NME is playing it safe with TAS Management

[Whispering 18,865]

Whispering acts as if an opinion cannot be true. What makes it an opinion and not a fact is that it hasn't been tested and proven. 

An opinion is just that. Something like "Grammy awards and reviews are bought...by Taylor Swift...and no other artist knows how to buy these awards and reviews" is a wild speculation. "The public isn't interested in 1989 anymore" is simply a false statement. "Country music isn't as big anymore" is a false statement. "Radio, TV ads and music in club is free" is also a false statement. Facts dispute these types of speculations and statements. 

By the way, either quote me, @ me, or don't refer to me by name. You've pulled this before and it is lame and immature. 

[Spock 20,290]

By the way, either quote me, @ me, or don't refer to me by name. You've pulled this before and it is lame and immature. 

It's also warnable

[StrawberryBlond 13,286]

@StrawberryBlond

lol....yes, we don't know how many people that buy ANY album in ANY genre, for the past fifty years, has regretted their purchase. We could say this about every single album that has ever been sold, so this is one of the sillier excuses I've seen you come up with.

What we do know is that 1989 is still selling over 40K in the US every week and has remained in the top 10 on Billboard for coming up on a year now. You can spin away and make up all kinds of silly excuses in your head, but the truth is this album and the singles off of this album have been consistent sellers with the public for a solid year now. The stans and fans bought this album a long time ago, so what we are seeing, and have been seeing for months now, is the general public buying 1989 and the singles that are being released this era. 

Fun FACT: Since 1963, when Billboard started its Top 200 chart, there have been only seven albums to make it to fifty weeks in the top ten on that chart. 1989 is one of those seven albums. If the album stays in the top 10 for 52 weeks, it will make it to the top five albums of all time to have stayed in the top 10. 

And by the way, country music is one of the few genres where overall sales have increased or held steady over the past few years, while pop sales have crashed. Crossover country would have been a very good space to stay in, if you look at the actual facts on the music industry over the past few years. This is another example of things that you make up and try to state as some kind of fact, that simply isn't true. 

But it still stands. There's a reason why there can be a dramatic downturn in sales from one album to the next - regretted purchases have a lot to answer for. Taylor and her fans might be surprised at how low the next album sells, especially now she's gone pop. We know how fickle that crowd is.

Yes, in the US it's still selling a lot. Worldwide, it's a different story. Shake It Off and Blank Space were the only worldwide hits from the album. Bad Blood didn't do much and Style and Wildest Dreams have barely made a dent worldwide. Even in the UK, Wildest Dreams hasn't even gone top 40 (Red had more UK top tens and top 40's despite about the same level of UK promo).

I did look at the facts. Country music has been dwindling in sales, especially for females. Talking about US sales only - Carrie Underwood has got lower sales with every album and is likely going to have the first non-million seller of her career when she releases this month. Miranda Lambert released her first album not to sell a million copies in the US last year. Reba McEntire has sold less than 200k despite her album being on sale for months. Kacey Musgraves is barely selling 100k. Newcomers Maddie & Tae still haven't even sold 50k in the first 1.5 months. And as for Kelsea Ballerini, her album's been out for 5 months and she's only sold around 60k so far. Gretchen Wilson fell off the face of the charts in 2013. Even Dolly Parton can't sell in the US anymore (weirdly, she went platinum in the UK with her latest album, though!) Lady Antebellum are nobodies now. The males are doing a bit better, but there's no fanfare around country like there used to be. 2004-2012 was an amazing time for country/country pop acts but they've fallen behind considerably now. Taylor would still probably sell the best out of all of them, but her days of selling 6.9 million with a country pop album are far behind her.

Whispering acts as if an opinion cannot be true. What makes it an opinion and not a fact is that it hasn't been tested and proven. 

Opinions are opinions. But I try to bae them on facts where possible. And I think that final sentence sums up my opinion theories on a lot of celebrities!

An opinion is just that. Something like "Grammy awards and reviews are bought...by Taylor Swift...and no other artist knows how to buy these awards and reviews" is a wild speculation. "The public isn't interested in 1989 anymore" is simply a false statement. "Country music isn't as big anymore" is a false statement. "Radio, TV ads and music in club is free" is also a false statement. Facts dispute these types of speculations and statements. 

I'm not talking about that. Those are my theories and I never claimed them to be true (though the country music assertion and the idea that it's free to hear a song on the radio/tv/in a club for a citizen are all true). I'm talking about her diss tracks, her downtalking of Spotify, her suing of fans, her Twitter fight, all that stuff. The stuff that is proven fact. This is what I'm judging her on. And you won't acknowledge it because even you find it hard to defend.

[jtxgg 24]

taylor's power over the media is insane

[Whispering 18,865]

But it still stands. There's a reason why there can be a dramatic downturn in sales from one album to the next - regretted purchases have a lot to answer for. Taylor and her fans might be surprised at how low the next album sells, especially now she's gone pop. We know how fickle that crowd is.

