I’ve always known that Taylor Swift is one of the smartest businesswomen to ever enter the music industry. It’s true – even if Tay’s haters want to criticize her for everything else, they have to give her credit for understanding her business model and for understanding how to promote herself and her music. One of the most fundamental parts of the Business of Taylor is controversy, hype and headlines. Bad or good, any gossip helps her sell music. So that’s why I’m starting to wonder if the whole Mayochella thing was perhaps too convenient. My theory: Taylor knows on some level that “ME!” is perhaps not her best single, and she knows that the conversation about “what is this rainbow-vomit twee mess” would only last for so long. So like all smart businesswomen, she gave people a new controversy: Mayochella, the Billboard Music Awards performance.
I honestly didn’t come up with this theory on my own – Vanity Fair pointed it out, that this is always the early cycle of Taylor Swift’s promotion. VF posits that Taylor Swift would rather be part of a “copycat/appropriation” conversation than being ignored altogether. Plus, Swift understands her fanbase, and she knows they’ll charge forth to defend her honor no matter what, so Tay stokes controversy then sits back and plays the victim. She gets to “copy” Beyonce, get dragged for it, then watch her fans defend her vociferously, and all she has to do is sit back and give a few “pity poor me, everyone was MEAN to me!” interviews. And we fall for it every damn time!
Desus & Mero mocked Taylor last night. Just go ahead and mock her, this is part of her business model.
Also, I hadn’t seen this before, but before Mayochella, there were people saying that Taylor was copycatting Kacey Musgraves’ imagery and pastel vibes.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
I’m sorry. I decided to join The Snake Fam after her adorable video of her new kitten.
I think compared to a lot of celebrities, I find Taylor to be incredibly human. She still has a lot to learn but I also feel she gets an unfair rap because she doesn’t try to be perfect.
An unfair rap? Lol. Okay…
Incredibly human? Everything about her is intensely calculated and manufactured. It’s like she’s living a life designed by a marketing committee lol.
She gets one of the fairest raps (LOL, I know that’s not a real expression) out of all of the American female pop stars, both from conservatives and from liberals. People hardly ever even scapegoat her for the actions of abusers despite the way she styles herself. I’m not saying she hasn’t experienced any misogyny, hardship, or hate, or that those things were ok, but there is a marked difference in how women like her, Tori Kelly, and even sometimes Pink get treated vs. how everyone else gets treated.
She’s a bully who skates by for being blonde and white. There’s no amount of cats (and I love cats) to hide that. And the only thing Taylor is willing to learn is how to keep on being a bully while still playing nice to whom matters to build her carreer.
Exactly. I LOVE cats. I saw the video and it was cute. The cat is adorable. And that has literally nothing to do with the fact that Taylor is the worst who gets away with playing the victim while being a mean girl who regularly culturally appropriates from POC. I don’t find her “incredibly human” at all. I find her to be fake AF.
I’m sorry, but it is literally “kitten season.” Thousands of cats are at shelters and this woman BUYS a third cat. I used to think she was harmless but nope.
Cats are our overlords. And everything you say is gospel!
@Basi it was homeless cat, she adopted it. Some kind of rescue works to put homeless animals in commercials and music videos to get them adopted.
https://people.com/pets/taylor-swift-new-cat-me-video-instagram/
This woman could do so much to help shelter cats. She chooses to buy cats instead. That says all there is to say about her in my opinion.
for real – imagine if Taylor Swift was a huge vocal supporter for adopting and fostering cats? she could have a huge impact…
That is not a shelter cat. It’s obviously from a breeder. Yes, it needed a home like all cats do, but that cat and her others are not from shelters.
Is the original post a parody because it’s so LOL. Taylor is one of the fakest people. She also gets away with so much and is never called out for it except for Kim Kardashian of all people. She’s a big mean girl and always plays the victim. I think the most annoying thing is praise for doing the minimum. When she endorsed a candidate all of the sudden people were claiming she’s a big political force. So many celebrities have marched, talked, donated so much more than Taylor yet everyone was calling her a hero. All was forgotten and forgiven for not distancing herself from white supremacists, being invisible at the height of the Me Too movement, attacking anybody who made her look bad. I actually like some of her music but find her annoying as a person.
I called this on my Twitter account after the performance.
Her people knew and knew what the outcome was going to be.
Taylor lives by the rule that no press is bad press.
Agree. Publicists have finally learned to embrace the instantaneous social media “controversy” machine to a performers advantage. I believe 98% of any drama you read on the internet is calculated.
