It’s shit like this that makes me think music is doomed, if not our whole damn nation. Taylor Swift might have lived a life on the road, but she didn’t go to college and get the knowledge, the powers of analysis that would allow her to parse details and come up with cogent statements, never mind solutions. As for “Vanity Fair,” they got their headline, what do they care, they’ve got more clicks! Furthermore, I doubt the writer/interviewer could understand the underlying concepts, it seems that no one can.

Taylor Swift’s beef with Spotify is that it’s got a free ad-supported tier. She’s cool with paid subscription. If Spotify got rid of its free ad-supported tier she’d make a deal tomorrow. Instead, she lauds Apple Music which is giving her music away for free to the end user, contradicting her statement in the “Wall Street Journal” about music having “value,” and furthermore, Apple hasn’t even said how much it’s gonna pay for three months of free streaming, just that it’ll pay something, probably about as much as Spotify in the end.

So, what has Taylor Swift done? A disservice to the music industry and herself. But she’s being lauded all the while.

Make me puke.

That’s right, I can strongly argue that Taylor Swift is what’s wrong with music today. She took a huge country career, built upon her personal story married to hooks and melody, and turned to the world’s greatest hitmaker, Max Martin, to make her into a pop star. Pop stars come and go, the legends are forever. And today there’s really only one pop star, Mr. Martin, his fingerprints are all over not only Taylor Swift’s music but the Weeknd’s too, never mind… Furthermore, Martin has a coterie of apprentices who churn out more hits, and you’ve got to give him credit, but if you’re looking for honesty and innovation from a fortysomething Swede, you’re looking in the wrong place. We’ve never had a Swedish Bob Dylan, and if you’re a legend, you write not only your own music, but your lyrics too.

In pop you fall in and out of love.

The legends sing about something deeper.

But I want to get back to Spotify.

The truth is streaming has already won, and to diss Spotify is like dissing the supermarket. What, do you expect everybody to grow their food at home? Of course not, it’s labor intensive and expensive and you’ve got little choice. Streaming killed the iTunes Music Store dead, otherwise why would we have the execrable Apple Music!

Ain’t that the music business. Jimmy Iovine is one of us, unlike Daniel Ek, so he gets a pass. Huh? Just try using Apple Music, if you’re not frustrated, if you don’t hit dead ends, you’re lying. Whereas Spotify and Deezer and the rest of them are much more seamless.

It’s like Taylor Swift decided to piss on Ford to make a deal with GM. They’re both making cars, they’re both trying to make a profit. Then again, to applaud Apple for its deep pockets is laughable, the anti sixties statement. Apple doesn’t care about de minimis royalty payments because it’s got so much cash. Why don’t we get behind DuPont while we’re at it, or Exxon! At least give credit to Neil Young for attacking Monsanto. That’s right Taylor Swift, you could use your power to agitate for good for all, but really you’re self-centered. And if I hear one more superstar say they’re doing it for the little people, I want them to sign a document ensuring they won’t complain when their time is done and they can no longer get on the chart and the little people are replacing them. They’re doing it for themselves. Jay Z and Madonna ain’t altruistic, nor is Taylor Swift. That paradigm went out with the sixties.

So, piracy used to be rampant. And then streaming came along and eviscerated it. In the U.S., YouTube dominates. We want to move people to a paid model. It’s complicated. But we’ve made progress. But there’s so much infighting and misinformation that the public holds up its hands and says NO MAS!

We want people to check out all streaming services, and choose the one they like best. We don’t want to dissuade them from partaking. And when the free three months at Apple Music expire does Taylor Swift believe all her fans are gonna pony up ten bucks a month? Of course not, then she’d be really stupid.

And she’d be stupid to remove her videos from YouTube, it’d kill her career overnight. But YouTube pays a pittance.

And I don’t really give a shit about Taylor Swift. She’s rich and she’s famous with all the attendant perks. Another one percenter, that’s fine. But when the Koch brothers proffer misinformation it makes me crazy and I feel the same way when Taylor Swift employs smoke and mirrors and personal feelings and agendas to depict a landscape that is inaccurate.

Then again, those corporate titans are not ignorant.

Taylor Swift is suffering in the Nordics, where Spotify is dominant and physical is almost dead, never mind downloads. She’s gonna blink and cave, it’s just a matter of time. Because the only thing she cares about is her career. But she’s so deep in the bubble she’s got no idea what’s going on.

Ain’t that America.

Vanity Fair – Taylor Swift Reveals How She Stood Up to Apple