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Taylor Swift Revitalizing Live Music

Bunk McNulty

Bunk McNulty

It is not easy to do simple things correctly
Supporting Member
Dec 11, 2012
9,284
31,765
Northampton, MA
#1
from the story (The whole story is worth your time. Made me feel better about things anyway):

"For the first time in ages, the superstar musician at the top of the hierarchy is brave, independent, generous, and willing to take a hard stand in changing the system. You stand up for artist rights. You stand up for live music. You stand up for people. And you do all this with a grass roots power base that nobody can match—no politician, no billionaire technocrat, and certainly no other performer.

Musicians have never had that kind of visionary leader.

An Open Letter To Taylor Swift
 
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#3
Oddly said:
She sure seems to be doing everything right. Fair play to her!
Click to expand...

The recent ticketing debacle wasn't an especially great look, just sayin'. ;)

But if anyone is likely to be able to change that very very broken system, at least here in the US, she has my vote!
 
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#5
Maybe I read it too quickly, but I didn't see all that much in the piece. It seemed like a recitation of the music business's familiar current dysfunctions, with a rather vague plea that maybe the superstar of the moment can change them somehow. Swift is raking in tons of cash these days, and she may have her heart in the right place (or may not - you never know what's sincere and what's PR with public figures). But I don't see any more sign that this augurs a structural change, any more than the Beatles opening the Apple label did.
 
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#11
Bunk McNulty said:
from the story (The whole story is worth your time. Made me feel better about things anyway):

"For the first time in ages, the superstar musician at the top of the hierarchy is brave, independent, generous, and willing to take a hard stand in changing the system. You stand up for artist rights. You stand up for live music. You stand up for people. And you do all this with a grass roots power base that nobody can match—no politician, no billionaire technocrat, and certainly no other performer.

Musicians have never had that kind of visionary leader.

An Open Letter To Taylor Swift
Click to expand...
He has a point. And in ways she seems to be trying. Whether she’ll be able to effectuate change remains to be seen. I’m rooting for her, even though I’m not a huge fan. But I do like some of her recent work the last few years.

Other artists have tried, but are limited by their lack of the mass appeal that Swift has. Neil Young and Wilco come to mind as artists who’ve tried to shake things up. Their efforts are commendable, but they haven’t made much difference.
 
#13
Nice article. Taylor's concerts are an event everywhere she goes, she's massively popular, and has indeed taken on the suits to claim control of he music. And she's gotten millions of girls to pick up guitars and play actual music, at least in some degree. Whether or not she can bring about industry wide changes in the ways mentioned is an open question. But she's made a fan of me ... I just wish I liked her music better. :) I don't dislike it, thankfully, but it doesn't really move me, either. But it's not aimed at me anyway. Go get 'em Taylor!
 
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#16
Passinwind said:
The recent ticketing debacle wasn't an especially great look, just sayin'. ;)

But if anyone is likely to be able to change that very very broken system, at least here in the US, she has my vote!
Click to expand...
I don't know that the ticket thing was her fault as much as Ticketmaster and the greedy secondary market.

I don't listen to her as much as my wife and daughter, but I think she is legit and seems to do the right thing. How much is PR and how much is sincere I don't know. I'm sure we don't' see or know everything. But food banks seem more full when she leaves town. Her crew seems to have some extra in their pockets. Amos has been with her for years. I'm sure he could find another gig if he wanted to. She will have the biggest tour in history (herstory?) when she's done in a year or so. Time to lighten up and give her some credit. I think there's a lot of envy out there. The rabid fanbase. The sales numbers. It's all never before seen.
 
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#17
nonohmic said:
My 7 year old daughter just discovered T-Swizzle. So we spend a lot of time listening to her Tiny Desk, and watching her videos. I think she's a great role model, and have no concerns with any time my daughter spends with her content. That's rare these days.
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I'm in my daughter's 11's, enjoying Katy Perry, Dua Lipa and Alicia Keys - I know, she's for sure the real deal among the others but never enjoyed her before I looked for something real for my daughter to balance her choices.
You can always find some gems like these:






We also irradiated her with all our Metallica, ACDC, Tool, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and the other big names but at the moment she didn't discovered T Swift. Better this way.
 
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