I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘Swiftie’ but I will admit that Taylor Swift is my guilty pleasure. I mean, who doesn’t love lip syncing wildly to ‘Shake It Off’ while dancing around the kitchen? Apart from making cheesy yet loveable music, Swift is also known as America’s informal ‘National Sweetheart’. But is she really that amazing? Or is her sweetheart persona an invention by her publicists that is force-fed to us by the media?
Let’s address the biggest issue first: she is super money obsessed. Fair enough, she is a singer/songwriter and she does deserve some of her vast fortune because she is talented, but the lengths she will go to to preserve such a small amount of money is ridiculous. For example, earlier this year, Swift’s lawyers threatened to sue a variety of fans on Etsy for selling merchandise with lyrics from her songs. The seller in particular stated that “We never intended for it to be a profit making item. The cost of the item covered shipping costs, and production costs with very little left over.” That’s a very bold move by the ‘sweetheart’ who claims to love her fans. I do understand that the lyrics included on the merchandise had been trademarked by Swift, but to victimise these poor young fans and slap them with a massive lawsuit does seem very drastic.
However, labelling her a complete and utter monster towards her fans would be unfair; she does have a track record of providing moral support and gifts to her most dedicated fans. Like in March this year when, after a large social media campaign, Swift had a 20 minute video chat with a four year old girl dying of cancer. This made everyone’s heart melt. She is also extremely active with her fans on Tumblr, where she will often share fashion and lifestyle advice with her fans – even sending one girl a care package with hand-written notes inside after she heard about her ordeal. You may be thinking right now ‘Who could hate Taylor Swift? She’s an angel’ and yes she can be lovely, but it’s all about perspective.
When she pulled her music from Spotify the media hailed her as the ultimate woman, who will do everything for justice. Justice? Justice for what? Justice for the fact that she won’t receive more money to pile on top of her $200 million fortune. However, Spotify has been recorded as being very unfair towards artists, with them only receiving a small percentage of money for their music and so Taylor Swift has become an advocate for under-paid and under-valued musicians. It’s debatable as to whether her championing of indie bands and labels hides her greedy nature. Especially when one considers that photographers who take pictures of Taylor Swift are only allowed to publish photos of her that they have taken once. They are bound by contracts, which in turn, could limit their livelihood and cost them money. Slightly hypocritical from the person who wants a fairer deal for unknown artists, no?
Another example of her ruthless and money-grabbing nature can be seen in Swift threatening to sue her former guitar teacher, Ronnie Cremer, for using her name in the domain for his website – although it was done completely legally. Cremer claims to have taught her to play guitar twice a week as well as introducing her to various music programmes. Swift’s legal team also went as far as to say that the mention of her name on his site may ‘tarnish’ her overall brand. Is that any way to show gratitude to a man that helped you on your way to stardom? To me it sounds like America’s national treasure is nothing but a spoilt, ungrateful money maker. And it’s seems she’s proud of this fact – penning the letter to Apple Music herself and having open confrontations with artists like Nicki Minaj on social media, causing further controversy.
The media consistently portrays Taylor as a victim, whether it be by other female artists or men, most notoriously her ex-boyfriends. She is often in the headlines being criticised for having various partners in short amounts of time and, I agree in those cases she is a victim. After all it’s 2015, not the middle ages and she is entitled to have as many partners as she likes. That said, it seems she invites much of the media attention herself; for instance her song ‘Bad Blood’ is a blatant reference to the tensions between Swift and fellow artist, Katy Perry. I wouldn’t have thought that a victim of the media would take to bullying another person so easily, and yet the song speaks for itself. Furthermore, in her latest Twitter exchange with Nicki Minaj, Swift called Nicki out for ‘pitting’ women against one another, yet this is exactly what she herself has done with this song and countless others.
I do admire anyone who can come from being completely unknown to the world to an international popstar and I have enjoyed secretly listening to Taylor in the shower and the car and the kitchen, but as an international icon she has a responsibility to set an appropriate example for her young and impressionable fans. She does teach them the importance of standing up for what you believe in without fear of criticism but she is not consistent. Fame and fortune have gone to her head, and I can only hope she realises the value of money and respect before it’s too late.
Words by Joe Lewin