being impossibly famous can be a very good thing. “I know that it seems like I’m very loud about this,” she says, “but it’s because someone has to be.”

While watching some of your performances this year - like SNL and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert - I was struck by how focused you seemed, like there were no distractions getting in the way of what you were trying to say. That’s a really wonderful way of looking at this phase of my life and my music. I’ve spent a lot of time re-calibrating my life to make it feel manageable. Because there were some years there where I felt like I didn’t quite know what exactly to give people and what to hold back, what to share and what to protect. I think a lot of people go through that, especially in the last decade. I broke through pre-social media, and then there was this phase where social media felt fun and casual and quirky and safe. And then it got to the point where everyone has to evaluate their relationship with social media. So I decided that the best thing I have to offer people is my music. I’m not really here to influence their fashion or their social lives. That has bled through into the live part of what I do.

Meanwhile, you’ve found a way to interact with your fans in this very pure way - on your Tumblr page. Tumblr is the last place on the internet where I feel like I can still make a joke because it feels small, like a neighborhood rather than an entire continent. We can kid around - they literally drag me. It’s fun. That’s a real comfort zone for me. And just like anything else, I need breaks from it sometimes. But when I do participate in that space, it’s always in a very inside-joke, friend vibe. Sometimes, when I open Twitter, I get so overwhelmed that I just immediately close it. I haven’t had Twitter on my phone in a while because I don’t like to have too much news. Like, I follow politics, and that’s it. But I don’t like to follow who has broken up with who, or who wore an interesting pair of shoes. There’s only so much bandwidth my brain can really have.

You’ve spoken in recent interviews about the general expectations you’ve faced, using phrases like “They’ve wanted to see this” and “They hated me for this.” Who is “they”? Is it social media or disparaging think pieces or... It’s sort of an amalgamation of all of it. People who aren’t active fans of your music, who like one song but love to hear who has been canceled on Twitter. I’ve had several upheavals of somehow not being what I should be. And this happens to women in music way more than men. That’s why I get so many phone calls from new artists out of the blue - like, “Hey, I’m getting my first wave of bad press, I’m freaking out, can I talk to you?” And the answer is always yes! I’m talking about more than 20 people who have randomly reached out to me. I take it as a compliment because it means that they see what has happened over the course of my career, over and over again.

Did you have someone like that to reach out to? Not really, because my career has existed in lots of different neighborhoods of music. I had so many mentors in country music. Faith Hill was wonderful. She would reach out to me and invite me over and take me on tour, and I knew that I could talk to her. Crossing over to pop is a completely different world. Country music is a real community, and in pop I didn’t see that community as much. Now there is a bit of one between the girls in pop - we all have each other’s numbers and text each other - but when I first started out in pop it was very much you versus you versus you. We didn’t have a network, which is weird because we can help each other through these moments when you just feel completely isolated.

Do you feel like those barriers are actively being broken down now? God, I hope so. I also hope people can call it out, [like] if you see a Grammy prediction article, and it’s just two women’s faces next to each other and feels a bit gratuitous. No one’s going to start out being perfectly educated on the intricacies of gender politics. The key is that people are trying to learn, and that’s great. No one’s going to get it perfect, but, God, please try.

At this point, who is your sounding board, creatively and professionally From a creative standpoint, I’ve been writing alone a lot more. I’m good with being alone, with thinking alone. When I come up with a marketing idea for the Lover tour, the album launch, the merch, I’ll go right to my management company that I’ve put together. I think a team is the best way to be managed. Just from my experience, I don’t think that this overarching, one-person-handles-my-career thing was ever going to work for me. Because that person ends up kind of being me who comes up with most of the ideas, and then I have an amazing team that facilitates those ideas. The behind-the-scenes work is different for every phase of my career that I’m in. Putting together the festival shows that we’re doing for Lover is completely different than putting together the Reputation Stadium Tour. Putting together the reputation launch was so different than putting together the 1989 launch. So we really do attack things case by case, where the creative first informs everything else.