How many more rainbows does Taylor Swift have to barf up before people finally catch on that she is trying to slowly let everyone know she’s LGBTQ. That’s what this album will be. Mark my words. This is why all her “relationships” with men are so bizarre. She’s been in the closet for years.
I usually really enjoy the insights of most posters on this site with regards to LBGTQ and POC issues, I have learned to examine my own internalized issues and am more aware of micro aggression through actions and words.
Having said that, why do “in the closet” comments show up on so many threads about a person that is generally disliked here? Whatever TS’s issues are, her sexuality isn’t one.
these rumors have been around Taylor for years, esp back when she and Karlie were tight but even before that too (pretty sure her stans linked her to a teen actress before Karlie), it’s nothing to do with the fact that people here don’t like her as the rumors are not from here.
Seriously, there are like 3 different articles that talk about this. One of the authors even got an email from Tree, Taylor’s publicist in a positive way about the article. I mean she even made a mural of the wings Karlie wore in one of VS shows. Lol
Notice how this fair maiden isn’t being dragged for QU33RBAITING and getting stereotyped as a lying attentionwhoring straight girl like almost every other woman under 30 who discusses, hints at, or stirs up talk about attraction to more than just men. Gee, why not? Why aren’t her unambiguous femininity, problematic things she’s done, her numerous relationships with men (and ZERO public, committed relationships w/women) or her obvious fame working against her? As a bisexual woman it makes me stabby when people play those cards period. It’s dehumanizing AF. But it’s obvious why people are willing to accept this one as bisexual.
Yeah, this her MO. And it’s not that people think beyonce invented marching bands but it’s so close to the premiere and praise of Netflix that anything similar would appear like she’s trying to do it better and the execution was AWFUL. Didn’t she also have a lot of the Formation vibes in her last album too? Listen, we already know after the Kanye thing is that she loves to play the victim to POC. I just wish Beyonce fans wouldn’t have fell for her scheme. It would have been a better burn to ignore her completely but here they go being hilarious on twitter and I love it.
This is why I didn’t comment on yesterday’s story. Though I admit that I got caught up in a couple Twitter threads because her fans are so f*cking obnoxious. But this has been my feeling about her for awhile now. Her music is no longer relevant. It’s boring and she has nothing interesting to say. So how do you keep your name in people’s mouths?? You troll bigger fandoms by appropriating from better artists. And then you sit back and play ghe victim and talk about how everyone is bullying and mean to you. She’s trolling everyone. And like with her reputation album her sales will be padded by her telling her fans to keep buying the record over and over again – because at this point no ine new is buying that s*it.
Yes, exactly. She just broke the record on YouTube by hiding Easter eggs in her video and telling fans to go find them. She’s getting the results she wants, but not from talent.
This is my big issue with her – from the beginning she was appropriating from others and got away with it because of her Miss Apple Pie persona. She only got a record deal cause Daddy bought a record label for her and then paid top dollar for the big producers in Nashville to work with her.
But like…does Kacey Musgraves have a lock on pastels? Is Beyonce the only person who is allowed to incorporate a marching band into their performance? I find it weird to say she’s copying anyone when these are pretty standard aesthetics and instruments we’ve seen multiple artists use. When she has similarities in her SONGS to other artists, she deserves to be called out for that. But this stuff is just silly to me.
I think it’s because these aesthetics have been used so recently by successful talented artists that raises an eye. If you’re a mega talent (as she says she is) then a fan would assume a great effort is put on being fresh and original. Elevating and changing these each time is their gig. T Swift just decided to borrow a little from here and there and slap on a mediocre song to it. Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence and her execution is still not up to par.
Oh come on. It’s the timing. She does this on the heels of these other women putting theirs out there. If she did this BBMA performance even months after Beyonce, then your argument may hold water. But she did it literally just after Homecoming is released.
Two things, though: 1) This song was being teased around the time Homecoming dropped on Netflix. The song heavily features drummers, which is why they were in the performance. The song, and likely the performance, were already planned before the documentary came out. 2) The documentary was about Beyonce’s 2018 Coachella performance, right? So that was a year ago.
In any case, I don’t buy that using a drumline is copying anyone. Madonna has used it. Stevie Nicks has used it. Etc. But I just enjoy drumlines, lol. I’ll never say no to watching them.
Yesterday people were saying she was copying Katy Perry with the pastels. But if Musgraves also used pastels, is she also copying Katy Perry? Or maybe, it’s a color scheme that is used all the time, especially in spring?
