Thoughts on Taylor Swift?

Raymond Lin · 24 Jun 2015 at 23:39

Burnsy2023 said:
Indeed. I appreciate she's there to effectively run a business, but she's stuck thinking in old business models which are probably counterproductive for her.

This is a quote from another musician.

She did good. But it won't matter! Streaming is, as it stands, going to kill all income from recording sales for independent artists.

If I sell 2,000 downloads I can make a living. If 2,000 people stream my album 10 times each, I make about £6.

I need 200 streams of a song to pay for one lost download of the song.

It's pretty scary for guys like me.

Therefore, selling albums may be an old business model, however, it is the most profitable model. That is very important at the end of the day, considering the profit difference when you think about the numbers of albums she has sold, imagine if those are just streaming. That is nowhere as profitable, and not counterproductive in terms of the bottomline.

Nedb37 · 24 Jun 2015 at 23:51

The EP will start making a comeback.

itchy · 24 Jun 2015 at 23:56

Them legs!!! Drool :eek:

She can cup my ears with them heals any time!

Legs to die for but face not so sure, but you don't look at the mantel piece if you poking the fire!

V F · 25 Jun 2015 at 00:23

Nedb37 said:
The EP will start making a comeback.

Only for the hardcore who appreciate the quality. Not for the masses who streaming applies to. Who only want to swipe and tap.

Murray · 25 Jun 2015 at 00:24

Easily my favourite artist for a few years now, I preferred her earlier stuff, don't like a few of the songs on 1989 & Red. Speak Now is easily my favourite album.

mysticsniper · 25 Jun 2015 at 00:38

I'd ruin the girl, Her pasty would get a right good smashin

snowdog · 25 Jun 2015 at 01:02

I think she looks hot, and makes nice catchy pop songs.

However, she is misguided and I can't stand her for her stance vs. services like Spotify, greedy bint. It's 2015 not the 90's. Optical media should die out as soon as possible. There is no need for it with the current price of hard drives and flash media and current internet speeds.

As for people finding her skinny ? Rather see a skinny girl which can easily be fixed by a burger a day extra than a Neanderthal.

FoxEye · 25 Jun 2015 at 01:50

I've not heard her music, not seen her on TV, and the only thing I know about her is that she was in a dispute with Apple recently. And that's only because I watch the news.

I couldn't care less about her. It's funny that "what do you think about X" equates to "would you like to bang X" tho

I think it just shows how much time/energy we devote to totally useless ****. Ofc I'm as guilty of that as anyone.

Jopabo · 25 Jun 2015 at 01:55

Pretty girl, but she does need to eat a good burger or two.

V F · 25 Jun 2015 at 02:45

FoxEye said:
I've not heard her music, not seen her on TV, and the only thing I know about her is that she was in a dispute with Apple recently. And that's only because I watch the news.

You can't be Amish…

I couldn't care less about her. It's funny that "what do you think about X" equates to "would you like to bang X" tho

I think it just shows how much time/energy we devote to totally useless ****. Ofc I'm as guilty of that as anyone.

Yes, I've always found this strange. A lot of horny people going about.

Only just heard this on Addict Star and found it incredibly catchy. Yet it has 242,200,355 views. :eek:

Kaapstad · 25 Jun 2015 at 04:53

jsmoke said:
Not my usual kind of topic but hey-ho. So what do you make of her, is she just going to be another Britney in a decades time, just another airhead celebrity *cough* glory hunter?

She's looking quite attractive I must say.

I am sure you people don't have much to say on the matter however I must be pretty bored here.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...-make-Forbes-list-world-s-powerful-women.html

Looks average to me but then in Cape Town you get a lot of very hot women.

As for talent I don't think she is another Madonna.

Edward78 · 25 Jun 2015 at 05:36

She is hot, I would get me some if I had a chance...

Raymond Lin · 25 Jun 2015 at 07:15

snowdog said:
I think she looks hot, and makes nice catchy pop songs.

However, she is misguided and I can't stand her for her stance vs. services like Spotify, greedy bint. It's 2015 not the 90's. Optical media should die out as soon as possible. There is no need for it with the current price of hard drives and flash media and current internet speeds.

As for people finding her skinny ? Rather see a skinny girl which can easily be fixed by a burger a day extra than a Neanderthal.