You’ve spoken before about how meaningful the reputation tour’s success was. What did it represent? That tour was something that I wanted to immortalize in the Netflix special that we did because the album was a story, but it almost was like a story that wasn’t fully realized until you saw it live. It was so cool to hear people leaving the show being like, “I understand it now. I fully get it now.” There are a lot of red herrings and bait-and-switches in the choices that I’ll make with albums, because I want people to go and explore the body of work. You can never express how you feel over the course of an album in a single, so why try?

That seems especially true of your last three albums or so. “Shake It Off” is nothing like the rest of 1989. It’s almost like I feel so much pressure with a first single that I don’t want the first single to be something that makes you feel like you’ve figured out what I’ve made on the rest of the project. I still truly believe in albums, whatever form you consume them in - if you want to stream them or buy them or listen to them on vinyl. And I don’t think that makes me a staunch purist. I think that that is a strong feeling throughout the music industry. We’re running really fast toward a singles industry, but you got to believe in something. I still believe that albums are important.

The music industry has become increasingly global during the past decade. Is reaching new markets something you think about? Yeah, and I’m always trying to learn. I’m learning from everyone. I’m learning when I go see Bruce Springsteen or Madonna do a theater show. And I’m learning from new artists who are coming out right now, just seeing what they’re doing and thinking, “That’s really cool.” You need to keep your influences broad and wide-ranging, and my favorite people who make music have always done that. I got to work with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Cats movie, and Andrew will walk through the door and be like, “I’ve just seen this amazing thing on TikTok!” And I’m like, “You are it! You are it!” Because you cannot look at what quote-unquote “the kids are doing” and roll your eyes. You have to learn.

Have you explored TikTok at all? I only see them when they’re posted to Tumblr, but I love them! I think that they’re hilarious and amazing. Andrew says that they’ve made musicals cool again, because there’s a huge musical facet to TikTok. [He’s] like, “Any way we can do that is good.”

How do you see your involvement in the business side of your career progressing in the next decade? You seem like someone who could eventually start a label or be more hands-on with signing artists. I do think about it every once in a while, but if I was going to do it, I would need to do it with all of my energy. I know how important that is, when you’ve got someone else’s career in your hands, and I know how it feels when someone isn’t generous.

You’ve served as an ambassador of sorts for artists, especially recently - staring down streaming services over payouts, increasing public awareness about the terms of record deals. We have a long way to go. I think that we’re working off of an antiquated contractual system. We’re galloping toward a new industry but not thinking about re-calibrating financial structures and compensation rates, taking care of producers and writers. We need to think about how we handle master recordings, because this isn’t it. When I stood up and talked about this, I saw a lot of fans saying, “Wait, the creators of this work do not own their work, ever?” I spent 10 years of my life trying rigorously to purchase my masters outright and was then denied that opportunity, and I just don’t want that to happen to another artist if I can help it. I want to at least raise my hand and say, “This is something that an artist should be able to earn back over the course of their deal - not as a renegotiation ploy - and something that artists should maybe have the first right of refusal to buy.” God, I would have paid so much for them! Anything to own my work that was an actual sale option, but it wasn’t given to me. Thankfully, there’s power in writing your music. Every week, we get a dozen synch requests to use “Shake It Off” in some advertisement or “Blank Space” in some movie trailer, and we say no to every single one of them. And the reason I’m rerecording my music next year is because I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it.

Do you know how long that rerecording process will take? I don’t know! But it’s going to be fun, because it’ll feel like regaining a freedom and taking back what’s mine. When I created [these songs], I didn’t know what they would grow up to be. Going back in and knowing that it meant something to people is actually a really beautiful way to celebrate what the fans have done for my music.

