Thursday, November 13, 2014

Swifty vs. Spotify

If you've been around this blog for any significant amount of time or if you know me and my sister in real life, then you know we are not Taylor Swift fans. It is not about her personally! She does great things for a lot of charities and from every single thing we've ever read she's absolutely fabulous to her fans. Great, wonderful, awesome. BUT we aren't fans. It's a combo of her dancing, her adolescent song lyrics, and her horrible live singing at every damn awards show. Honestly, I shouldn't have to defend my decision not to like her. #IDoWhatIWant


So, disclaimer - I'm not a TSwift fan, so I don't, at the moment, have a dog in this fight.

However, I did listen to her song Shake It Off, and damnit, I do like it. So when her album 1989 was about to be released, I was kind of interested to hear it because I thought just maybe she was finally growing into herself and finally writing for her age. Unfortunately, I still haven't heard any of her new album, because she pulled it from Spotify.


Spotify is my main device for listening to music. I pay the $9.99 a month so that I can have Spotify on my laptop and on my cell phone and I have an AUX cable so that I can listen to Spotify in my car. I definitely get my $9.99 a month from Spotify and it is more than worth it for me. I'm a huge Spotify supporter.

Taylor came forward after pulling all of her music from Spotify and gave her reasoning behind her decision to pull her music. I don't necessarily disagree with her basic argument, to be honest. Her music is an art and just like you'd pay for a painting, she should be compensated for the hard work she puts in. Cool, no arguments here.

Do I think Spotify is the problem? Do I think Spotify is to blame? No.

It's 2014 and I haven't bought a song on iTunes in over a year and I haven't purchased an actual CD is much, much longer. I took a quick poll from my friends and they all pretty much said the same thing. Then I read this must-read article from the Spotify CEO. I'm not going to sum it up or paraphrase it because I want you to read it. It is definitely worth your read.

I'm thinking a lot of thoughts right now. I'm wondering if Taylor realizes that Spotify does pay so much for every song they stream. I'm also wondering if she just isn't getting the payout. Recording companies are known for underpaying their artists. I'm also wondering why it feels like she's trying to take a stand against Spotify and against free music, BUT she's left her album on multiple other sites that do not pay her or anyone else. Also wondering how she thinks she's going to stop illegal downloads, because that is and has been a huge problem for a long time. I'm curious about her thought process in general.

Not to be totally metaphorical or anything, but she just hoped off the train, which is fine, but that doesn't mean the train is going to stop. She didn't even give the train a legitimate reason to stop and she didn't pull the emergency breaks. She just jumped off. Again, cool for her, but everyone else on that train is going to keep going into 2015 and now here she is on foot, walking back to 2008.

Or I could be wrong. It's a rare occurrence, but it has been known to happen occasionally.

10 comments:

  1. Yea, I was curious to hear her new album but since its not on Spotify I probably won't ever listen. I understand both parties' sides but for a potential new "fan" (it pains me to call it that, lets just say "listener") ... you lost my ears ha

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  2. Personally, I think she of all people isn't the one to talk about record sales dropping because of Spotify (or other streaming services). While I'm sure they have dropped, and probably will continue to do so, she needs to consider her personal fan base. I'm a huge fan, have always been, and for 1989 I purchased the iTunes preorder, then the Target deluxe version (so a physical copy), and then also wanted to enjoy 1989 on Spotify. I've purchased concert tickets, merchandise, and sometimes even purchased more than one of the deluxe copy of her album. So it's a littttttle silly to me that she would pull it acting as though her fans won't purchase an album just because she's on Spotify!

    As for your tweet (haha), I would never tar and feather you! Some people don't like her, and that's cool. We're all different, and that's what makes us fun :)

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  3. Oh and also, I'm going to text you and do exactly what you said above: discuss illegal downloads.

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  4. I'm gonna confetti you, Snicklefritz.

    I'm not a spotify user, so I really can't say much. I do understand the frustration towards her about her decision though. It's kinda silly in the big picture.

    P.S. If you really want to have a listen, I have a solution :)

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  5. I feel the exact dame way about TSwift, I went to listen on Spotify to give her a chance and it wasn't there, Spotify is my go to source for all music these days.

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  6. Yeah I don't get her appeal.. I have never liked her... and never will...

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  7. I was a Taylor Swift fan in her early days when I was younger. But now she just kinda annoys me. Like you, I did want to listen to her new album on my Spotify too! I hope other artists don't follow her lead.

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  8. I listen to all my music on spotify too but was forced to actually BUT A CD when her new album came out. I haven't done bag in forever. I think she was smart

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  9. I'm right there with ya, girlie! The Spotify train is fabulous & maybe she'll kick herself for jumping, I don't know. But I figure that if the money greedy guys of Metallica (who I love) are on Spotify, there should be no reason that everyone else isn't on board. Ha!

    Mandie ~ http://badbrewpack.blogspot.com/

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  10. I am not a Taylor Swift fan either!! I haven't found another one in ages- everyone around me is OBSESSED with her. Which is a minor problem because I live in my sorority house, so EVERYONE is playing her music EVERY SECOND of EVERY DAY ALWAYS. It is interesting that she stills has her music on other free music sites...I wonder if other artists will follow suit in the near future?

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