She wants to sell records, not strictly speaking optical media, I don't think she cares if you download them from iTunes or amazon or google play. She just dislike streaming as I've pointed out above, it does it pay anywhere close.

Is it greedy? Or is it just the same as what every artist has been doing since the concept of LP was invented, and show me one musician who doesn't want to get paid, or one person even.

Xordium · 25 Jun 2015 at 07:17

Raymond Lin said:
This is a quote from another musician.

Therefore, selling albums may be an old business model, however, it is the most profitable model. That is very important at the end of the day, considering the profit difference when you think about the numbers of albums she has sold, imagine if those are just streaming. That is nowhere as profitable, and not counterproductive in terms of the bottomline.

That is true but that is why you perform live - that is presuming you can perform live and you have the ability to teach presuming you have the skills.

I've got a few friends who are musicians and bar one their income is from live performances and teaching. I think it is highly naive to think you can get to grade 8 in a few instruments and expect to make a living from sales. Most won't I think it is highly realistic though to think that you'll be able to get to grade 8 in a few instruments and make a decent enough wage from live performances and tuition. And let's face it a lot of popular artists are no where near that skilled in composition or technique.

I also think it's highly naive for someone to do a degree in Chemistry and expect to live off a patent they may or may not discover. They have to do the work week in week out like we all do.

If you are struggling to make a living as a musician from downloads and you are not making enough from tuition and live performances then really you need to have a good look at your choice of career and your aptitude for it.

Raymond Lin said:
Is it greedy? Or is it just the same as what every artist has been doing since the concept of LP was invented, and show me one musician who doesn't want to get paid, or one person even.

I don't think she is greedy I think she realise and those that manage her realise she is in a unique position to manipulate the companies towards they way she wants things done and they want think done. The problem is they may not be able to manipulate the consumer so easily - that horse has bolted I am afraid. Streaming is a happy medium really if you look at Spotify's formula it's quite easy to see why artists don't make so much from streaming and it's the old model:

spotify total revenue * played_tracks_by_artist/total_tracks_played - but then off that comes a 70% cut to the record labels .... that's where your problem is right there.

Skeeter · 25 Jun 2015 at 08:05

I think you guys are getting a bit bogged down in the details here. All were really talking about is a retailer offering an introductory offer to new customers, but then also choosing to not pay their suppliers for that introductory period either. And I don't think that's right.

If you take a Broadband deal with 6 months free, is it OK if the provider doesn't pay its Broadband department staff for that 6 months too? Or of you take a magazine subscription with a new customers offer of 6 issues free, is it ok for the magazine to not pay its writers or printing supplier for those 6 issues?

Xordium · 25 Jun 2015 at 08:13

I think she brought that into the debate though when she wrote a flourished letter to Apple praising it's achievements in a quite-sickening way, whilst ignoring their shoddy unethical practices, all the while continuing a current stance she has in relation to streaming that is also in direct contravention with the way she treats other artists.

Raymond Lin · 25 Jun 2015 at 09:59

I wrote a big rant on that hypocrisy she (FEI) imposes on photographers in another forum, as much as I am a fan, that double standard cannot be ignored.

She wants to get paid for her music, we want to get paid for our photography. Her latest contract even goes into if you break the agreement, they can take possession of your equipment and destroy them. That's akin to Apple saying if you break their agreement they can come and smash up your guitars.

Xordium · 25 Jun 2015 at 10:12

In fairness to her I doubt she had an part in that arrangement.

Skeeter · 25 Jun 2015 at 10:38

Xordium said:
I think she brought that into the debate though when she wrote a flourished letter to Apple praising it's achievements in a quite-sickening way, whilst ignoring their shoddy unethical practices, all the while continuing a current stance she has in relation to streaming that is also in direct contravention with the way she treats other artists.

I've not posted anything about how Taylor handled the situation, I've just commented on the situation itself.

Regardless of how individual artists chose to tackle it, or their own contract practice, what Apple was going to do was rather naughty, and I'm glad they have back tracked.

Raymond Lin · 25 Jun 2015 at 10:40

Xordium said:
In fairness to her I doubt she had an part in that arrangement.

Probably not, probably a standard contract that FEI uses for all the artist that hires them, but it is still a double standard nevertheless in light of her letter.