Ten years ago, on the brink of the 2010s, you were about to turn 20. What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time? Oh, God - I wouldn’t give myself any advice. I would have done everything exactly the same way. Because even the really tough things I’ve gone through taught me things that I never would have learned any other way. I really appreciate my experience, the ups and downs. And maybe that seems ridiculously Zen, but... I’ve got my friends, who like me for the right reasons. I’ve got my family. I’ve got my boyfriend. I’ve got my fans. I’ve got my cats.

Taylor Swift Discusses 'The Man' & 'It's Nice To Have a Friend' In Cover Story Outtakes

Billboard // by Jason Lipshutz // December 12th 2019

During her cover story interview for Billboard’s Women In Music issue, Taylor Swift discussed several aspects of her mega-selling seventh studio album Lover, including its creation after a personal “recalibrating” period, her stripped-down performances of its songs and her plans to showcase the full-length live with her Lover Fest shows next year. In two moments from the extended conversation that did not make the print story, Billboard’s Woman of the Decade also touched upon two of the album’s highlights, which double as a pair of the more interesting songs in her discography: “The Man” and “It’s Nice To Have A Friend.” 

“The Man” imagines how Swift’s experience as a person, artist and figure within the music industry would have been different had she been a man, highlighting how much harder women have to work in order to succeed (“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man,” she sings in the chorus). The song has become a fan favorite since the release of Lover, and Swift recently opened a career-spanning medley with the song at the 2019 American Music Awards.

When asked about “The Man,” Swift pointed out specific double standards that exist in everyday life and explained why she wanted to turn that frustration into a pop single. Read Swift’s full thoughts on “The Man” below:

“It was a song that I wrote from my personal experience, but also from a general experience that I’ve heard from women in all parts of our industry. And I think that, the more we can talk about it in a song like that, the better off we’ll be in a place to call it out when it’s happening. So many of these things are ingrained in even women, these perceptions, and it’s really about re-training your own brain to be less critical of women when we are not criticizing men for the same things. So many things that men do, you know, can be phoned-in that cannot be phoned-in for us. We have to really — God, we have to curate and cater everything, but we have to make it look like an accident. Because if we make a mistake, that’s our fault, but if we strategize so that we won’t make a mistake, we’re calculating.

“There is a bit of a damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don’t thing happening in music, and that’s why when I can, like, sit and talk and be like ‘Yeah, this sucks for me too,’ that feels good. When I go online and hear the stories of my fans talking about their experience in the working world, or even at school — the more we talk about it, the better off we’ll be. And I wanted to make it catchy for a reason — so that it would get stuck in people’s heads, [so] they would end up with a song about gender inequality stuck in their heads. And for me, that’s a good day.”

Meanwhile, the penultimate song on Lover, “It’s Nice To Have A Friend,” sounds unlike anything in Swift’s catalog thanks to its elliptical structure, lullaby-like tone and incorporation of steel drums and brass. When asked about the song, Swift talked about experimenting with her songwriting, as well as capturing a different angle of the emotional themes at the heart of Lover. Read Swift’s full thoughts on “It’s Nice To Have A Friend” below:

“It was fun to write a song that was just verses, because my whole body and soul wants to make a chorus — every time I sit down to write a song, I’m like, ‘Okay, chorus time, let’s get the chorus done.’ But with that song, it was more of like a poem, and a story and a vibe and a feeling of... I love metaphors that kind of have more than one meaning, and I think I loved the idea that, on an album called Lover, we all want love, we all want to find somebody to see our sights with and hear things with and experience things with.

“But at the end of the day we’ve been searching for that since we were kids! When you had a friend when you were nine years old, and that friend was all you talked about, and you wanted to have sleepovers and you wanted to walk down the street together and sit there drawing pictures together or be silent together, or be talking all night. We’re just looking for that, but endless sparks, as adults.”

Read the full Taylor Swift cover story here, and click here for more info on Billboard’s 2019 Women In Music event, during which Swift will be presented with the first-ever Woman of the Decade award.

