(credit: Instagram screenshot/ newspaper-theme album cover)

Taylor Swift understands the state of media and she wants no part of it. The media wants to bait her in a vitriolic discussion, but she won’t be their puppet, hence her news-paper themed cover art.

Outside of some Instagram postings, there has been no in-depth magazine interviews, no magazine covers, no radio station call-ins. Swift is counting on her die-hard fans and it’s working. Her latest album has sold 400k in pre-orders, the largest to date. Swifts zero-PR Campaign is working.

Swift was an open book up until now. The media is on hunt for the next victim and Taylor Swift is a big target. As of now, Swift has outsmarted the press.

(credit: screenshot/instagram)

Taylor Swift’s new album is already selling lot hot cakes. The pop star has sold more than 400,000 pre-orders prior to the Nov. 10th release, making it the highest music pre-sale in history. Additionally, Swift was the highest paid artist in 2016. Swift made an estimated $170 million from touring and product endorsements whereas Adele made $80 million. In fact, Swift makes more than Madonna ($76.5 million) and Rihanna ($75 million). Simply, Swift is the biggest celebrity in the world.

Everybody is banging on Taylor Swifts door, including A-list celebrities, hoping they can join the American role model on stage. Steven Tyler, Nelly, Mick Jagger, Keith Urban, Justin Timberlake – you name it! Julia Roberts and Joan Baez even crashed the party and danced along side Swift.

Rihanna is the few who won’t join Swift on stage. “I don’t think our brands are the same: I don’t think they match, I don’t think our audiences are the same,” Rihanna explained to the U.K. magazine. “In my mind she’s a role model, I’m not.”

As to why these A-listers are joining Swift onstage is another question. It’s about a fun time on stage with screaming tweens or making Monday morning news.

Taylor Swift approached Apple with concern for its 3 month free music trial & not the music labels. Is there more to the story? It doesn’t add up.

Two weeks after Apple released its new $10-a-month streaming service, the pop star wrote the company a public letter on her Tumblr, explaining why she’s withholding her latest album,1989, from the subscription-based platform.

“I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”

“These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.

I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.

Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done. I hope that soon I can join them in the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair to those who create this music. I think this could be the platform that gets it right.

But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

Taylor Swift has written an optimistic article on the music industry for the Wall Street Journal. Read the article below via Taylor Swift.

Where will the music industry be in 20 years, 30 years, 50 years?

Before I tell you my thoughts on the matter, you should know that you’re reading the opinion of an enthusiastic optimist: one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying…it’s just coming alive.

There are many (many) people who predict the downfall of music sales and the irrelevancy of the album as an economic entity. I am not one of them. In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently. CONTINUE READING