Yes, in the US it's still selling a lot. Worldwide, it's a different story. Shake It Off and Blank Space were the only worldwide hits from the album. Bad Blood didn't do much and Style and Wildest Dreams have barely made a dent worldwide. Even in the UK, Wildest Dreams hasn't even gone top 40 (Red had more UK top tens and top 40's despite about the same level of UK promo).

I'm not talking about that. Those are my theories and I never claimed them to be true (though the country music assertion and the idea that it's free to hear a song on the radio/tv/in a club for a citizen are all true). I'm talking about her diss tracks, her downtalking of Spotify, her suing of fans, her Twitter fight, all that stuff. The stuff that is proven fact. This is what I'm judging her on. And you won't acknowledge it because even you find it hard to defend.

That holds true for anyone or everyone. So far, For a decade now, Taylor has been consistent with sales and has found a way to continue to sell millions, get hits and sell out tours. If it all goes south tomorrow, she will have other options and outlets to fall back on...just for fun, as she sure doesn't need to worry about money. 

My comments in that one post were pertaining to sales in the US, but even looking at worldwide sales, she is still outselling all other pop girls and almost every other artist who released in the past year. I'm sure she isn't crying in her cornflakes over her numbers. Lol

That is correct, those are theories...theories that you have twisted and tried to present them as facts...and that's what I've commented on from the start. Yes, it is free for a citizen to hear songs in the way you listed, but the artists still get paid. The rest are your feelings on certain decisions that Taylor and her team have made, and it is completely your right to have those feelings...I simply disagree with your feelings. 

[Alcina Dimitrescu 1,156]

Slé Taylor™ (No copyright infringement intended Property of TAS LLC management ©2015) show them your power

[StrawberryBlond 13,286]

That holds true for anyone or everyone. So far, For a decade now, Taylor has been consistent with sales and has found a way to continue to sell millions, get hits and sell out tours. If it all goes south tomorrow, she will have other options and outlets to fall back on...just for fun, as she sure doesn't need to worry about money. 

My comments in that one post were pertaining to sales in the US, but even looking at worldwide sales, she is still outselling all other pop girls and almost every other artist who released in the past year. I'm sure she isn't crying in her cornflakes over her numbers. Lol

That is correct, those are theories...theories that you have twisted and tried to present them as facts...and that's what I've commented on from the start. Yes, it is free for a citizen to hear songs in the way you listed, but the artists still get paid. The rest are your feelings on certain decisions that Taylor and her team have made, and it is completely your right to have those feelings...I simply disagree with your feelings. 

Most artists can't hold on to consistent success for over a decade straight, though. If Madonna and Mariah had their downfall 10 years in, Taylor could sure have hers. May I ask what her other options and outlets are, pertaining to music, that is? All she can do is country and pop. If either of those options don't get her support from the public in future, she's screwed. She can't do rock or rap or jazz or classical. This is what I'm talking about when I'm saying her career could be in a difficult place after this - country isn't as big anymore and she lost a lot of fans by going pop and pop fans can be very fickle and only stick around for one album sometimes. Whichever direction she chooses, success is in no way guaranteed now. The public loved Shakira and Nelly Furtado when they went through their "sell out" eras, but had no time for them afterwards regardless of if they went back to their roots or not.

Does all the world know her name, though? I doubt it. She's still virtually unknown of in some areas. She barely did any touring in Europe because she's still for the most part a nobody there. 8 dates in just 4 countries for the whole continent? Pathetic. And don't try and tell me "But she's still establishing herself in these places, she'll get bigger over time." If you can shift the sales she can, even if it's just with your break out album, you will sell hundreds of thousands of tickets in big markets like the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France and Italy (the latter two she never even went to despite them being among the top ten biggest music markets in the world). Artists who have sold less have managed to pull out bigger European numbers than these. Therefore, her team must think on the whole, she doesn't have much demand as a touring act worldwide.

I have never tried to present these theories as facts. That's your interpretation. When you push  a theory, it will generally come across like you're trying to make other people believe in it, that's the whole point. Really, all I want to do is make people consider that maybe some things are a bit...odd. I just want a bit of open-mindedness to the idea that we shouldn't accept everything we're told. A person who is uneducated in music generally is easier pleased than a critic, right? A regular civilian might call a piece of music catchy and great fun but an educated music critic will be able to realise that this is a generic piece of disposible trash because they know what sounds good instrumentally, vocally, lyrically, etc. So, why is it that I, someone who's only had self education on music, can think 1989 is instrumentally, vocally and lyrically mediocre but an educated critic thinks otherwise? That shouldn't happen. I don't know about you, but in my world, every straight middle aged male would rather stick pins in his eyes than listen to Taylor Swift's kind of music outside of pure novelty value (the ones who know who she is, anyway). So, I have my doubts about straight middle aged male critics who are educated in music liking this stuff with the aplomb exhibited in reviews. If their views really are genuine, I think some of them would be as well having their wives/daughters/female family members listen to such a girlie album so they can give their verdict from the view of someone in the target demographic. You know, before they submit a review that could potentially ruin their masculinity. I say that if girls in the target demographic (gender, age, music genre) are calling this music dull, bland and childish, maybe these male reviewers need to take a good long look at what they're writing if their opinions are indeed genuine.