[link to this tweet]

Was there ever a part of you that was like, “Oh shit, I like this darker vibe, let’s go even further down that path?” I really Loved Reputation because it felt like a rock opera, or a musical, doing it live. Doing that stadium show was so fun because it was so theatrical and so exciting to perform that, because it’s really cathartic! But I have to follow whatever direction my life is going in emotionally... The skies were opening up in my life. That’s what happened. But in a way that felt like a pink sky, a pink and purple sky, after a storm, and now it looks even more beautiful because it looked so stormy before. And that’s just like, I couldn't stop writing. I’ve never had an album with 18 songs on it before, and a lot of what I do is based on intuition. So, you know, I try not to overthink it. Who knows, there may be another dark album. I plan on doing lots of experimentation over the course of my career. Who knows? But it was a blast, I really loved it.

I mean, look, a Taylor Swift screamo album? I’ll be first in line. I’m so happy to hear that, because I think you might be the only one. Ha! I have a terrible scream. It’s obnoxious.

Why Taylor Swift's Lover Fest Will Be Her Next Big Step

Billboard // by Jason Lipshutz // December 11th 2019 - [Excerpt]

On why she chose to put together Lover fest: “I haven’t really done festivals in years - not since I was a teenager. That’s something that [the fans] don’t expect from me, so that’s why I wanted to do it. I want to challenge myself with new things and at the same time keep giving my fans something to connect to.”

[calif0rnia-lovers]

last thought of the day: FUCK SCOOTER BRAUN. Even if you don’t like her music, you should seriously find something fucked up about him buying Taylor Swift’s masters to her first 6 albums. Then turning around, and reselling then to someone else less than two years later for $300 million. Selling them to someone else after she refused to sign an NDA, during negotiations, that would have forced her to remain silent on all the things he did to her. That said she could only say “positive things” about him. Like what??????? And that’s not even the most fucked up part. Although he sold her masters, he will continue to make money off of them because of the deal he made. And what’s worse is that people are making it seem like this isn’t a big deal because, for some reason, a lot of people don’t like Taylor Swift. If this was a male artist like Justin Bieber people would be outraged. And clearly he’s willing to sell his soul for money, so don’t act like he wouldn’t take Justin’s masters. Doesn’t matter if you like Taylor Swift or not, it’s fucked up.

[graffiastrology]

The Archer, a musical birth chart. Pt2 Capricorn the man

Let's start with :Uranus in Capricorn

Uranus here is not so comfortable and their revolutionary ideas are hold back, Capri is more concerned with real change than fictional utopian ideas, In the case of Swift she took her sweet time to publicly discuss her political views and to be open about her posture on a lot of civil rights, don’t misunderstand me, they were there, just very hidden (the 12 house) but when Capricorn gets down to business they meant it and it can be verified in the tangible changes she made in 2019; she did something beyond the performativity: she pushed a ACT she made a real and tangible change, she was not comfortable just telling homophobes YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN, now we are turning tables (note: At the moment of writing this the equality act has been reintroduced to change.org and is currently at 832k, come guys you have made her debut with 1 million units at the b200 so many times) http://chng.it/5wYyBW4Rvw

But as it is usual with her, the haters were still after her, so much bullshit even after it all, is so easy to go after Saturn on the Ascendant, is it not?

One interpretation of having Saturn in the ascendant is an individual who is prone to be bullied, people are MEAN to them, they doubt their words, and in turn the person becomes so aware of how they come across, some people choose to present themselves in a serious and controlled manner to avoid this, and even more for Saturn in Capricorn, but then we have an opposition, and what does a stern Capricorn stellium say to a soft cancer moon who feels very deeply the words? one day you are going to be living in a big old city, one day you are going to be so big that they can’t hit you, With effort, hard work with a strong work ethic, one day you are going to move the big apple Take your broken heart, put it in a drawer, and it going to sound like WELCOME TO NEW YORK, we have been waiting for you, the Capricornian dream! (Neptune in Capricorn) and now is time to be up in the lights, like diamonds in the sky, you are the LUCKY ONE, Miss swift: money by millions, records after records, your discography is worth so much money, you have an enormous squad of famous friends who have your back when you fight, a big department in New York, but darling... did that fill empty seats at the lunch tables of your past?