This is all so ridiculous to me. Beyonce and Taylor’s performances were so incredibly different. The outrage machine is really stretching with this. Slow gossip season, huh?
+1
I totally agree with you. Beyonce is also known to “copycat” but I guess it’s ok when she does it? Marching Bands and pastel colors belong to no one. There is no copyright on that stuff. So ridiculous.
if she’s not directly copying anyone, at the very least she is completely oblivious to how she is perceived. why go ahead with the marching band performance after beyoncé dropped homecoming and reminded everyone of her iconic marching band performance? why would she invite comparisons to beyoncé if not because she doesn’t care what people are saying about her as long as they are talking about her?
Isn’t this always the case with appropriation and veiled racism? It’s never outright and always leaves room for and excuse like this “they don’t own marching bands and pastels”, “I wasn’t copying, our vibes are similar and I’m just doing what I like”.
Plausible deniability. It’s been a tool of the powerful for a very long time, and Taylor is white and blonde and pretty, and she knows how to use it.
I guess i don’t get the “copying” pastel vibes cause it’s everywhere right now, online and in my local shops. I think Taylor doesn’t know how to age her music, and I think she is so twee herself that it’s never going to happen. A bit like how Britney’s music arguably hasn’t developed. I don’t think this is some Taylor master plan, I think she is genuinely that vanilla and has nothing else to do.
This^^^ Thank you! It’s not the whole ‘copying’ thing at all that I care about…it’s that, she can’t make her music in a more Adult manner…I actually like Taylor. I’m in my 30s, but I think she has catchy songs. But, I wish she would write songs that have more meaning and depth. Shouldn’t you grow as a person and reflect about more about life changes? But, like you said….it’s never going to happen. I’m clearly not her target audience.
She’s emotionally stunted. She has been for years. Didn’t someone say people who get famous at an early age sort of stops emotionally growing at that age?
Also, is she still considered country? None of her songs sound country.
Yep, I agree on all points. Pastels are just in right now. The main issue I worry about is that she won’t be able to age well with her fans who are around her age. Don’t get me wrong — I’m in my mid 20s and think unicorns and rainbows are great, lol. But in terms of content, I think she needs to dive deeper on this album. Certainly deeper than she did with the lead single, lol. She has a habit of turning every breakup and misstep in her life into blaming the other people in her life. It’s time for a little self-reflection.
Yes. Occam’s Razor. This is just who she is: superficial-white-pastel-unicorn-fairytale blah blah blah…
I mean, I suppose you could argue that she tried to do “edgy” with her last album and she saw that didn’t work so well so now she’s back to her roots. Meh.
Yes this is what happened. Reputation wasn’t received well so TS is back to bubble-gum sentiments. Her songwriting desperately needs to evolve and mature, but lots of artists basically hit peak maturity (artistic style-wise) in their 20s. It’s looking like TS is one of those.
It is her M.O. Thing is, it’s not going to sustain her if the quality of her music isn’t there. If she keeps putting mediocre twee music along with copycat stunts, she’s going to fail hard and become a joke. This especially since people are understanding that this is clearly her business model on the whole.
This is not artistry.
Kaiser – its not Taylor who’s the smart business person, its the team around her esp her father.
She’s also releasing an EP of her rehearsal performance, which is obvious.
Look, she definitely has catchy songs but are they actually good? Do they excite anyone but her fan base?
No. They’re catchy and that’s it. They’ve never had substance.
she doesn’t get that she’s not on beyoncé’s level. her music is what beyoncé’s was before she fired her father and took control of her career and started making grown and meaningful work. only because she did all that work can beyoncé do the things she’s doing now and have the impact she does. i feel like there’s no reflection or introspection in taylor’s work, it’s all just surface, empty, and bubblegum. there’s no GROWTH there. like why is she referencing the snake in her new video? Move ON from this childish feud.
“Do they excite anyone but her fan base?”
I mean, you could say that about most artists. Most people aren’t pumped waiting for music from someone they’re not already a fan of.
The whole ‘good’ argument is always an interesting one though. I know Adele is talented, but I never ever seek out her music because I don’t need to hear music that makes me want to sob, and it seems like the vast majority of it is sad ballads. I recognize her talent, but think she’s somewhat over hyped. Rolling in the Deep, while pretty catchy is just one of the most repetitive songs out there and it drives me mad. But people rave about Adele, critics, fans, etc. And it depends so heavily on what you measure.