[Whispering 18,865]

@StrawberryBlond

Yep, anyone and everyone can slip away...or hang around for a while. We shall see. 

Blah, blah...once again, my original comments were directly referring to the BB 200. She's still sold over two million outside of the US, which is better than most artists do overall. Poor her. 

I've answered this question and shared my thoughts on this before too...so had has Redstreak. Believe what you want to believe. 

 

[StrawberryBlond 13,286]

@StrawberryBlond

Yep, anyone and everyone can slip away...or hang around for a while. We shall see. 

Blah, blah...once again, my original comments were directly referring to the BB 200. She's still sold over two million outside of the US, which is better than most artists do overall. Poor her. 

I've answered this question and shared my thoughts on this before too...so had has Redstreak. Believe what you want to believe. 

 

Put it this way, Taylor could easily have lost it all after Speak Now. It didn't have any hit singles and out of the 5 million copies it sold worldwide, 4.4 million were from the US, which is still good but a massive 2.5 million sales loss from Fearless. But she played the game well and after selling out a bit with Red, turned it all around and the extra 300k sales loss from the US was recouped with international sales and 1989 was a continuation of that.

Again, although the international sales are still impressive, the majority of them are still coming from her most popular international markets - Canada, Australia, UK and Japan. The combined sales of those 4 nations are around 1.6 million. Meaning only around 400k came from any countries outwith them. See what I mean about no matter how hard she tries to be international, she still doesn't quite cut it?

I'll just say this: Just as you say that until I can provide you with undisputed evidence that Taylor pays for reviews, you won't believe it, I will also say that until you provide me with undisputed evidence that Taylor doesn't pay for reviews, I will also continue to have doubts. Just saying that two can play at that game. For what it's worth, I find your overall view of disbelieving that paid for reviews exist in general to be rather naive. There is evidence of it out there. A former employee at the video game site, IGN, revealed that scores are always skewed for reasons of the reviewers wanting to continue to get the chance to write reviews and so that certain publishers will still advertise things on their sites. They said this: "The truth is that marketing and PR and readers have a major influence on reviews. I can tell you that just about every preview and review you read spouts out a lot of marketing's message. Journalists don't get it, see it, realise it or accept it. But that is the truth."

[Whispering 18,865]

Put it this way....

I'll just say this: Just as you say that until I can provide you with undisputed evidence that Taylor pays for reviews, you won't believe it, I will also say that until you provide me with undisputed evidence that Taylor doesn't pay for reviews, I will also continue to have doubts. Just saying that two can play at that game. For what it's worth, I find your overall view of disbelieving that paid for reviews exist in general to be rather naive. There is evidence of it out there. A former employee at the video game site, IGN, revealed that scores are always skewed for reasons of the reviewers wanting to continue to get the chance to write reviews and so that certain publishers will still advertise things on their sites. They said this: "The truth is that marketing and PR and readers have a major influence on reviews. I can tell you that just about every preview and review you read spouts out a lot of marketing's message. Journalists don't get it, see it, realise it or accept it. But that is the truth."

Put it this way....her latest album has sold three million outside of the US. Taylor is from the US. That is three million albums sold outside of her local market. Make excuses all you want, but that three million is more than the majority of artists sell in total. 

You can't provide me with undisputed evidence that anyone with a score above 70 doesn't pay for reviews. If one artist can do it, they all can do it. Like I stated before, believe whatever you want to believe, but I disagree with you. 

[StrawberryBlond 13,286]

You can't provide me with undisputed evidence that anyone with a score above 70 doesn't pay for reviews. If one artist can do it, they all can do it. Like I stated before, believe whatever you want to believe, but I disagree with you. 

That's my point - not every artist will do it. Some have more credibility than others. End of. Just like how some actresses get opportunities via the casting couch, some choose not to lower themselves for fame and prefer to get it on their talent alone. There's all different ways you can try to work your way up the industry and some people use more ways than others. Not saying that Taylor does any of these behind the scenes tricks but who are we assume we know any celebrity? Seeing as she has the most amazing PR who have helped produce the best image for her, smooth over any controversies and sue anyone who looks at her sideways, it's ever more likely that they might try to buy positive press for her. There's all different ways good press can be bought, not just through reviews. I'll throw my hands up and admit I got it all wrong if proved otherwise, but until that time comes, indeed let's let you be you and I'll be me.