I *heart* Taylor!

I have to say, I *heart* Taylor Swift! Throughout the years I have liked her music; it is quality music backed by a good voice, and a delightful personality. It seems like with Taylor what you see is what you get. I was especially impressed by her Wall Street Journal article about her optimistic view of music and the music industry.

First of all Taylor does not have to write anything if she doesn't want to. Her opinion piece is very much a big picture article about her, her opinion of music, and how she views the music industry. It is from the perspective of someone who has been very successful making money with music and because of that success has the time to think about music and the music industry without economic restrictions. These are all good things!

Below are my my favorite quotes from Taylor’s article:

“Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”

I agree! Musicians spend years and sometimes their entire lives studying, practicing, and writing music; music is valuable; music is art. But, the funny thing about music is that it exists but does not exist. If you want to buy a Coach purse you can buy an original for $1000 or buy a knockoff or a ‘lesser brand’ for $60. In music, especially because of the internet there is no luxury pricing except for live performances. You can sell a limited edition vinyl or CDs for a premium but that is risky; vinyl is a niche market and how much longer will CDs be around?

“The way I see it, fans view music the way they view their relationships. Some music is just for fun, a passing fling…Some songs and albums represent seasons of our lives, like relationships that we hold dear in our memories but had their time and place in the past.”

I agree! I have many different relationships with many different artists. My favorite artist today is Daniela Andrade; a very talented singer/songwriter who I greatly enjoy; her originals and covers make me think and tap my fingers. I am also Classically trained so one of my favorite composers is Anton Bruckner and one of my favorite works of his is his Eighth Symphony. I found an incredible YouTube video of Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker that is for me, spiritual.

“Another theme I see fading into the gray is genre distinction. These days, nothing great you hear on the radio seems to come from just one musical influence. The wild, unpredictable fun in making music today is that anything goes. Pop sounds like hip hop; country sounds like rock; rock sounds like soul; and folk sounds like country—and to me, that's incredible progress.”

I agree! I know few people today that are only influenced by one genre; most artists were raised listening to every type of music. Because hip hop and rap have been in the mainstream for over one generation most rock, country, and pop musicians have a list of favorite hip hop and rap artists that influence their output. Rarely today will someone just list off their influences to The Beatles, The Stones, Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, and the Velvet Underground but will list ten different artists from different decades and different genres. (Also, why would you want to just limit yourself to the 60s and 70s...from 1965 to 1975 does not hold the key to music perfection.)

“In recent years, you've probably read the articles about major recording artists who have decided to practically give their music away, for this promotion or that exclusive deal. My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet…is that they all realize their worth and ask for it.”

This is the main point of Taylor’s article; don’t let the music industry control you and for Taylor, don’t let the music industry undervalue young female artists.

To finish my article I will list a few of my thoughts in relation to this article and Taylor:

- Music is art; music is valuable.

- Money is power; money is freedom.

- Artist freedom allows you to express yourself; self-expression allows for art

- Mainstream music can limit self-expression; mainstream music can make lots of money.

- Every artist, especially young female artists need to value themselves; don’t undervalue yourself and your art.

- Music is valuable; music is art.