And as it is usual with Saturn, he returned. And in her chart it was an intense transit: first for her sagittarian sun then for her ascendent: It was 17 of July of 2016, Saturn was starting his transit in Sagittarius, close to her sun. Meanwhile Pluto was transiting her ascendant, that was the day an influential female libra published an edited conversation that put Taylor in a really bad light. Celebrities rely a lot on images, her image was shattered, and her reputation dragged to the mud celebrities rely a lot on the perception the public has of them, and images are so fragile that a mishap can destroy them, but in her case she had so many people just waiting to have a valid reason to hate her, little it matter to them that the reason was a fabricated lie (if by this point you have not listen to the whole record call, please do so, as it will become very important for the Scorpio section) everything seemed lost, they assassinated her reputation, and then the pain to know that you were lied to, double crossed and declared "death" everything seemed lost for EVERMORE..... but it wasn't. Saturn returns also speak of reclaiming our power, learn lessons and overcome challenges, and its ironic, back on the 1989 world tour she made a big and deep speech that she gave before performing a song that will be the lesson she had to experience in her bones, and it goes like this:

I just hope that you will look in the mirror and remind yourself of what you are, and what you are not. You are not your mistakes. You are not damaged goods or muddy from your failed explorations. You are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know you. You are a product of the lessons that you’ve learned. You are wiser because you went through something terrible. And you are the person who survived a bunch of rainstorms and kept walking. I now believe that pain makes you stronger, and I now believe that walking through a lot of rainstorms gets you CLEAN.

Unfortunately Saturn was not done yet, and so it returned to her natal lucky Saturn 13°, all 2018 she had Saturn transits, first for her ascendant then by her natal lucky Saturn 13, behind of the scenes the work of 15 years, 15 million tears was sold for 300 million of dollars to a man that participated in her takedown, while she was “kindly” offered to recover 1 master for 1 album, the scooter brought each master for 50 million dollars, while she was asked to give a entire album, AN ENTIRE ERA, for each master, it was not fair, but it legal. Oh Capricorn women, you play by the rules, you hustle, you stay your ground, you let your work speak for itself…and what happens? The system showed to you the place they have selected for you. to continue to work with these men or to just give up and move to something different, Sometimes walking out is the one thing That will find you the right thing

IT WAS TIME TO GO, but go where?

To THE LAKES, to enjoy melancholy and solitude, after all Capricorn is a feminine sign and is in the same axis with cancer and now I want to point to another of her placements: Mercury conjunct Saturn, This one is a challenge and a gift, difficult learning, a lot of repetition to get the grip of concepts, but once this is tackled, it becomes great at using words, it was a running joke that Taylor made swifties grab a dictionary so they can understand the album folklore, and there are lyrics that exemplifies this:

I've come too far to watch some name dropping sleaze Tell me what are my words worth

Its said that mercury in Capricorn are scientific and pragmatic thinkers, but honestly I have found a couple of song writers with this placement who are very poetic , you can say is the conjunction Neptune and Saturn , I like to say that Capricornian mercury is systematic, which is very prominent in Scientists and engineers , but this structural thinking can be applied to arts as well, and also can be a failed system. After all is about connecting points and words, I could also put a selection of the colors of Taylor swift, another recurrent theme in her writing, but you know what? I say that is just Taylor, it has nothing to do with her birth chart.

