Taylor Swift’s song dispute: Shake it off
If you’re a software engineer who creates a sensational video game, or a scientist who discovers a cure, are you entitled to the profits those inventions generate?
If a businesswoman sold her family company, and the new entity retained the name, should she still be allowed to call the shots?
If you’re an entitled, coddled, arrogant rich brat who thinks the rule of law shouldn’t apply to you because fame and privilege set you apart, in other words, if you’re Taylor Swift, then the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Swift has been waging a vitriolic public battle with her former music label because it - not she owns the master recordings for her first six albums.
So because Taylor doesn’t like her current situation — despite legally agreeing to it — she thinks the rule of law should go out the window, and that it’s fair game to slander anyone who gets in her way.
The issue that has Swift deluging fans with tales of woe is the same one that plagues today’s America: entitlement.
Swift’s “logic” is typical of the coddled generations: Thinking she is entitled to something which, unequivocally, she is not. And because she isn’t winning her battle, Swift has upped the ante by calling Scooter Braun, the new owner of her music catalog, and his supporters, “the definition of toxic male privilege.” Not surprising, since we are increasingly told that males are responsible for all the world’s ills. Sure glad Taylor doesn’t have any male fans, employees, or performers from whom she has sought mentoring and inspiration.
Swift is both legally and morally incorrect. By her actions, she is telling millions of young people - especially girls - that when something doesn’t go your way, it’s okay to advocate breaking the rules.
And if that doesn’t work, it’s fine to invoke political correctness and gender politics to slander someone - even if those words generate death threats for him and his family. The difference, of course, is that no matter what happens, Taylor Swift will land on her feet, given her massive wealth.
Her biggest “problem” is gaining control of songs so she can make more millions, yet her followers, should they conduct themselves the same way, may find themselves on the receiving end of a pink slip, or in jail.
Maybe those folks can sing Taylor’s song, “Look What You Made Me Do” when they’re down and out, while their icon aloofly lives the life of luxury.
Speaking of Taylor’s music, here’s the situation explained by her own song titles:
“Everything Has Changed:” When Taylor Swift was a noname aspiring singer, she signed with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group - a smart move, since Big Machine was a major industry player.
But things changed this year when music mogul Scooter Braun bought Big Machine and the rights to Swift’s first six albums. Swift reacted swiftly, condemning the move as her “worstcase scenario” and accusing Braun of - what else? - “manipulative bullying.” In a whiny social media post, Swift added, “You deserve to own the art you make.”
Not true, Taylor, not true at all. You don’t “deserve” anything other than what you agree to in your contract. If you wanted to own your “art,” then you should have had the courage to negotiate that before signing with Big Machine.
But you didn’t.
“Bad Blood:” Instead of acting like a grown-up by privately airing complaints and negotiating possible buyback options, Swift chose social media and award ceremonies to excoriate those with whom she disagrees.
There’s a reason most musicians don’t own their songs: it’s extremely hard to break into the business, so signing with a bigname record company provides opportunities that most independent artists don’t have.
Truth be told, this is an extremely important issue for three reasons: First, virtually no one else in the media is calling out Swift for her inexcusable behavior. Second, integrity of the rule of law is at stake, and when that goes, so does everything else.
Right or wrong, when Taylor Swift speaks, people listen. What she says matters, especially to impressionable young people. In that vein, here’s hoping Swift will go “Back To December” when she made her outlandish comments, apologize, and “Begin Again” as the role model she is eminently capable of being.
Otherwise, “Ready for It?” — may the “Sparks Fly.”