And it boils down to technical talent, or the marketability? People lost their minds when Beck beat Beyonce and Sam Smith for best album. Beck can play something like 13 instruments, was making hits since Beyonce was a child, and has a long spanning career that’s not nearly the commercial success as Beyonce music. Beyonce kills it with performances, and really is an amazing entertainer but she doesn’t play any instruments. They’re two pretty much opposites in terms of career – but we can say they’re both good. There’s so much subjective involved in music taste that it makes it really hard to make a genuine scale when it comes to good vs bad.
There’s studies showing that music taste is pretty solidified in our formative years – often 11-14 for women, and 13-16 for men. Even listening to music in early 20’s is only about half as influential as music exposure during the teen years. This is why so many people gravitate to older songs or modern songs from the specific styles they were drawn to in their teenaged years, which makes it even more complex.
Thanks for this info, Erinn! I totally buy that our music taste is solidified early in life — maybe that’s why I’m stuck mostly in the rock genre while other people are seemingly more interested in R&B these days. Rock reigned supreme in my middle school days.
And to your other point — I don’t think music is really meant to excite people a whole lot beyond the fan base. That’s why they’re fans, and we’re talking about people with absolutely MASSIVE fan bases. Artists are aiming to entertain active fans and people who could potentially become fans (in Taylor’s case: people with pop leanings or people who casually like her radio hits). Either you’re into Taylor’s music or you’re not, but if you like it, you probably get excited when she releases new music. I think Adele and Beyonce are both very talented and I have zero interest in their music. It certainly doesn’t excite me when they do something new. That doesn’t mean they’re not gifted and valued artists just because they don’t excite me, someone who isn’t really a fan and likes totally different music. But when Green Day, one of my favorite bands puts out new music, it’s my entire universe regardless of whether “outsiders” care or notice.
Of course she is trying to appeal to her fan base, why wouldn’t she? Any time anyone tries to break out of their perceived mold, or tries something different they are blasted for “appropriation” and told to stay in their lane. You can’t win. Also haven’t heard anyone mention the best marching band feature ever, Holla Back Girl, it made the entire song!
Nope, not for the past three years. She did very well to cultivate a large and obsessive fan base.
She’s releasing that and all those different covers vynil because she wants more sales so she gets that number 1 on billboard. The prediction was that she was debuting on #2, still behind Old Town Road. A top 3 debut is incredible, but not for her (and her fans) standards apparently.
This new song and her reputation album confirmed that she is poor as an artist, she could not evolve artistically because she is always a 16-year-old singer who sings about a shallow stuff. Reputation could have been the album of the maturity, but for me the album was something very “Mean girls ” with very little self-awareness , childish and superficial.
I listened to Reputation for the first time today, (Thanks AmazonPrimeMusic) and noticed the same thing. Honestly, majority of the songs sucked because there was no energy or life in them. The songs were mediocre. A couple barely stood out but they have no real voice, no depth, no meaning.
Delicate is the worse song ever. It’s like she’s repeating the same two sentences throughout the song. I turn it off whenever it pops up.
Yep. She. Is. Thirsty. Which I don’t even mind; usually it’s a good thing until a celebrity starts doing shitty or hateful things to promote themselves. But Taylor’s fans and Kaylor truthers need to stop acting like she doesn’t stuntqueen or have problematic things in her track record like her peers and ‘rivals’. She does, she’s just more ladylike and that makes people more logical about her antics. Own it, folks.
Tbh I’m hoping Lil Nas X blocks her from the Hot100 #1 because she and her fans are trying SO HARD, it’s hilarious. And I wanna watch the meltdowns on twittter.
I wish Kanye kept his drunk ass seated at the VMAs. I still believe that one incident launched Taylor’s career into a stratosphere that it wouldn’t have reached on its own. Yes I’m well aware that she was already popular at that point, but it felt like she had reached a limit in terms of starpower. She and her team took full advantage of the racist “poor precious white girl bullied by the mean black man” rhetoric.
This. And now she is using black Twitter and black artists to get more exposure for her awfull song. She is a forever 12 yo mentaly and I don;t understand any adult who think she is so great. Maybe they are emntaly teens. SHe isn;t a great person, she did evrerything for PR (her RS, even her cats arepart of her PR, I asume her children would be too). And she isn;t an great artist or songwriter. She won’t be a legend, but only a past idol of teens.
I’m always confused when people claim she’s a great songwriter because I just don’t see it. Even her most critically acclaimed songs seem simplistic. I think the problem is that she was considered a good songwriter for a teenager and she never grew out of that phase. I do wonder how well her music will age in about 10-15 years.