Mercury is also about our writing style and when I was reading her lover diaries a lot of them had the signature of capricorn "I just cant wait to be older" yeah that is, also this:

Speaking of writing lets talk about folklore, the album of the year 2020! She did that! an by that I mean she created a new perspective for her music, the old tired argument that “she only writes about her exes” fell flat as she made stories about different characters that captivated thousands of new listeners and I can see a placement in action here:

Capricornian Mercury opposite to Cancerian Jupiter :

The history of James, Betty, and Agustine

It was 2020, a terrible, terrible year for almost everybody, and Taylor found herself in a situation outside her control, the lover era was cancelled like pretty much everything else, she was lucky enough to be in a safe and comfortable place, it was when her imagination flew wild and made history with Folklore and Evermore, from these pieces of work she did something people didn’t gave credit: Writing. As she expanded her storytelling abilities outside her life (which she had already explored not just as much) she crafted a story that was connected across various songs:CARDIGAN, AUGUST, BETTY, TIS IS THE DAMN SEASON and DOROTHEA there is one big picture(Jupiter) and each song gives us details(Mercury) in how the participants lived it; they were in the same classroom,: BETTY, Inez, DOROTHEA, James, their teenage years full of dreams and problems, it was just a summer break when James took the train in AUGUST, and had a summer fling, breaking 2 hearts but he came back to apologize, and she accepted him. Meanwhile Dorothea was trying to make it in LA selling dreams and magazines, while Chris missed her until THE DAMN SEASON came around and they connected one last time. If you remember I selected these last songs for the freedom seekers of the zodiac: Sagittarius and Aquarius which let me jump to the next section.

[whatiwillsay]

Okay I know I could just google this but I also know you could explain this to me better than google. I don’t live under a rock so I heard things. What is the deal between Taylor and scooter?

-  when taylor was 15 she signed with big machine label group (run by Scott Borchetta) 

-  13 years later her contract with big machine ended and she signed with Republic Records and Universal Music Group.

-  part of the new deal was that Taylor would own all her future masters (masters are the original recording of the song/album and they’re important because the owner is entitled to a certain percentage of the money made of the music) while big machine would retain ownership of her first six albums.

-  Taylor seemed ok with this arrangement (wrote a nice goodbye to Scott and such)

-  then Scott borchetta sold big machine (so Taylor's music) to scooter Braun. 

-  Taylor was shocked and devastated by this because scooter has a HORRIBLE reputation in the industry and he was probably involved with the Kimye team up on Taylor. (there’s an Instagram post on Justin Bieber's account where he is facetiming with Scott and Kanye - Justin posted a screenshot of the facetime call and said ��Taylor swift what up” in the caption. Scooter manages Justin). Scooter is TRASH.  Literally, a horrible person that tormented Taylor.  He should NEVER be able to profit off of her work.

-  also, she revealed that she had indeed wanted to own her masters, of course she did, but they never really gave her a chance.

-  honestly read her post on it here to really understand how scummy these people are.  she refers to the situation as “my worst case scenario” and “my worst nightmares”. she explains that this is such a major betrayal because scott KNEW that scooter was her tormentor and still went through with the sale.

-  Taylor had no heads up that this was going to happen, she was completely blindsided. 

-  this happened all in the middle of Lover promo in the summer of 2019 and it’s important in gaylorland because many think she may have come out had this devastating twist of events not come to pass.

-  that’s why it’s also such a huge issue that karlie appeared to maintain a professional relationship (she was managed by someone who worked for him, it seems as though Karlie's manager now runs her own firm though and that’s as of spring 2020), possibly even a friendly one with scooter, through spring of 2020.  Scooter is scum of the earth and villain #1 in the swiftiesphere. 

it was a big shakeup in the industry. Halsey and Sky Ferreira wrote up their support for Tay as did Todrick (Todrick actually accused Scooter of being homophobic so OF COURSE, the whole thing is just disgusting.)  other artists unfollowed him and Ariana Grande who is still managed by him (ugh #freeariana) deleted a congrats message to him.

fuck scott.  fuck scooter.  sending love to Taylor always.