Well in 10 years from now spelling stiil will be fun 🙂 It won’t age well. No one care for LWYMMD now and it was like 2 years ago? Hell, people stop care 3 weeks after it came. It will be the same with this ME awfull song. She is doing everything to get #1 spot, but it will tank like hell next week. She gets vinyl, CD, rehersal version, put it in discount, gae her cd with every sh*t her fans buy in her shop etc. Put it on her IG. Have ads all over internet, have deal with YT, Radio etc. All this for a one song. And still strugle to beat this Cowboy dude 🙂 I wish Old Town Road be still #1. 🙂
She missed out in the No. 1 here in the UK to Stormzy – an extremely talented grime artist.
I just listen her new single. God, it’s awful! Is it really written by a 29 y/o woman?? It is sound like a rejected song for her RED album.
I actually like the new song but it’s not exciting or daring enough for me to want to even listen to the album for free. It’s just a song I don’t mind listening to when it pops up on the station.
It seems like a lot of people agree about her appropriation (rapping, Shake it Off video, this) but she also gets a pass? It’s almost like certain people are exempt from cancellation but also who have done less than her are crucified. I’m genuinely curious why TS seems to get away with a lot…
I believe it’s because Taylor is considered to be more relatable and more “accessible” in a way that most people at her level of fame aren’t. Her fans seem to identify deeply with her rather childish narrative of always being the victim, the bullied one, the totally cool, goofy, down-to-earth girl that people just don’t understand (eyeroll). I think @no no was on the mark when s/he wondered if Taylor’s fans (or even people who are sympathetic to her) might share the same mindset and attitudes as her.
To make my rambling and theorizing short: I think a lot of people see themselves in Taylor and thus feel compelled to defend her. It gets her a lot of mileage compared to other people.
Completely superficial but her makeup on the res carpet for this award show is really pretty and I’d love to have legs like hers
Could somebody pleaseeeee explain to me where the word Mayochella came from? I know Coachella, but is it Mayonaise? 😀 Lost in translation here!! I googled it and I still don’t know 🙁 Thank you!
Yes it is a play on the term mayo. Like her performance was really bland, vanilla and since she was trying to imitate #Beychella it became #mayochella
Thank you so much! You’re the mvp <3
Oh thanks, i was wondering too
People talk about her being able to write a catchy tune like it’s worth something when it comes to artistry. I’ll just leave this here:
“Who let the dogs out?”
Being able to write a song that is catchy is indeed a skill. “Catchy” is an indefinable quality, and if it was easy to write a catchy song that gets stuck in people’s heads, we’d all be millionaires and songwriters. Writing infectious music that makes people feel happy and uplifted is no less an artistic accomplishment than writing music that makes people feel other things.
I’m indifferent about Taylor, but I think people dismiss pop music because it is associated with young females and generally there is a bit of sexism mixed in there.
I know I defend Taylor quite a bit, but I’m not a Stan and I’m definitely not going to say she’s above taking another artist’s idea. Here’s my thing: Homecoming was just released a few weeks ago, it hasn’t been that long. But in that time, to think Taylor got the idea, wrote/recorded the song with a line about bands, filmed the video AND put together the performance? ALL to swipe from Beyonce? Maybe I don’t know how feasible that is, but to me it just seems far-fetched that all that could happen that quickly. Now, if someone wanted to convince me she got the idea from Bey’s Coachella performance when it actually happened, THAT wouldn’t be a hard sell.
Beychella was a year ago so…….
If it wasn’t the film, it was the performance.
I do think Taylor gets an unfair rap sometimes. But just as many times it’s her meanness that results in the backlash. I can only come to the conclusion that she gets pissed & seeks vengeance over the smallest things, based on the fact that she seeks vengeance with so many ex boyfriends and even a friend. But she leaves her mean behaviors deniable because she’s so passive aggressive in her approach. I don’t think a person like that can be happy. And it shows in her music, because even her I’m So Happy songs are often peppered with some accusations.
She’s older than Cardi B. Look at the difference in how they are treated and expectations of having and accepting responsibility in how the public treats/reacts to them. Taylor swift didn’t invent the marching band BUT BEYONCÉ did invent that intro and pose. Let’s not forget Taylor’s foray into Formation on the last album as well. Taylor is Darth Becky and her tears allow her to continue to do scandalous and reckless isht and still be treated like a teenager who doesn’t know better… at 30. Taylor Swift is the Donald Trump of music and her Stans are the GOP.
That’s really dark lmao.